October 20, 2023

Today's Reading: 

Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 3:1-29, Matthew 7:1-12

“Do not judge others..”. (Matthew 7:1)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. If you ever watch a courtroom trial on TV, you will always notice the trial takes time. Sometimes the trial is a few hours, sometimes it takes months. You will always notice that the judge doesn’t immediately make a judgment at the start of a trial.  Judges listen carefully to the facts, they read the laws and take all things into account before bringing in the verdict. Their duty is to make sure that the trial is fair to all sides with all the facts put on display.  Today everyone loves to throw the Words of Jesus at us “Judge not!”  It’s probably the most memorized verse in and outside of the church today.  However, in Matthew 7, Jesus is dealing with the Pharisees, who spent most of the time immediately criticizing the sins and shortcomings of everyone except themselves. Jesus eventually became so frustrated with the Pharisee’s self-righteousness (viewing themselves as perfect) that He called them “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27).

“Judge not”. Most of the people who quote this verse don't understand what Jesus said. They seem to think Jesus commanded a universal acceptance of any lifestyle or teaching. If we see what Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-16, He commands us to know people by the fruit of their life, and some sort of assessment is necessary for that. The Christian is called to unconditionally love. But the Christian is not called to unconditional approval. We really can love people who do things that should not be approved of. Instead, Jesus is speaking against being judgmental, that is, judging motives and the inner man, which only God can know.  We can judge the fruit of a man, but we can rarely judge their motives with accuracy. Sin is an addiction and our neighbor cannot free themselves of their sinful condition. Most of our judgment in regard to others is wrong, we do not let all the facts be made known. Jesus will judge the living and the dead, but He will do so with a standard we cannot see in ourselves. His final verdict is given from the cross “forgive them for they know not what they do.”  That is your verdict in Jesus and it's our prayer, not judgment, that many more would be declared not guilty because the blood of Jesus covers a multitude of sins.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

“The Law of God is good and wise  And sets His will before our eyes,

Shows us the way of righteousness, And dooms to death when we transgress”. (LSB 579:1)

- Pastor Kent Schaaf is pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Little Rock. AR..

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.