The Lord’s “JUDGE NOT” (Matt.7:11) brings to a climax, His teachings in this section of the Sermon on the Mount. He gives a simple reason of “THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED”. And, in-verse 12, He expands “for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” Some divines regard chapter 7 of Mathew’s Gospel, as a collection of aphoristic statements with very little internal connection between them. But to me, this seems a mistaken view of this section of the Sermons, because there is clearly an under-laying theme in the entire chapter, that of judgment. It is the theme that constantly recurs as our Lord proceeds in the course of His teachings, although He puts it in different ways in the texts.
In this final part of the Sermon on the Mount, He again dwells on enforcing, the importance of our remembering that we are walking under the watchful, never blinking eyes of our Father in heaven. Although this subject appears to be one that mainly concerns our relationship with our fellow man, nevertheless, it is important to realize that our relationship with God is fundamental. He seems to be telling mankind that the ultimate which matters, is not what others think of us, but what God thinks of us, that our life here on earth, is a journey and a pilgrimage, that leads onto a final judgment, an ultimate assessment, and the determination and proclamation of our final and eternal destiny.
Half of the troubles of mankind on earth are due to the fact that we live on the assumption that this is the only life and the only world. Of course we know that is not true; but there is a great difference between knowing a thing and really being governed or guided by that knowledge in our ordinary life. The Bible teaches believers that the thing that really differentiates God’s people form all others is that they have always been people who walk in the consciousness of their eternal destiny. The natural man does not care about his eternal future, to him this is the only world. It is the only life he thinks about, he lives for it, and it controls him. But the Christian is a man who should walk through this life, conscious of the fact that it is, but transient and passing, a kind of preparatory school. He should always remember that he is walking in God’s presence and that he is going to meet God – this thought should determine and control the whole of his life.
In view of the foregoing, every Christian should at all times bear in mind that every believer on this earth is undergoing a process of judgment the whole time, because he is being prepared for the final judgment; and therefore, he should do all things with this idea uppermost in his mind, remembering that he shall give an account on the last day. This is the controlling theme and our Lord Jesus Christ handles it in various ways through out the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 through Matt7) leading to the great climax in Matt. 8:24-27 (the two men and two houses). This reminds the believer of the greatness of this Sermon on the Mount, its searching character, the profundity of its teaching, indeed, its truly alarming character. It finds us all somewhere, somehow. There is no possibility of escape, it searches us out in all hiding-places and brings us out into the light of God. There is nothing that so utterly condemns man as the Sermon on the Mount; there is nothing so utterly impossible, so terrifying, and so full of doctrine. All this to the discomfiture of those who dislike the theology of Apostle Paul and all the talk about doctrine, hiding under the false preference of the Sermon on the Mount. The great Sermon is full of doctrine and leads to doctrine. It is a kind of prologue to all the doctrine of the New Testament.
Our Lord Jesus Christ opens His consideration on the great issue of man walking in this world under a sense of judgment in terms of the particular matter of judging another. “JUDGE NOT” He says. He used the same method which He has consistently applied throughout His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. First, He makes an announcement, and follows it with His reason for it, He then lays down the principle and then exegetically reasons with us concerning it or He puts it to us in a more logically manner – in details. And here He adopts this same method and makes the deliberate pronouncement – “JUDGE NOT”
In this pronouncement we are confronted by a statement that is susceptible to a great deal of confusion, and subject to easy misunderstanding, and as such, can be misunderstood on two sides and from two extremes, as is almost always with truth. However, this raises the fundamental question of: ‘what does our Lord mean when He say: Don’t Judge’ To look up the word “Judge” in the English or Greek Dictionary- is not likely to satisfy the view point.- It has many different meanings and connotations, so that what our Lord means cannot be ascertained through this reference. Yet it is of vital importance to know what He exactly means. Perhaps, never in the history of the church in this country, has a correct interpretation of this injunction been more important and necessary than now. Different periods in the history of the church need different emphases. And, in my view, I think that a correct interpretation and application of this principle/injunction is the most need of today’s church in finding solution to the cleavages tearing apart the household of God in Nigeria. We are living at an age when definitions are at a discount, an age which dislikes thought and hates theology, doctrine and dogma. It is an age characterized by a love of ease and compromise – ‘anything for a quiet life’, as the expression goes. It is an age of appeasement – a term nolonger popular in a political and international sense but its mentality and delights in it persist euphemistically in the church. It is an age that dislikes men of conviction who know what they believe in, what and why the believer it. Such are regarded as difficult persons, self-assertive and difficult if not impossible to deal with.
Today in the church, there are many leaders who carry this further to pursue a policy based on a literal and simple interpretation of “Judge Not” to mean simply and literally that the true Christian should never express an opinion about others, and hold that there must be no judging whatsoever. Anything or opinion to the contrary they call “judgmental” They advocate easy, indulgent and tolerant behaviour, allowing everything for peace, quiet and unity to foster fellowship. This raises the question as to whether this is a possible interpretation. This of course cannot be; quite clearly, because of the Scripture teaching. Take the very context itself of this statement and you will surely see at once that such an interpretation of Judge Not’ is quite impossible. Look at verse 6 of the same Matt.7: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample then under their feet, and turn again and rend you” How can the believer put this into practice, if he does not exercise judgment? How can he know which kind of person has the dog .tendency? In other words the injunction that immediately follows this statement about judging, at once calls on the believer to exercise judgment and discrimination.
Again, take the more remote connection in verse 15: “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are raving wolves” How is the believer to arrive at this conclusion, if he is not to think, or be so afraid of judging, that he can never make any assessment at all of their teaching? The ‘false prophets’ come in ‘sheep’s clothing’; they appear to be very honest and harmless. But the believer is not to be deceived by outward appearance -beware of such people. How can the believer discover their true nature if he does not exercise any judgment on their actions or words?
Our Lord also says “ye shall know them by their fruits” but if the
believer is not to have any standard reference or if he is not to exercise discrimination, how can he test the ‘fruit’ and discriminate between the true and the false? So without going any further, this cannot be the true interpretation which suggests that the statement ‘Judge not just means being ‘free and easy’, and having a flabby and indulgent attitude towards anybody that vaguely uses the designation of Christian. This is quite impossible.
There is also the issue of judgment by civil courts. The Scripture itself teachers that judgment must be exercised in connection with the affairs of the state. It is Scripture that teaches us that the privilege to sit in judgment over the affairs of fellowmen is an attributed of God and that a judge or a magistrate is called upon to deliver and pronounce judgment. It is his duty to do so. It is God’s way of restraining evil and sin and their effect in this word of time. So for a man to say that he does not believe in civil courts (not as regard human failings which in themselves are sinful, but with regard to the principle of establishing the courts), such a man is challenging the word of God (the Scripture). Reference to courts does not ever imply the use of force, but judgment has to be exercised, and for a man not to do so, or be unprepared or unwilling to do so, is not merely to fail in fulfilling his duty to God and to man, but it is unscriptural and unexpected of a believer.
The Christian theology traces civil government to the will and providence of God, who from the first, created man with social instincts and placed him under social relations. The theory holds that this social government is as original as man himself. Therefore, the obligation to obey civil magistrates and judges was instituted by God whose will it was to ensure order within the civil society. The fact that such obligation is greatly promotive of human convenience, well- being, and order, confirms and illustrates God’s intent about the obligation. Hence the civil government is by the ordinance of God, civil magistrates and judges rule by His providence, who being His agents and ministers are unabettingly under His watchful eyes and punishable for any deliberate or wrongly induced judgment they inflict on men. Remember – the privilege to sit in judgment over the affairs of fellow-men, is an attribute of God. Obedience to them in the Lord, therefore is, a Christian duty and rebellion against them is not only injustice to fellow-men, but disobedience to God (see Rom. 13:1- 7; 1 Peter 2:13-18).
There is also the same teaching in the Scripture with regard to the Church, which show clearly that judgment is to be exercised in the realm of the church. This will be the subject of another detailed discourse.
(To be continued next week)
