Matthew 7:1-5 “Judge Not”

When I was growing up we had a neighbor who lived behind us: Old Man Collins was his name. His wife had passed away, and he lived there alone. He was quiet and gentle. He shared the bounty of his fruit trees with us. He had pomegranates. Well, one day Mr. Collins sold his house to move in with his son in another part of town. The neighborhood got together and sent him off with a subdued little gathering.

Then, the new neighbor moved in. As it turned out, he was a superior court judge. We always just ever called him, therefore, “The Judge.” He was congenial at first. He had two dogs that always got loose into our yard. Then, he started raising peacocks. The peacocks were loud, screeching all day and night. They would also get loose. They would stand on the top of our cars and scratch with their talons and leave paint-peeling droppings. Multiple complaints never rectified the problem. In fact today those peacocks are simply wild in the neighborhood. Our family naturally wondered how this man could be a judge and yet be so unconcerned and haphazard in his lifestyle.

After a few years of habitating Old Man’s Collin’s house, the Judge decided to tear down the house and build anew. Of course, with that came a new survey of his property and a complaint that my father had encroached on his property on one side. Just to be fair: yes, my father had in fact planted a tree on his property in order to block the view to his house from ours. Old Man Collins had agreed that the tree was just fine. It enhanced the property. The judge said it had to go. My father offered to purchase an easement in order to keep the tree. The judge said it had to go. So, the tree was chopped down for the new construction.

Not too long after that, the Judge came to my father insisting that he be allowed to connect onto a large concrete drainage line that was on our property. In fact, the Judge was ready to sue our family, claiming a kind of imminent domain on the drainage pipe even though it was not a public utility. So now the shoe was on the other foot. My father granted him a perpetual easement to connect to the drainage line for one dollar–and he had to plant a series of trees between our two houses–basically putting back the tree he chopped down plus adding two more. My father proudly provided the trees and happily put them on the neighbor’s property. They basically marked the new perceived property line! It did not settle the issues with the dogs and peacocks, but a kind of justice prevailed. Through it all, we wondered “how could he be an actual judge?”

From a very early age I learned that even superior court judges are just people. Even though it was his stated job, his profession and calling, he was really just another person trying to make it through this world. In fact, judging others is easy: we all do it all the time.

Of course, in the bible there is even a Book of Judges. You may recall the story of Moses leading the Hebrew slaves into the wilderness of the Sinai. All the people were coming to Moses everyday asking him to judge their disputes. Finally Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law instructed Moses to appoint other judges so that Moses could focus on more godly things. That started the tradition of the Judges of Israel running the country. Judging others is a huge part of the Old Testament of the bible. We have to realize that and accept it.

So, in the New Testament when Jesus says “do not judge,” it goes against human nature and against thousands of years of Jewish tradition. In Jesus’ day there was even a court attached to the Temple in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin set up just to judge others. Jesus himself was judged a blasphemer and sentenced to die there. What are we to make of this? How is it possible not to judge?

One of the things that is not clear in the English but stands out in the Greek is that Jesus commands “do not judge” in the plural. He is not talking about individual judgment here at all! This is about what we call today “group think.” Do not as a group come to judge others!

Jesus shows how this “group think” works in his telling of the “Adultress Woman.” John 7:53-8:11 states that a woman was caught in adultery. At that time the punishment would have been death. So a crowd gathers to stone her to death. What is interesting of course is that although adultery is forbidden in the Ten Commandments of Moses, so is killing another person. How do they get away with punishing one sin by creating more sin? The Jews of that day believed that if everyone threw a rock at the same time, it would be impossible to know which stone it was that actually killed the woman. In this way not one man would be accused of killing since they were all doing it in a group. This is of course the epitome of “group think.”

How does Jesus turn off the “group think” and save the woman from being stoned? He addresses the crowd and asks “Whichever one of you is without sin, let him cast the first stone.” He appeals to the individual conscience to shut down the “group think.” They all realized that they could be stoned next or worse. So, you have to get the person to stop thinking that they are part of the group.

The most annoying “group think” that is happening today is on social media. The social media site learns which feeds you like and keeps sending more of the same to your scroll. In this way they can sell more commercial space online. It also means you may only be hearing what your group is already telling you online.

Another thing that is clear in Greek is that this is not a reference to righteous judgment at all. The word for righteous judgment in Greek is δίκειν, but the word we have here is κριτειν. We actually get the word “critical” in English from this word. Do not be “critical” of others as a group, for as a group you will be critiqued yourselves.

Let me be clear that Jesus is not telling us individually never to judge. When you live your life, you will have to make individual judgments constantly. Our beloved democracy is based on the foundation that we go into the voter booth and make individual judgment based on personal conscience. We are supposed to do that. We are not supposed to, and in fact are herewith commanded, not to pass negative judgment by group think!

The scripture goes on to talk about a log or plank that is before our eyes. Somehow we see a tiny speck in our neighbor’s eye when a huge plank is in front of our own. What Jesus is saying is that we are all blind when it comes to seeing our own faults and sin. Yet, when we see the sins of others, all of the sudden we have 20/20 vision again.

Just as I pointed out that the beginning of this commandment was plural, talking to the group, the command to remove the plank is suddenly and overtly switched to the singular familiar form of the command in Greek. Jesus is telling the group at the Sermon on the Mount not to criticise negatively another group or person, but then tells us individually in another command to take down the plank blocking our personal vision. He does not say that he will take away the plank. He does not infer that the group will take away the plank and see. He addresses you and me individually to take the plank out of our own eyes.

You cannot change the vision or sight of another. All you can do is remove the plank from your own eye. I cannot make you see what I see. In fact, all I can do is remove my own blindness. Hopefully in doing that, I might see what God sees.

There is a pick-up truck that parks on the road outside our house every morning. It belongs to one of the students. There is a bumper sticker on the tailgate that shows Jesus peeking out with a cartoon bubble that says “I saw just you.” That is a healthy reminder that God even sees us when we are driving. As an aside, you may have noticed that in Lihue on Rice Street every intersection has three traffic cameras installed recently. We are all being watched.

What happens if we do not take the plank away from our eyes? At the Nuremberg Trials at the end of the Second World War, Alfred Jodl, a commander in the Wehrmacht, was given the opportunity to confess and ask for mercy. He did neither. He continued to hail Hitler as a great leader, his Fuehrer, and even had the audacity to say that “Only history or God Almighty had the right to judge him.” He was sentenced to death by hanging. We know how history has judged him. One day we will know how God has judged him. My guess is that we will not be running into him in heaven as he died a war criminal.

Spoiler alert! Four weeks from now in this sermon series we will be talking about the last commandment, which is to be patient and endure because the final judgment is coming. That is perhaps the best reason for us today to take the plank out of our own eyes. Just like the bumper sticker, Jesus really does see everything, and so how we have judged is how we will be judged one day. Show mercy towards others that you may receive the Mercy of God.

Amen.