Different: Motives and relationships.
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Intro
Intro
I am sure most of us today are familiar with all of the long contracts that are put out, especially by big companies today.
They go on for pages and often have a link to an even more in depth document full of legal speech that makes little sense to the average person.
How man of us actually read those in depth all the way through before hitting I accept?
It is a rare thing when a company, instead of telling you how to not use their product by giving that lengthy explanation telling you how to not use it, gives simply urges people to use their product for good.
Their is a software company that has the statement.
May you do good and not evil. May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others. May you share freely, never taking more than you give.
At first I thought,
Imagine if more terms of service agreements were written as blessings instead of legal documents.
If we boil it down and really think about it.
That is essentially what Jesus is doing with his disciples.
Compare the pharisees, with their endless lists of rules of what to do and what not to do in order to be holy are like those contracts, full of legal mumbo jumbo.
Not bad necessarily, but full of so much information that you could never fully keep or understand what is there and certainly never actually keep every rule listed.
Jesus though tells his disciples judge not, condemn not.
Do good and not evil.
Forgive others.
Share freely with others.
The analogy of course breaks down if we begin to think of this section as terms of service.
Because we know from scripture that the terms of service are
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
In a discipleship relationship, we trust in Jesus for our forgiveness, then natural question then is now what?
The previous section used examples of two different ways of life, two different types of people to put forth a question of a decision that must be made.
While the previous section takes up the question of our relationship to means and resources, how we choose to use them and the priority they take in our lives.
This next section of the text brings up the question of our relationship with others.
Jesus instructs his disciples on their relationship with themselves if they are going to follow Him.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Judging, condemning, forgiving.
Judging, condemning, forgiving.
Jesus instruction to His followers begins with 3 imperatives.
Judge not, condemn not, and forgive.
There is no more forceful way in the Greek language to tell someone to do something than a simple imperative—particularly the second person imperative.
Especially when such a command is given regarding a specific situation, the one giving that command sees himself as an authority figure.
The writer or speaker expects those addressed to do exactly as he has ordered.
That is exactly what we have in these statements.
I want to look at each of these words a little bit closer.
The word for judge is a root of English critic.
It seems to imply a critical, judgmental, self-righteous spirit which judges others more severely than it does itself.
It emphasizes one set of sins over another set of sins.
It excuses one’s own faults, but will not excuse the faults of others
An example of this.
There is a story of one man visiting another.
As they were eating together the visitor told the owner of the home a story.
There were two men in the same city—one rich, the other poor. The rich man had huge flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.
The poor man had nothing but one little female lamb, which he had bought and raised.
It grew up with him and his children as a member of the family.
It ate off his plate and drank from his cup and slept on his bed. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “One day a traveler dropped in on the rich man. He was too stingy to take an animal from his own herds or flocks to make a meal for his visitor, so he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared a meal to set before his guest.”
5–6 The owner of the home exploded in anger. “As surely as GOD lives,” he said to the visitor, “the man who did this ought to be lynched! He must repay for the lamb four times over for his crime and his stinginess!”
The owner of the home quickly saw and realized the injustice of the other mans actions.
If you don’t know already, this is the story of Nathan confronting King David over taking another man’s wife.
Nathan responded to David’s explosion of anger was, You are the man!
You can go read the rest of the story in 2 Sam 12, but David makes a key statement in verse 13.
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Now, the reason I mention this this morning is because it is an indication of something that I find as a tendency in my own heart—
Perhaps you have the same
That is, the ability to very quickly detect a problem in somebody else while ignoring the problem that I face myself.
Or, in the words of Jesus a little later on in the passage, to see specks of sawdust in other people’s eyes while at the same time overlooking the fact that we have planks in our own eyes.
Now, this brings us to the very core of what Jesus is teaching here this morning, confronting us with the fact that each of us,
if we’re honest, are inclined to discover and condemn the faults of others while passing lightly over our own sorry sins.
This is what Jesus is saying do not do.
Condemn not.
Condemn not.
He elaborates with his next word.
Condemn not.
This Greek word means to give judgment against a person, recognize the evidence against him, pass sentence, which is why our English word condemn is used.
We might better understand it in a court setting when a person receives judgment.
A murderer may be condemned to life in prison.
If we study the word and its use in scripture though it is frequently used in relation to innocent people rather than those who deserve it.
The other uses in the NT
You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
Here it is used with the imperative in making a direct statement, a call of Jesus followers to stop condemning others.
This is a direct follow up from our previous verses on loving your enemies.
We should not condemn because we don’t know another persons whole situation.
God does, but we are not God.
These are some of the most misunderstood and misapplied verses in the Bible.
Today they serve as the base of much of American religion.
Some people do not know a single Bible verse—they might not even know there is an Old and New Testament.
But let them feel the slightest disapproval and the King James comes forth: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged.”
This verse so well loved because judging/condemning someone else is thought to be the most heinous of crimes.
Never mind that they are lifting the verse out of its context and are ignoring other Scriptures that call for Christians to judge and even at times condemn sin.
For example, here in this same sermon which we we get to in a couple weeks, Christ calls his disciples to judge people by their fruits (vv. 43–45).
Paul in 1 Cor challenges them the make moral judgments stating
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
As disciples of Jesus, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we ought to have a heightened sense of right and wrong and the ability to make subtle moral judgments.
If we are listening...
Jesus command Judge not contains no suggestion of moral indifference or passing on of moral responsibility.
What Jesus is disallowing is a judgmental, condemning disposition,
Frederick Godet who was a Swiss pastor in the 1800s described it in more boisterous terms as judging for the pleasure of judging.”
So while this does not prohibit examining the lives of others, it certainly prohibits doing in the spirit it is often done.
The Gospel of Luke (b) Love and Mercy 6:27–38
The context would suggest that it is the attitude which fails to show mercy to the guilty which is here being attacked.
An example of unjust judgment was the disciples’ condemnation of the woman who came to anoint the feet of Jesus with oil (Matthew 26:6–13).
They thought she wasted something; Jesus said she had done a good work that would always be remembered.
They had a rash, harsh, unjust judgment.
We break this command when we think the worst of others.
We break this command when we only speak to others of their faults.
We break this command when we judge an entire life only by its worst moments.
We break this command when we judge the hidden motives of others.
We break this command when we judge others without considering ourselves in their same circumstances.
We break this command when we judge others without being mindful that we ourselves will be judged.
The importance of this is seen specifically in the phrase that follows the command to not judge and not condemn.
In the Greek, the form of the word is known as a subjunctive.
Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar (Fourth Edition) English > Chapter 31: Subjunctive
The subjunctive does not describe what is, but what may (or might) be. In other words, it is the mood not of reality but of possibility (or probability)
When you look at it in Greek, these phrases are a little awkward.
In literal order the words are
and not not you may be judged.
Repeated words are always significant
The way this phrase is put together, two negatives with a subjunctive indicates that this is not a maybe thing.
It is a sure thing.
It is not, not going to happen.
This combination happens over 80 times in the NT and frequently around promises and reassurance about the future.
It is a sure thing, that if you believe in Jesus, your sin will not be judged in the same manner as those who do not.
It is a sure thing, that if you believe in Jesus, you will not be condemned as those who do not.
It is out of this status that Jesus speaks his third imperative.
Forgive.
Forgive.
Forgive.
To be forgiving is to be Christlike.
As legal term, to grant acquittal, set free, release, pardon
to release from a painful condition, free
The word was used in secular Greco-Roman writings of discharge from the military, of release from jail or of setting a debtor free.
The NASB frequently translates the word release.
so the picture is that believers are commanded to "release" the one who sins against them. The offender's sin is pictured as a "debt" that they owe us.
As Christ followers we are called (commanded and enabled by the Spirit) to release them from or to "send away" the "sin debt" they "owe" us.
Being merciful does not mean suspending moral judgment and responsibility.
But we are not to hold judgment against the person in such a way that ministry and reconciliation become impossible.
Disciples are to bear good news, not hold grudges.
The construction of the final phrase, while it appears the similar in English, is different in Greek.
Instead of the double negative, there is now a future passive.
This is important for a couple of reasons.
First is the clear impact it has in the future.
We have hope because we know there will be forgiveness.
The more significant aspect though I think comes in the current nature of that forgiveness.
With this verb also comes the truth of the current forgiveness that is now given as well.
This is the already but not yet idea of God’s kingdom showing up once again.
The kingdom inaugurated but not yet consummated.
There is much more to say on this topic, forgiveness is extremely difficult. Especially when it feels like something is unforgivable.
If you are interested in some more resources specifically on forgiveness I would be happy to share some with you.
Will will pick up next week and touch a little more on this and how it relates and leads into the next verse.
To bring us to a close for today.
The agreement Jesus makes with us is sort of like the terms of service analogy we looked at in the beginning.
He offers us forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In return, all He asks is that we do good (Gal. 6:10),
forgive as we’ve been forgiven (Luke 6:37),
and love others as He loves us (John 13:34).
The beauty of Jesus’ agreement with us is that even though we fail to live up to the terms, we still receive the blessing.
We can live out his commands because of His grace
And it is through that grace that we remain in the agreement.