1.1 The Christian and Judging Others
1.1.1 Do Not Judge
Matthew 7:1-5: “1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”
Romans 14:4: “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.”
1 Corinthians 4:4-5: “For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”
Romans 2:1: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”
“Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” (Romans 14:13)
Pourquoi Jésus dit-il à ses disciples de ne pas juger ? – Taizé (taize.fr)
1.1.2 Avoid Premature Judgments
2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
1 Corinthians 4:5: “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.”
1.1.3 Do Not Judge by Appearance
John 7:23-24: “If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
Isaiah 11:3: “And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.”
James 2:4: “Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?”
John 7:51: “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?”
1 Samuel 21:6: “So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.”
Matthew 12:3-5: “But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? … But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.”
Matthew 12:9-10: “And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.”
1 Samuel 22:20-23: “And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the Lord’s priests. And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.”
Deuteronomy 16:18: “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.”
Ne jugez point (bible-ouverte.ch)
The story of Balaam, who said he would have killed his donkey if he had a sword, is edifying. The reason he would have killed his donkey was that it had saved his life three times. Yet, judging by appearance, he considered the donkey’s behavior condemnable, even though it was saving his life! (Numbers 22:22-35).
The Light
We should not judge because we do not have all the light necessary to evaluate things correctly. We often do not know what is in people’s hearts and even less, we are unaware of their motives for acting. It is not said that situations should not be judged, but rather that we should avoid acting too quickly without having all the necessary information for a proper analysis. Most often, judging someone without listening to them, without knowing their motivations, constraints, and goals, is to make a premature and superficial judgment, which is often wrong.
1.1.4 You Are Condemned by Your Judgments
27 Versets de la Bible sur Juger Les Autres (knowing-jesus.com)
Romans 2:1-3: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?”
James 4:11-12: “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
The Judgment of David
The Bible recounts this story in the eleventh chapter of the second book of Samuel. David had become enamored with a beautiful woman, and it was later revealed that she would bear him a child. Her husband, a valiant officer, was away fighting for the nation of Israel. To cover up his sin, David arranged for him to be killed during a military maneuver. It goes without saying that David now bore the weight of two sins on his conscience: adultery and murder. According to divine ordinances, these two transgressions warrant the death penalty (Exodus 21:12; Leviticus 20:10).
However, it would have been difficult to enforce the death penalty on David. Had his case been discussed before a human tribunal, he might have walked away unscathed. I think of certain crimes that make headlines and how they have been debated in our courts of justice. I imagine King David in the dock, with his lawyer present. What arguments could he use before the jury to defend his client? I believe he could have mounted a very solid defense based on the fact that David was the king of Israel.
This title, in itself, does not provide him with immunity from the penalties prescribed by the law. If he deserves the death penalty, the sentence must be executed, whether he is a king or not. Everyone agrees on that. But note this. As king, David was the commander-in-chief of his army. And Bathsheba was the wife of an officer who served in his army. As king, David had absolute authority to send any soldier to war wherever he chose. In this case, he decided to send Uriah to the front lines, to the most dangerous place in a battle. The outcome of this decision was predictable: Uriah died in combat. Did David commit an illegal act? No. The commander of the army has the right to place his soldiers where he desires. Before human law, he had nothing to answer for. And of course, with Uriah dead, David could now marry his widow legitimately. Once again, there is nothing wrong with taking as a wife a woman whose husband has died.
You see, the intentions of the heart are infinitely more difficult to demonstrate than the facts. One could probably establish David’s responsibility in the decision to place Uriah where the battle was the fiercest. But it is practically impossible to prove that David wanted him removed to marry Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. This weakness limits our judicial system’s ability to render justice. But God cannot be deceived this way. God is not fooled. He had His eyes on David’s heart and saw his sin. He perceived the malicious nature of his intentions. A servant of God named Nathan then came to David to inform him of the whole matter.
“I would like to inform you, Your Majesty, of a distressing story. Here’s what happened. There was a man who had a little ewe lamb. It was very precious to him because it was all he had. He cared for it as if it were his own daughter. He fed it, and it grew up with his children. It even slept in his arms. There was also another man in the city. This man was very rich. He had flocks and herds in abundance. But he did not want to take one of his own animals for the meal he was preparing for a visitor. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe.”
When David heard this story, he became very angry with the rich man. “How dare he commit such injustice! He has so many sheep, and yet he took the only ewe belonging to the poor man. For acting so ruthlessly, I declare that he shall restore the ewe fourfold.” In other words, he must replace the stolen ewe with four other ewes. The prophet Nathan looked David straight in the eye and said, “Thou art the man!” Oh, what a surprise!
What happened? By this parable, Nathan led David to pronounce a sentence against himself. By declaring that the rich man must restore the ewe fourfold, David condemned himself to a similar penalty. “Thou art the rich man who took the poor man’s lamb. Thou hast caused Uriah the Hittite to perish and taken his wife to be thy own.” The Lord executed the sentence as David had pronounced it. Consequently, David lost four of his sons. They died one after another. The baby that Bathsheba bore to David died (2 Samuel 12:15). Then his son Amnon was killed (2 Samuel 13:28-29). Next, Absalom met the same fate (2 Samuel 18:14-15). And finally, Adonijah was also murdered (1 Kings 2:24-25). God judged David according to his own sense of justice in this case, i.e., to restore fourfold what was stolen. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
1.1.5 Judge According to Justice
1 Corinthians 6:1-6: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.”
Romans 14:13: “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”
Galatians 2:11-15: “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.”
The Apostle Peter did something displeasing to the Lord: he behaved hypocritically. When Paul was not present, he would eat with the Gentiles, but when Paul and other Jews arrived, Peter abstained from eating with the Gentiles. Paul pointed this out to him, judged him publicly, and reproached him for his hypocrisy. And Peter bowed to the correction.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?… Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”
1 Corinthians 11:28: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
Hebrews 5:13-14: “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. (It is not a problem to be a child; the problem is to remain in a childlike state for too long) But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” This is spiritual judgment. We need this discernment in the world around us and in the times we live in today, which are full of confusion, with various winds of doctrine blowing. The Church sometimes seems unsure and divided over doctrine, and nothing seems solid in this world or even in the Church. The Lord tells us: “You need to be exercised by constant use to discern what is good from what is evil.”
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1.1.6 Show Mercy
Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
Matthew 6:14: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
James 2:13: “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”
Mark 11:25-26: “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Ephesians 4:32: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Colossians 3:13: “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”