Stop judging, that you may not be judged. 2 For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. 3 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5 You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye. 6 Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Condemning our neighbor brings a like response from God, “The measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you (Lk. 6:38). If we find fault and judge others, we open ourselves to similar judgment by God at the final judgment. We see the splinter in our neighbor’s eye and offer to remove it, but are too blind to see the beam in our own eye. God knows our thoughts and what’s in our hearts and will judge us based on our motives. Judgment is contrary to the mercy Jesus wants us to show to others; “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Mt. 5:7).” We must first have a true understanding of our own faults and how we should truly act in the eyes of God before we can offer correction to others. This can be the case with some members of religious groups who think of themselves as pious but are actually self-righteous and hypocritical as was the case with the Pharisees. They found the greatest fault in the smallest infraction and were severe in their judgment of others.
The faults in others should prompt us to pray to see our own faults through the eyes of faith and act to correct them. We must show charity to our brothers and be slow to condemn. Sometimes Christians act contrary to Jesus’ teaching and behave in a way that makes it difficult not to judge them. In such cases, trying to offer correction using the Word of God may be futile. We could be making an enemy out of our neighbor and wasting the sacred word of God on someone who is not ready to hear it (v. 6). Christians are advised to be prudent in speaking about the mysteries of the Kingdom (Mt. 13:10-15). ). In the OT swine and dogs were derogatory terms for those ignorant of the Torah and for the Gentiles.
Almighty
God, grant us the grace to see ourselves as you see us and the will to change. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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