Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION
Jesus ends the central teaching section of the sermon on the mount with warnings against hypocritical judgment and trusting in power. He again assures us of our Father’s kindness.

THE TEXT
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you . . . .” (Matthew 7:1-12).

STRUCTURE
This section falls into two subsections, but beginning with a negative command (“do not judge” and “do not give,” vv. 1, 6). Within these sections, Jesus follows the same triadic pattern that He has followed elsewhere in the sermon. First, Jesus summarizes traditional practice or teaching (vv. 1-2, 6a; cf. 6:1-, 5, 16). Then, he describes the consequences of mishandling that traditional teaching (vv. 3-5, 6b). Finally, He gives a command that describes the redemptive righteousness that His disciples must enact (vv. 5-6, 7-11). The section ends with a statement of the “golden rule” (v. 12), which repeats the phrase “law and prophets” from 5:17 and brings an end to the central teaching section of the sermon.

DO NOT JUDGE
Jesus has condemned the way some Jews gave alms, prayed, and fasted (6:1-18), and here He condemns the Jews for judging hypocritically (cf. Romans 2:1-16). Those who judge their brothers harshly or unmercifully stand in danger of being judged in the same way; we receive in the same measure that we give (v. 2). Besides, the hypocrite is incapable of using his eyes rightly. Eyes are organs of judgment, and the hypocrite has a huge obstruction in his eye that prevents him from removing the much smaller speck in his brother’s eye (vv. 3-4). Jesus does not tell us to ignore our brothers’ faults. He says that “first” we should remove the log from our own eye, repent of our own blindness, so that we can see clearly to help our brothers. Self-correction is the redemptive righteousness of Jesus’ disciples.

WHO IS OUR PATRON?
To understand what Jesus is saying in verse 6, we need to recognize that he is beginning a new section here. Verse 6 is not a continuation of the discussion of judgment, but a new commandment. We get a clue from Jesus’ reference to “pigs,” which appear elsewhere in the gospels, and in first-century Jewish writings, with reference to the Roman empire (e.g., the “Legion” of demons and the pigs in Mark 5:1-20). Jesus is warning against entrusting the care and protection of holy things to Gentile powers, a constant temptation for Israel throughout her history. The danger is that the Gentile dogs will turn and devour, and the pigs will trample Israel underfoot (cf. Luke 21:24). Instead of seeking the patronage of Gentile powers, Jesus says that we should seek the patronage of our heavenly Father (vv. 7-11). Do not trust in princes, Jesus says, but in the Lord our God.

DO TO OTHERS
Jesus concludes the substance of His sermon with a summary of His teaching. The whole law and prophets – and remember that Jesus does not annul the law – is about doing the good to others that we want them to do to us. We don’t act toward others as they deserve; we act as we want them to act toward us. That is the justice of Jesus.