Do not judge, in order that you are not judged,
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged,
And with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
Clearly the first question here is as to what Jesus means by ‘judging'. The term has a wide meaning moving from ‘assessing' on the one hand to ‘total condemnation' on the other. Some would see Matthew 7:1 as standing on its own, but in that case it simply becomes a truism. It would be to go against all the teaching of Scripture concerning the need for judges, and the need for individual judgment. It is only in context that it actually gains any significant meaning. We will therefore consider what Jesus definitely does not mean.
1). He does not mean that they should not ‘judge' what other people teach, for not only does He expect them to pass judgment on His own teaching, but He will also shortly warn them about false prophets who are to be avoided (Matthew 7:15-23; compare Matthew 16:6; Gal 1:6-9; 2 Timothy 2:17-18; 2 John 1:7-11). Recognising a false prophet requires ‘judgment', and the New Testament regularly lays down the bases on which such prophets should be judged (see for example Matthew 5:20; Romans 16:17-18; Galatians 1:6-9; 1Ti 6:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:17-18; 2 Timothy 3:13-17; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 1:7-9). Even Christian prophets have to be judged (1 Corinthians 14:29). On the other hand in the case of lesser things we must recognise the right of each to his own view (Romans 14:1-8; 1 Corinthians 8:7-13). So they are in all cases to judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).
2). He does not mean that they should not act to deal with gross sin which is clearly contrary to Scripture or the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Apostles (compare Matthew 18:17; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Timothy 6:3; 2Th 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:14; Titus 3:10-11). Jesus agreed with what the Law taught (Matthew 23:2-3), and would have expected them to judge accordingly, even though tempered with compassion (John 8:10). And He constantly makes clear that God will deal severely with gross sin (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:25-26; Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 6:15; Matthew 7:13; Matthew 7:19-20; Matthew 7:23; Matthew 7:25).
3). He does not mean just ‘live and let live'. One of the reasons for appointing the Apostles was so that they could determine authoritatively the behaviour of the ‘congregation' by ‘binding and loosing' (Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:15-20), although they were not to try to apply them to outsiders (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). And while Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, just as He ate with Pharisees, and with any who sought the truth, it was precisely because they were seeking the truth and He was there as a doctor among them (Matthew 9:11-12). He did not involve Himself in riotous living, or even condone it. ‘Gluttonous man' and ‘winebibber' were the accusations of His enemies, not the real facts of the case (Matthew 11:19).
What kind of judging then does Jesus have in mind? It is clear from the context that it is the ‘judging' of a brother that is mainly in question (Matthew 7:3; Matthew 7:5), while taking a more cautious attitude towards outsiders (Matthew 7:6) and that the principle is that any judgments are to bear in mind the need for having a right attitude (Matthew 7:2). Censorious and condemnatory judgment of a brother, whether by the group, or by an individual, is forbidden.
Thus when they come to pass a judgment they should ensure three things. Firstly that they themselves are in a fit state to be able to judge fairly, secondly that their judgment is fair and reasonable (after full enquiry) and thirdly the repercussions on themselves because of their own attitude if they fail to judge fairly. (The same idea of repercussion comes also in Matthew 7:6, where it is from a different source). Jesus then declares that those who judge harshly, will themselves be judged harshly, both by God and men (this is mainly an example of the ‘divine passive, a reference to God by using the passive tense). They will be judged by their own standards (compare Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 18:23-35, the latter specifically related to the Kingly Rule of Heaven). They will receive measure for measure from God, if not from men. (Many grain contracts insisted that the same measure should be used for measuring the amounts of grain, and the amounts paid for the grain, and that may be in mind here). Thus they would be better off not standing in judgment on others, for the merciful will obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7), and the judgmental and unforgiving (Matthew 6:14-15) will themselves be judged.
That ‘in order that you might not be judged' includes the judgment of God is clear from the whole Sermon (and indeed from the whole of Matthew) where God's judgment is continually in view. It is assumed in the beatitudes, specific in Matthew 5:19-22; Matthew 5:25; Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 6:15; and especially seen in what follows in Matthew 7:13-27. But that it also includes the judgment of men is suggested by Matthew 7:6.
Clearly this statement is to a certain extent a general principle of the Kingly Rule of Heaven and does not just apply between brethren. It illustrates how those under God's Kingly Rule should behave towards all. It is how all judgment of others is to be approached. That is why He concludes with a warning to be aware of how they pass on their judgments on outsiders (however well intentioned), for they might have violent repercussions (Matthew 7:6). For they will find that outsiders are not as compassionate and accepting as their brother and sister disciples. But unquestionably central to His thought here is ‘judging' a brother or sister. For one final purpose in mind is to be the assistance of that brother and sister in putting right their own lives.
Central also to Jesus thinking here is how unfit we are to be judges. How quickly we make rash judgments without discovering the true facts. We forget God's instructions to His people which were to be followed before they acted, ‘if you shall hear tell --- then you shall enquire, and make search, and ask diligently' and only then were they to act (Deuteronomy 13:13-14). But our tendency is to act first, often on the basis of information supplied by unreliable people (although they might not seem so at the time), and then to discover only too late (if at all) that we have made the wrong judgment.
Nor do we often know sufficient about other people's problems and psychological difficulties to be able to judge them fairly. The American Indians had a saying, ‘never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins (shoes)', and the great Rabbi Hillel declared, ‘Do not judge a man until you yourself have come into his circumstances or situation'. Putting it in the words of Jesus, ‘do not judge according to appearances, but judge righteous judgment' (John 7:24).
Furthermore we are all victims of prejudice. We do not judge righteous judgment because so often we see things only from our own point of view. We overlook the fact that others see things differently, and often have a perfect right to do so. We can rightly expect our brothers and sisters to do God's will, but we do have to make sure that what we are recommending is not in fact just our own ideas about what is God's will.
We are reminded here of the words of a poem which is so apposite to what we are considering that we feel it worth citing,
Judge not. The workings of his heart, and of his mind, you cannot see.
What seems to your dull eyes a stain, in God's pure eyes may only be,
A scar won on some battlefield, where you would only faint and yield.
That look, that air, that frets your sight, might be a token that below,
The soul is closed in deadly fight, with some infernal, fiery foe,
Whose look would scorch your smiling grace, and send you shuddering on your face.
And the final reason why we cannot act in judgment on others is because we are not usually in a fit state to do so. In Jesus' words here, we have a plank in our eye. For the more we know ourselves the more we recognise that we are ‘the chief of sinners' (1 Timothy 1:15). How then can the chief of sinners pass judgment on another? What he must rather do is feel totally humbled and then use his experience of being such a sinner to help the other with no sense of superiority at all.
This general principle will now be applied by Jesus to dealings among themselves. It is to be noted that it is not a reasonable, rightly-motivated and humble ‘judgment' that is frowned on, but a censorious, hypocritical and unloving one. The right kind of judgment, or to put it more accurately, the right kind of helpful and loving assessment of another's need for assistance (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in order to consider what our attitude and thoughts should be in the matter), is to be encouraged, but Jesus stresses that it is only to be after the one who seeks to offer that assistance has first indulged in a rigid self-examination of himself before God. For those who would offer assistance must first examine their own lives so as to ensure that any sins within them have been forgiven and cleansed, that anything that prevents them from seeing things in God's light, and in the way that God wants them to look at them, have been removed from their eyes, and that their hearts are right towards all men. Jesus is saying that if we have not wept over our own sins before God we are in no state to help another.
Then they must examine what their own motives genuinely are. For as sinners themselves they are in no position to ‘pass judgment'. Rather they must ensure that their approach to another is in compassion and humility, in full recognition of their own shortcomings, ‘considering themselves lest they also be tempted' (Galatians 6:1). They must see that they are coming as sinners to fellow-sinners, as those who fail often to one who has failed but once, not as judges to a miscreant, but as loving friends, who themselves have often fallen, to one who has slipped and fallen. And only then are they in a position to approach a ‘brother' or ‘sister' in order to offer assistance.