Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 177:708 (Oct 2020)
Article: From The Editor
Author: Glenn R. Kreider

From The Editor

Glenn R. Kreider

People say, “Only God can judge me,” or, “The Bible says it’s wrong to judge”—usually to deflect criticism. It is true that Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matt 7:1). What follows is a parable about a person with a plank in the eye trying to remove a speck of sawdust from someone else’s (vv. 3–4). Jesus instructed the person with the plank to remove it in order to be able to remove the speck from the other’s eye (v. 5). He condemned hypocrisy in judgment, not judgment itself.

In this context Jesus also said, “In the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (v. 2). So, he does not forbid judging or evaluating others; he forbids hypocrisy in doing so. Jesus is saying to people who are inclined to judge others by a different standard than they apply to themselves: Don’t be a hypocrite.

Does this mean it is better not to judge at all, to go through life without a moral compass, without any standard of right and wrong? Of course not. Rather, we should hold ourselves to the standards we apply to others. And we should treat others as we would like them to treat us (v. 12).