Matthew 7:2

Tuesday, 28 January 2025 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Matthew 7:2 “For in what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and in what measure you measure, it will be remeasured to you” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus said to not judge that not you may be judged. Now to continue explaining that, He says, “For in what judgment you judge, you will be judged.”   In other words, and what should be evident from Matthew 7:1 alone because of how Jesus’ words fit into the rest of Scripture is that when one judges in a certain manner, that same judgment can be expected to be returned to him. If you pass by people and judge them based on their clothing, it can be expected that the same judgment will be returned to you.   The person who calls the police about people speeding by his house is bound to get ticketed by the police he called for his own driving too fast to get home. He may have only been going 47 in a 40 zone while the people he complained about were going 65, but he is now subject to the same judgment that he expected toward others. If he didn’t call the cops to patrol his road, he never would have received the ticket.   The nagging woman down the road who calls code enforcement over every minor issue will, eventually, have someone call code enforcement on her for her own issues. Examples such as these are the types of things Jesus is referring to.   He was not saying to not make any judgments, period. He is making a point concerning what can be expected by those who go around pointing fingers at others from some supposed position of moral authority that really doesn’t exist except in their own minds. He reconfirms this with another similar example, saying, “and in what measure you measure, it will be remeasured to you.”   The word metron, a measure, is introduced. HELPS Word Studies says it “is the controlling basis by which something is determined as acceptable or unacceptable – preeminently rooting to the Lord Himself as His being is the only ultimate measure of truth.”   When making up one’s own measure instead of using an accepted standard, an equal measure can be expected to return upon the one who has initiated the standard.   This repetition of thought while using a different subject confirms the entire analysis. Jesus is not saying to not judge, period. He is saying that when you do judge in a particular manner, a like judgment is expected to come back to you. Albert Barnes says, “You shall be judged by the same rule which you apply to others.”   A basic example of this measure rule is seen when a person walks down the street and arbitrarily punches someone else in the head. He has set an arbitrary standard of acceptability which stems from his own demented mind.   There are times when the person who is hit will go down for the count. However, some people can take a punch like that and return the same, bringing a measure of pain in return.   If the first person minded his own business and left others alone, he would have been fine. But in measuring out punches during his afternoon walk, he may suddenly be forced to have liquid lunches for the rest of his life.   This type of measurement is exactingly seen in the Lex Talionis provision found in the Law of Moses –   “If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him— 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. 21 And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have the same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 24:19-22   Life application: Matthew 7 began with, “Not you judge.” As a stand-alone thought, one can easily conclude that based on Jesus’ words, Christians are not to make any judgments at all. And this is exactly how those words are used innumerable times a day by others in an attempt to impose their own perverted sense of morality on others.   But those opening words fit into a context that explains just what Jesus meant. To take what He said out of context is to form a pretext. That is now clearly evident after analyzing the rest of Matthew 7:1 along with Matthew 7:2.   Understanding this, doesn’t it seem reasonable that when you are told by someone that you must observe the Law of Moses you should check the context to make sure that what you are told actually fits into the rest of Scripture?   Many verses concerning the law are pulled out of their greater context and are then used in just this way, forming a pretext with the intent of bringing you into bondage to their perverted ideas of doctrine and theology.   Of all of the concepts found in Paul’s epistles, this is the one that he deals with the most. His words, along with a proper contextual analysis of the rest of Scripture, show that the law is fulfilled and annulled through the work of Jesus. Christians are to accept this, live by grace, and not place themselves under a yoke that they were never intended to carry.   Be on guard! Check the context! Live by God’s glorious grace! Come to Jesus and be free from the law.   “And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:3, 4   Lord God, Your word is big and filled with many concepts and precepts, but everything it says must be considered based on the surrounding and the overall context. Help us to consider these things and to not be led astray by people with perverse agendas. May we live by grace in Your presence all our days. Amen.