Matthew 7:1-2 (ESV)
¹ “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

While this overall text is condemnatory, in the first couple of verses Jesus is simply giving good advice. Since there is nothing we can do to escape the final judgment of God, “judge not, that you be not judged” cannot be referring to the judgment of God. Jesus is speaking of the judgment that comes from man.

If we judge others harshly and hypocritically, that is the way they will judge us. If we desire others to treat us fairly, we must treat others fairly. This should cause us to pause and be careful about how we judge others. We have seen this week that at times we have to judge others, but that judgment should never be without a sense of mercy and fairness, and, in getting to the real issue of this text, it should never be hypocritical.

Hypocritical judgment is what Jesus is specifically condemning in this passage. Being critical of others while there is willful sin in our lives is despised by God.

Matthew 7:3 (ESV)
³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

The point is clear—this is a person who notices every little fault that others have but ignores enormous flaws in his own life, and usually signals self-righteousness. This is the kind of person who thinks that he is better than everyone else and is plagued with a sanctimonious personality. Because this kind of pompous demeanor is hard to hide, others begin to view him very critically, and he begins, as Jesus said, to be measured with the same measure that he uses on others, only his faults are more easily discovered because they are like logs compared to splinters. His judgments are not taken seriously because everyone knows he is a hypocrite.

Matthew 7:4 (ESV)
⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?

The attempt of this hypocrite to help someone else get rid of an insignificant flaw while he is walk-ing around with faults of gargantuan proportions, shows that he has become clueless to his own situation. His self-righteousness has blinded him. He only has one hope—he must remove the log out of his own eye so that he can see clearly enough to help others.

This kind of judgmental hypocrisy, the kind that Jesus condemned the Pharisees of having, can only be avoided with honest self-examination. Since we all have to engage in judging others from time to time, we better make sure that we are qualified to do so by not possessing willful sin of our own. Let us make sure that we are not the person Jesus describes in this passage. Do not be openly critical of others while walking around with faults that are as obvious as logs protruding out of your eyes.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.