“Judge not, that ye be not judged ... first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly.”
Matthew 7:1–5
Read this saying in the chronological reader →Words of Jesus by topic
What did Jesus say about judgment?
Jesus’ sayings about judgment have to be read together. “Judge not” warns against hypocritical judgment, while another saying commands “judge righteous judgment.” Elsewhere Jesus speaks of his own authority to judge and of a final accounting. The theme is therefore not a simple ban on moral discernment.
At a glance
- “Judge not” is immediately explained through the image of a beam and a mote: self-examination comes first.
- Jesus also says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
- Mercy and repentance appear together in the woman taken in adultery: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
- John 5 presents judgment as authority committed to the Son.
- Matthew 25 portrays final accountability in concrete terms of faithfulness and treatment of “the least of these.”
Judge not—and first examine yourself
Matthew 7 does not stop after two words. Jesus immediately describes a person focused on a speck in another’s eye while ignoring a beam in his own.
Judge righteous judgment
In a dispute over healing on the Sabbath, Jesus warns against decisions based merely on appearance and calls for righteous judgment.
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
John 7:24
Read this saying in the chronological reader →Mercy does not erase the call to change
In the traditional account of the woman taken in adultery, Jesus refuses the role of condemning accuser while also telling the woman to leave sin.
“Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
John 8:11
Read this saying in the chronological reader →Judgment committed to the Son
John 5 places judgment within Jesus’ relationship to the Father and links it to resurrection.
“The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”
John 5:22
Read this saying in the chronological reader →A final accounting
Matthew 25 closes with the Son of man separating the nations and evaluating how people treated those described as hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned.
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Matthew 25:40
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