The final part of the Sermon on the Mount focuses on judgment, serving as a powerful and convicting filter. It is a serious reminder that those who do not allow the Holy Spirit to transform their hearts, behaviors, and lives according to this sermon will face eternal disappointment, hearing the words, “I never knew you.” This is a tough truth, but it’s a “good hit” that reminds us to be like a servant who listens to the Lord. We must be receptive to God’s Word and grieve over our own shortcomings, seeking to change immediately. This is not the mindset of those who are hard and unmovable, who hear the truth but rub it off and continue on their way. Be warned, for this sermon concludes with the story of the wise and foolish builders, and unless we change our character to reflect that of a child of the kingdom, we risk being rejected by God.
The theme of judgment begins with how we judge others. Whether we admit it or not, we all engage in judging from time to time, and for some, it has become a lifestyle. This is a heart problem, often driven by the following:
- It boosts our self-image. Pointing out others’ failures makes us feel a little better about ourselves and feeds our pride.
- It is enjoyable. Our sinful human nature can take pleasure in hearing and sharing bad news about others.
- It makes us feel better about our own lives. We build ourselves up by tearing others down.
- It is an outlet for hurt, hate, and revenge. We may subconsciously feel that the person who hurt us deserves to be hurt in return.
We have already established that this verse does not mean we should not use discernment. Now, let’s explore what it does mean.
The Sin of Hypercritical Judgment
Jesus is condemning the hypercritical, judgmental, condemning, and self-righteous egotism of the Pharisees. As Luke 18:9 says, the Pharisees were “confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.” They had a mean, critical spirit that could only see the bad in others. This faultfinding is a deadly disease that comes from pride and disguised envy. It prevents God’s grace and love from growing in our hearts, destroying our peace, sleep, and joy. No one likes a faultfinder, as they are often gossips and talebearers who waste hours filling themselves and others with poison rather than growing in God’s Word.
This issue stems from an incorrect view of God, others, and ourselves.
- A Wrong View of God: When you judge others and their motives, you are taking God’s place and His prerogative. John 5 states that judgment belongs to God and has been committed to the Son. As Romans 14:4 asks, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” And as James 4:11-12 reminds us, there is only one Lawgiver who is able to save and destroy. We cannot set ourselves up as judges above the law.
- A Wrong View of Others and Yourself: People who judge often believe they are exempt from judgment themselves. The Pharisees thought they were on a different spiritual level, but Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 7:2 that “with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
. This is a powerful and solemn warning. The way we judge others will be the basis for how God judges us, both in providence and for all eternity. It’s a sobering thought. Paul repeats this in Romans 2:1, saying we are “inexcusable” when we judge others, for by doing so, we prove that we know what is right and condemn ourselves when we do the same things. Our criticism is like a boomerang that comes right back at us.
The Beam in Your Own Eye
Jesus uses a vivid and ironic caricature to illustrate this point: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”
This is a comical image of a person with a massive wooden beam in their eye trying to help someone with a tiny splinter. The beam represents self-righteousness, a far worse sin than the “speck” in someone else’s eye. Jesus condemned self-righteousness more than any other sin because it denies the gospel and the need for redemption. The people who see everything wrong in someone else’s life often see nothing wrong in their own. As long as you are spiritually proud and self-righteous, you are blind and unable to truly help anyone else. You cannot help your brother with their minor sins if you refuse to deal with your own major sin of pride.
The purpose of this teaching is to make us examine our own hearts. We would do well to take the time we spend criticizing others and instead spend it in prayer and confession in a private closet. Only when we deal with the log in our own eye can we have the clarity to help a brother with their speck.
The core of the Sermon on the Mount is the Beatitudes. Until you have humbly and meekly hungered and thirsted for righteousness, recognizing your own sinfulness, you cannot follow any of its teachings. A truly holy person is so consumed by his own sinfulness that he is not focused on pulling splinters out of other people’s eyes while a plank remains in his own.
When I constantly find fault with your life, I am, in fact, blind to the problems within my own heart. If my heart were as pure as I’d like to believe, I would not be focused on criticizing and condemning you. Instead, I would love you, pray for you, and try to help you. I would not talk about your faults to everyone but would seek to build you up and restore you. The problem with judging others is that we are often guilty of the same or even worse sins ourselves (Romans 2:1).
Here is the hard truth that is difficult to swallow: Jesus is saying that the sin of the critic is greater than the sin of the person being judged. When we find fault, we reveal a self-righteous heart that lacks genuine love for our neighbor (Matthew 22:39) and is filled with hate and bitterness.
The Hypocrisy of a Judgmental Spirit
Jesus uses strong language to describe a judgmental person. In Matthew 7:5, He calls them a “hypocrite,” a phony. He says, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” A hypocrite’s heart is different from their words and actions, and they have a wrong view of God, others, and themselves.
The Lord offers a masterful balance for both the one who judges and the one who is judged. First, He says, “First, cast the beam out of thine own eye.” He doesn’t just point out the plank; He commands us to get rid of our self-righteousness and pride. How do we do this? We must examine our hearts, realize our sin, and repent. You must first become a person who is poor in spirit, mourns, and hungers and thirsts for righteousness. This is because all judgmentalism stems from a heart that is not right with God.
In verse 3, Jesus says, “You do not consider the plank in your own eye.” The word “consider” means to perceive in a meditative, prolonged way. It’s the same word used when Jesus says, “Consider the birds/lilies.” This is a call for deep introspection. You must ask yourself, “Why am I always judging others? Is the problem with them, or is the problem with my heart? Have I ever thought that perhaps others do not change because of my own attitude?” We need to pray to God, “Search me and show my heart to me.”
After considering our own spiritual problem, we must “cast it out” by repenting and confessing it to the Lord. As 1 Corinthians 11:31 says, “If we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” God will not need to chasten the sin of self-righteousness if we deal with it ourselves.
Once our own hearts are clean, and our vision is cleared up, then “we will be able to see clearly” to help our brother. We cannot let him continue in sin, but we must deal with ourselves first.
The Blessings of Self-Judgment
When we get the plank out of our own eye, we will see a few things more clearly:
- We will see our own hearts more clearly. We will understand that we are just sinners prone to fail.
- We will see God more clearly. We will realize that we will one day stand in judgment before Him.
- We will see our brother more clearly. We will see his need for love, compassion, and help.
With a fixed heart and cleared vision, we will be able to reach out to a fallen brother or a lost sinner with the right spirit. We will not approach them with judgment and condemnation but with compassion and a desire for their restoration, as instructed in Galatians 6:1-2: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.”
A judgmental and critical attitude makes it impossible to help others or win lost souls. We should be in the business of building up, not tearing down. We must remember that we can judge what people say and do, but we cannot judge why they say or do it, as only God sees the heart. As Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” If we cannot understand our own heart, how can we presume to understand anyone else’s?
The judgmental person is a hypocrite. The order is crucial: we must judge ourselves first by asking God to show us our own sins and weaknesses. We should pray as the Psalmist did in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” If we truly mean this prayer, we will do more confessing and less judging.
A person who has judged themselves will display qualities of meekness, humility, godly sorrow, gentleness, selflessness, patience, and discretion. Once we are humbled and cleansed, we can then reach out to a brother, and they will be glad for our help because they will know we are there not to condemn but to help. Just as a surgeon needs a compassionate and delicate touch to operate on a sensitive eye, we must be careful not to cause more damage in our haste to help.
We have no time to hate, condemn, or live in bitterness. This requires a supernatural work of God in our hearts.
A Prayer for Change
Heavenly Father, our problem is not with Your Word, nor with other people who have hurt us. Our problem is on the inside. We confess that we have been critical of those around us. Forgive our thoughtless, unkind, and hurtful words. Show us a better way. Without You, we will never change.
Lord Jesus, thank You for showing us how to live and how to forgive those who have hurt us the most.
Holy Spirit, fill us with Your power so that we might become truly different people. Set us free from bitterness, anger, and a judgmental spirit. Grant us the power to love each other and make us like Jesus, full of grace and truth. Amen.
May God grant you new life through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and may you experience the freedom of forgiveness and the joy that comes from letting Him take control.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 