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John
7:24_______ |
The context of the above statement is found in John chapter 7 where the Pharisees have accused Jesus of "breaking the law" because He healed a man on the Sabbath. Jesus turns their indictment on its head by showing what a group of hypocrites they are. Judgment is not to be made on the basis of appearance, but on the basis of righteousness. Yes, this is a commandment to judge. In fact, a great part of the book of John is about passing judgment on others. It is not an option as we shall see. Passing judgment on others is a commandment. In John chapter 12, Jesus gives the basis for judgment.
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John 12: 47-49 47"If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.48"He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.49"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. |
Any and all judgment is based on the "sayings" of Jesus or "the Words" Jesus spoke. Yes, we are judged by the Word of God and it is His Words that will measure us in the last Day. Each and every Word spoken by Jesus came directly from the Father. The WORDS OF JESUS ALSO INCLUDE THE WORDS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL. LOOK AT THIS!
Paul said that he received his gospel (WORDS) by direct revelation from Jesus. The words of Paul are the words of Jesus. We will come back to the "Words of Jesus" as spoken by Paul, but first some clarification.
The general confusion about passing judgment on others usually stems from a mis-use of Matthew chapter 7:1. Proof texting is at the heart of the problem . This is where people pull a given passage out of context and use it for their own purposes. It is easy to forget that verse numbers in the Bible were added in the 16th century. Prior to the addition of verses, the books of the Bible were read as letters and not broken up as they are now. Pulling verses out of context is a big problem. Let's look at Matthew 7:1ff.
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1"Do not judge so that you will not be judged.2"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.3"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?4"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?5"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. |
Those who engage in a partial use of this passage use what I call the "Jesse Jackson" hermeneutical approach. First let us look at the word "judge."
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κρίνω (krinō 2919) 1. judge [verb] -ed, -est, -eth, -ing to divide, to separate (akin to Latin, cerere, to sift), to make a distinction, come to a decision, to judge, to pronounce final judgment. Not merely sentence of condemnation, but also a decision in any one's favour. condemn -ed, -est to separate, to distinguish, to select, to choose out the good, hence, generally to judge, that is to say to form or give an opinion after separating and considering the particulars of a case. |
As can be seen by the word definitions, the idea speaks more of being "prejudicial" in judging. The above passage when read in context never tells us not to judge. Jesus in this very sermon speaks of some people as being dogs and pigs (v.6) and there are false prophets (vv.15-20). Other places in the Bible, by default, Jesus demands that people "make the right judgment" (John 7:24; cf. 1st Cor. 5:5; Gal. 1:8-9; Phil. 3:2; 1st John 4:1). All of this presupposes, some kind of judging is not only legitimate but mandatory. The context of this section is even more interesting. Jesus demands that his disciples be not judgmental and censorious. In other words, they were to teach the gospel to all and not be prejudicial in who received the message. We don't want to miss the real message: that they were not to judge on the basis of what "they think" and never to engage in hypocritical judgment. "Do not worry about the speck in your brother's eye while we have a beam in our own." The overall context of this is about hypocritical judging and was never meant to say we can't judge at all.
It is a shame that people only read verse 7:1 and hardly ever read 7:2. This verse tells us that we will be judged on the basis that we judge. Judgment is always to be made on the basis of love and mercy, but the context presupposes that we all judge.
My paraphrase of the above text is:
“judge only to the extent you are willing to be judged.”
So now, let's look at some specific problems relating to "judgment" in the Bible and go to the "Words" of Jesus as spoken by Paul.
The Apostle Paul writing in 1st Corinthians 5-6 addressed this very problem of judging others.
The question must be asked: What does 1st Corinthians 5 have to do with 1st Corinthians 6? After all, chapter 5 is about judging the sexually immoral person who is living with his step-mother. Chapter 6 is about brothers taking brothers to court outside of the church. In fact, chapter 5 and chapter 6 are about the same subject. The church at Corinth lost the ability to pass judgment on evil, or make any judgment at all. In chapter 5 they are unable to pass judgment on the sexually immoral man, and in chapter 6 they are unable to judge matters between two brothers. The result of this inability to pass judgment is that the body of Christ has been contaminated (see 5:7-8 and 6:12 to the end of the chapter). They were unable to judge matters between themselves in chapter five and the results in chapter six are that the members of the church were having to take legal issues before pagan courts (6:6) instead of judging the matter among members of the church.
by Sylvia Rogers