JUDGE NOT
Matthew 7:1 is the unofficial golden text of sinners and fleshly Christians who chafe at the idea of accountability to others. And that is often how it gets used – like a Get Out of Accountability Free Card.
On the other extreme are the Christian “Karens” who make it their business to point out the flaws and moral failures of everyone in the church. They aren’t helpful either.
Paul had some very clarifying things to say about judging. And they seem to never get brought up in the “judge not” conversation.
Paul had to address an instance of persistent gross sin in the Corinthian congregation. And in that context he says to them:
“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you.”
1 Corinthians 5:11-13 ESV
Paul is asking the Church to JUDGE the people inside the church. And it’s the same word Jesus used in Matthew 7:1.
Sinners (“outsiders”) don’t know any better and Christians shouldn’t expect unbelievers to “have Christian values.” Why should they? A lot of Christians don’t even have “Christian values.” If Jesus didn’t come to condemn the sinner neither should we. We share the gospel with them and (more importantly) LIVE the gospel before them and pray for their salvation.
But within the church, amongst those who “bears the name of brother,” sin is to be judged. To be clear, Paul is not advocating whispered gossip of condemnation or venting one’s judgmental spleen in a social media post. He’s talking about intentional confrontation.
Sinful conduct cannot be overlooked and allowed to continue unchecked. It can be the bit of leaven that spoils the whole lump or the rotten apple that spoils the whole barrel. Sin must be confronted in truth and love. The attitude of a real Christian who has gotten tangled up in sin, will be one of repentance, sorrow, humility, and submission to correction. Denial, arrogance, and defiance in the face of loving correction – these are signs that the individual is utterly out of step with the Spirit. And those who do not have the Spirit of God do not belong to Him.
Paul goes on to instruct them to formally remove this rebel from the congregation. Publicly. After many attempts by the elders to confront and correct and reason with the offender, this individual persists in his sin, so, in front of the whole assembly, they expose the charges and formally renounce him. This is serious business not to be taken lightly. It’s called excommunication.
Church leaders cannot sit idly by and watch a professed believer fall into a sinful lifestyle that will lead them away from Christ and potentially lead others astray too. That would be the opposite of love. They can’t say “Jesus said ‘judge not’ so we can’t say whether or not they are wrong.” Matthew 7:1 is not some kind of trump card over the rest of the Bible. They are not allowed to hide behind “judge not” because confrontation is uncomfortable.
😐 Uhh.. are you gonna write about any other verses in the TWO chapters in today’s reading or are you just gonna rant about the first one?
Moving right along…
THE NARROW GATE
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14 ESV
There are two words used to describe the gate and the way here.
The gate is…
It’s a small opening. Like the tiny gate I’ve drawn in the margin of my Bible next to this text.
This gate is 1/16in wide (0.159cm). It’s 1/8in tall (0.3175cm). Huh. I just realized it’s about the same size as the letter B.
The gate is stenos – just a small opening. I would say a Jesus-shaped opening. Nothing of sinfulness can fit through it.
And the “way” is…
Have you ever been in a press of people? Perhaps a crowded subway or throng of people waiting for doors to open? I remember a time when I needed to be on a plane that was boarding while I was stuck in a line going through security. (In a foreign country no less). I’m normally the kind of person that lets everyone else go ahead. I’m absurdly patient and don’t mind waiting in lines. But I was stressing to a fellow-American next to me about my situation and a woman behind me says,
🧕🏽 You must go ahead in the line.
I can’t cut in front of all these people. I’m sure they are in a hurry too.
🧕🏽 Your plane is leaving?
Yes! They’re boarding right now.
🧕🏽 Then you go. Don’t worry about them. You must go.
And so I went. With dozens and dozens of “I’m so sorry. My plane is boarding,” as I just ducked under those webbing strap things and shoved myself between people til I got to the gate agent.
When you are thlibo – crowded in and constrained – you can’t walk easily with a big open stride. You shuffle an inch or two forward at a time. You tuck your elbows in. You have to look up and over the heads or obstacles around you to make sure you’re going in the right direction. Moving counter to the direction of the crowd in any way is very hard. It’s like cutting across 4 lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
I used to think that once you got through the narrow gate, then the space would open up and, sure there may be challenges, but at least you’d have wide open spaces. Not so.
It’s not just the gate that is narrow. The whole way is confined and difficult. It reminds me of this:
If I may put it delicately, an excess of flesh will make it very hard to get through the narrow gate and will make travel on the narrow way much more uncomfortable. Thankfully, it is my experience that spiritual weight is easier to lose than the pounds that cling to the body.
I NEVER KNEW YOU
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:21-23 ESV
This is one of the most sobering texts in all the Bible. Notice that the sending away in judgement is not based on whether or not these “followers” knew Jesus. What mattered was, Did Jesus know them? And it’s the Greek word ginosko.
The last statement “depart from me…” is a quotation of Psalm 6:8.
This passage is a serious reminder that just because someone has even a powerful ministry – prophecy, deliverance, healings and miracles – and just because they call themselves “Christian” and do these miraculous things in Jesus’ name does NOT mean that Jesus is IN any of it. (That’s why we need spiritual discernment.”
It’s not enough that I know Jesus. I need to allow Jesus to know all of me.
🪑☕️
MATTHEW 9
Most of the content of chapter 9 we have read (or will read) in other chapters. I will comment on the raising of Jairus’ daughter when we read the account given by Luke the Physician. He includes a few details that no other gospel has. And we will look at the healing of “the woman with the issue of blood” when we read Mark 5. He has the longest account of that miracle.
For now, I want to focus on 2 miracles recorded only here in Matthew 9:
- Healing of the 2 blind men
- Healing & Deliverance of a mute man
TWO BLIND MEN
We don’t know anything about them really. The setting of the whole chapter seems to be Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. That’s where Jesus lived.
As He’s leaving the home of Jairus – where He had just raised his daughter from the dead – two blind men follow Jesus (who is likely surrounded by the disciples and a crowd of people). They call Him “Son of David,” a Messianic title.
We don’t know what house Jesus went into but the text says that “when He entered the house, the blind men came to Him.”
Jesus first asks them, “Do you believe I am able to do this?”
This is interesting. Jesus didn’t ask the lame man let down through the roof if he believed. He saw that the man’s friends had faith. Jesus didn’t ask the man in the synagogue with the withered hand or anyone else if they believed. He just told him to stretch out his hand and he was healed.
I once took a course on Divine Healing. We looked at every single healing miracle in the Bible. And let me tell you… there is NO formula. Sometimes the faith of the afflicted one is commented on like in this healing. “According to your faith let it be done to you.” Sometimes the faith of another is mentioned. Sometimes faith seems to play no part at all – like when Jesus raises the son of the widow of Nain. Sometimes Jesus saw a need and was moved with compassion and initiated a healing. Sometimes people shoved their way to Him and begged or even “stole” a healing like the woman who touched Jesus’ robe. In all of the Gospels, Jesus never even heals blindness the same way twice. Each miracle is unique.
I think the LORD did this on purpose so no one would be able to copy and paste some kind of healing formula. Though, plenty of people have tried anyway.
In this instance Jesus touches the eyes of the two men and they receive their sight.
THE MUTE MAN
This situation is similar but not identical to the account of Jesus healing the blind and mute, demon-possessed man in Matthew 12.
The two formerly blind men were on their way out and people brought to Jesus a man who was unable to speak and this muteness seems to be connected to the fact that he is “demonized.”
Christians like to use specific terms like
- Oppressed
- Suprressed
- Possessed
The biblical text does not do this. It uses the Greek word above which could be generally explained as “under the influence of a demonic spirit.” “Demonized” is an accurate term. The idea of “casting out” an evil spirit is decoupling or detaching it. It’s not like a demon is just floating around inside the hollow shell of a person’s body and then a priest waves a cricifix and it comes flying out of their mouth or something. That’s more Hollywood horror film than Bible. We can tell by the way Jesus often pairs healing with deliverance from unclean spirits that the things have latched on to the person like a parasite. And it typically affects the body; either making the individual superhumanly strong or disabled in some way.
And I suspect that (like a tick) they look for a hidden spot where one’s skin is thin and vulnerable. (Selah) We might think of casting out a demon like pulling off a deeply embedded tick or a leech.
When Jesus expels this unclean spirit, the man is immediately able to speak.
And here’s the perfect song to sum up the incredible wonder and power of Jesus’ ministry in this “year of popularity.” He had a mute men telling everyone how they had been healed, lame men running off to spread the news, and blind men who were giving their eye-witness testimony of the mighty works of God.
To The Reader 