Matthew 7:1-5: a reflection

1“Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? 5You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Jesus gives a warning that has become famous even outside the church: do not judge, or you too will be judged; the measure you use will be measured back to you. He is not forbidding all moral discernment, but the harsh, superior, fault-finding spirit that scrutinizes others while excusing itself. The standard you apply to others, he says, will come back to you, so beware of a critical heart that holds everyone else to a measure it would never accept for itself.

Then he paints a memorable and almost comic picture. Why do you notice the speck in your brother's eye, he asks, while ignoring the plank in your own? How can you offer to remove a speck from someone else's eye when a log is sticking out of yours? The image exposes the absurdity of our habit: we see others' small faults vividly while remaining blind to our own large ones. The critic is usually the last to see himself clearly.

Jesus does not say never to help a brother with the speck; he says deal with your own plank first. Then, he adds, you can see clearly to help. The order matters. Begin with honest self-examination, dealing with your own faults before you set about correcting others', and you will approach them with humility rather than superiority. Ask God to show you the plank in your own eye today, and to give you the humility that makes you fit to help others gently.

Lord, I see others' small faults so clearly and my own large ones so dimly. Forgive my critical, superior spirit. Show me the plank in my own eye, and give me the humility to deal with myself before I set about correcting others. Then, made humble, let me help my brothers and sisters gently, with a heart that has first been honest about itself. Amen.