Stop judging, that you may not be judged. 2 For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. 3 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5 You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye. 6 Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
When God sent Samuel to anoint David, he told him, “Do not judge from his appearance …. The Lord looks into the heart (1 Sam 16:7).' If we find fault and judge others, we open ourselves to similar judgment by God at the final judgment. God knows our thoughts and what’s in our hearts and will judge us based on our motives. Judgment is contrary to the mercy Jesus wants us to show to others; “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Mt. 5:7).” We must first have a true understanding of our own faults and how we should truly act in the eyes of God before we can offer correction to others. This is especially true for some hypocritical members of religious groups who think of themselves as pious, as was the case with the Pharisees. They find the greatest fault in the smallest infraction and are severe in their judgment of others.
The faults in others should prompt us to work on our own faults as shown to us by God’s word. We must show charity to our brothers and be slow to condemn. Sometimes people act contrary to Jesus’ teaching and behave in a way that makes it difficult not to judge them. In such cases, trying to offer correction using the Word of God would be futile (v. 6). Jesus said to the Canaanite woman who asked him to exorcize a demon from her daughter, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs (Mt. 15:26).” In the OT, swine and dogs were derogatory terms for those ignorant of the Torah and for the Gentiles.
Almighty God, we easily see the imperfections in others but are blind to our faults which we use as a shield. Help us to see ourselves as you see us, and in your mercy grant us the will to change. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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