Monday, 25th of June 2018

Matthew 7:1-5

Jesus said to his disciples: "Stop judging, that you may not be judged.
For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. 
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 
How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? 
You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

Source: https://dailygospel.org/M/AM/

Analysis

Today's passage is a short though meaningful passage. It is basically Jesus advising His disciples on hypocrisy. Surprisingly, this passage is quite straightforward, even its metaphors are easily interpreted. First, Jesus tells the core passage that is to not judge others, so we too are not judged, and if we do judge, we too will be judged, and our standards of judgement will be applied to ourselves. Then Jesus emphasizes this message into a very harsh metaphor, that is how can we notice the splinter in our brother's eyes but not see the wooden beam in our own eye. He then calls the people He are talking to hypocrites and to remove their own wooden beam first, so they can see clearly to remove the splinter from their brother's eye. That is the entire passage.

Judging someone means we see someone's behavior and make our own personal conclusions about them, usually in a negative perspective. While one may say that it is for the good of the one we judge, there's a difference being judging and criticizing. And if we judge others, we too will be judged, it is only natural for that to happen. Measure in this passage means our standards, say someone does not fulfill our standards, we judge them and say they are whatever we wish to call them. The issue of standards is then reemphasized in the metaphor Jesus delivered. If we judge others by our standards, it is only fair that we too are judged by our own standards, and then it will be seen, do we even live up to our own standards?

Most of us when judging simply does it for our ego and self pride, even when perhaps, we actually commit the same things that others do that causes our judgement upon them. This is what Jesus meant about the splinter and the wooden beam. How is it that we easily notice other's mistakes and admonishes them for it but easily forgive and ignore our own mistakes? If we judge others, it is expected that we are better than the ones we judge, as it implies that we can avoid that mistake, so why can't others do? As such, when we judge others blindly while ignoring our own mistakes, we are guilty of hypocrisy. Furthermore, judging others is not the correct way to help others, and is thus contrary to the command of loving your neighbors. I believe that is all I have to say, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.