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| Chapter 7 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ "Judge 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. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or 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? 5 Thou 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. 6 "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 7 ¶ "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 "Or what man is there among you whom, if his son ask for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him? 12 ¶ Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets. 13 "Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat. 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 ¶ "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. 20 Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 ¶ "Not every one that saith unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father who is in Heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that Day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?’ 23 And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.’ 24 "Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. 25 And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it." 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine; 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. |
This chapter continues the thoughts on attitudes of the Kingdom Citizens. v1-12 Judging others. Rom 2:1; Rom 14:4; Rom 14:13; 1 Cor 4:5. Jesus appears to be telling us that it is wrong to be a judge of others, only God can give a fair judgement because only He knows the true motives, James 4:11,12. Believers are not to avoid judging under all situations for they need to be a judge of themselves and other believers failures, 1 Cor 5:3-5,12,13. v3-5 A "mote" is a very small piece of straw or wood while a "beam" was a large log or piece of wood used to construct the roof or floor of a building. In this passage Jesus is pointing out the problems of judging a small error in another while you personally have a very large problem or error. Jesus said that you are an hypocrite, you are playing at being a doctor, when you are very ill yourself. v6 The wonderful news of the Gospel and invitation of salvation are being rejected by many people and Jesus refers these to being "dogs" and "swine" (pigs). Dogs & pigs were very repulsive(revolting) to a Jew, So Jesus is say they do not understand the value of the wonderful gift being offered. v7,8 There are various interpretations of the following verses but we must take them in context (with the verses before and after, not on their own). Jesus is telling the disciples to avoid the "dogs," "pigs" attitude and "large pieces of wood" in their eye, to recognize these Jesus tells them to ask for help from the Father. Also, the text suggests that we may need to make the request often. v9-11 There are similarities (alike in some ways) between "round loaf" and a "stone," "fish" and a "snake," but an earthly father would not put his own child in danger or hurt in anyway, so God the Father will make sure we have all that we need. See Luke 11:11-13. v12 We are evil by our nature but God still treats the believers as His children, promising to respond to our requests and needs, we therefore should treat others as we would like to be treated. "The Law and the Prophets." Consider Matt 22:36-40; Rom 13:8-10. v13,14 Jesus is talking to His followers and is here examining their position, they have entered, by faith, into following the Lord Jesus, He now explains how unpopular this walk of faith will be. The ‘gate’ suggests the initial experience of salvation, then the long walk of faith and living for God. The first Christians were called "Followers of the Way," Acts 9:2; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23. Most of Mankind have entered the wide gateway and are walking upon the broadway which leads to destruction, v14 suggests that the narrow gate, which leads to life, is difficult to find. v15-20 Those who entered the narrow way are warned of the danger of false prophets. These are people who claim to be guides for the believers, but their teaching is really full of lies. Jesus described them as people who are wearing "Sheep’s clothing," this is not referring to the clothes they are wearing, but as a comparison with their hearts, they are really evil "wolves," but pretending to be believers. The people of God have needed to watch out for deceptive, (false or distorted teaching) leaders. Acts 20:28-31; 1 John 4:1; Rev 13:11-14. How can we identify these false prophets? "By their fruits," as the outward appearance may not show their true heart. "The corrupt tree," a tree which is not useable, with no fruit worth eating, decaying. The only thing to do with this type of tree is destruction by fire, to stop it infecting other trees. v21-23 Jesus confirms that He will be the judge as the divine Son of God. He tells us that there will be people who appeared to have done things in the Name of Christ, carried out miracles and had power over evil but were not true believers. Spectacular behaviour, even supernatural, does not prove divine control under Christ. "I never knew you: depart from Me," was the judgement of Jesus. See 2 Thess 2:7-10; Matt 24:24. These people must be still living during the end times when Jesus returns as any who were dead would not be raised until the wicked dead are judged, Rev 20:5. v24-27 The story Jesus now tells, as an example, reminds us how important it is to build upon the right foundation. The house which collapsed was not due to the man failing to work but because he did not build the house on the right foundation. Believers must build their life on the foundation of Jesus and His teachings, 1 Cor 3:11. v28,29 The people had been listening to the words of Jesus with great attention, now when He ends the people suddenly realize that this man was different. He spoke as if He knew the answers to all questions and did not have to refer to other people like the scribes did when they had a question, the scribes usually went off and looked up previous teaching and prophets for the answers. |
Easy English Translation
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