A Reminder That Love Must Result In Honesty When Judging (6:41-42).
w And why do you behold the mote that is in your brother's eye (Luke 6:41 a),
x But do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? (Luke 6:41 b).
y Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in your eye (Luke 6:42 a),
y When you yourself do not behold the beam that is in your own eye? (Luke 6:42 b)
x You hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of your own eye (Luke 6:42 c),
w And then you will see clearly to cast out the mote that is in your brother's eye (42d).
“And why do you behold the splinter that is in your brother's eye,
But do not consider the beam that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me cast out the splinter that is in your eye,
When you yourself do not behold the beam which is in your own eye?
You hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of your own eye,
And then you will see clearly to cast out the splinter that is in your brother's eye.”
The ‘splinter' and the ‘beam' in this illustration both connect with building. They will lead on to the parable about building. A ‘splinter' (or ‘chip') is a tiny piece of timber, a ‘beam is a huge piece of timber which is used, for example, to hold up roofs. (The same contrast is found later in the Rabbis). That is why some have translated as ‘splinter' and ‘plank'. The point is that we must not try to remove our brother's small imperfections while in our own lives there are huge imperfections. First we must ensure that the huge imperfections are removed from our own lives. We must come into God's light and let Him deal with all our own sin. We must put aside from our lives all that we know to be wrong. We must examine out own thoughts and motives. And then, once we have genuinely and fully done that, and the huge beam which has been marring our lives has been removed, then and only then, we can approach our brother to help him (compare Galatians 6:1-2).
‘You hypocrite.' The word means a play-actor, and thus someone who is putting on a show which is not genuine, or acting in a contradictory way. In The End What Men Are Is Revealed In What They Produce By Their Lives (Luke 6:43-46).
Yet it is important that we help each other with regards to imperfections in us, for a tree is known by its fruit, and therefore it is important for all of us that our imperfections are dealt with. We have already seen this illustration about trees bearing fruit in the teaching of John the Baptiser (Luke 3:8).