The King Speaks His Heart (Part III)
A verse-by-verse explanation of the chapter.
An overview of the principles and applications from the chapter.
Melding the chapter to life.
Tying the chapter to life with God.
Historical, geographical, and grammatical enrichment of the commentary.
Suggested step-by-step group study of the chapter.
Zeroing the chapter in on daily life.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
Matthew challenges his readers to choose between obeying the will of God and disobeying the will of God. For the believer, this involves humility, self-examination, and dependence on him for everything.
I have one friend, betrayed by another, who managed to dig deep enough to apply the kingdom's Golden Rule to the betrayer. Let the forgiven betrayer tell the story of his “golden friend” in his own words:
Bill is one of my very few “soul mates” in life. That is not to say that we have very much in common or that we share any of the same interests or skills or hobbies. We are soul mates because we connect at the level of life values. We are passionate about building the same kingdom, and that cause is larger than the petty issues of our lives.
But several years ago I betrayed Bill. In my immaturity, I said some things that hurt him deeply, and would have provided any lesser man with reason to abandon the relationship. God used the resulting pain and confrontation to wake me up, and to cause me to see my error and to confess my sin. It was a hard moment for both of us, but perhaps the most significant time in defining our current relationship.
Bill never allowed my failure to destroy our relationship. He forgave me fully, accepting my sincere apology, and never mentioning the issue again. We are brothers in the battle of life.
Bill is the kind of golden friend we all need in this life. But, if the truth be known, we would all have to admit we like “the Golden Rule” when it benefits us. And we may not find ourselves so quick to offer its grace to another as Bill did.
It all boils down to a choice, a determination to go the extra mile for someone in need. The choice is made more difficult when the other person has deeply wounded us. Jesus made this choice, and he expects the same of his children. It is a golden road that can make all the difference in relationships.
The King Speaks His Heart (Part III)
MAIN IDEA: The righteousness of Jesus' followers will be evident in their relationships and in their daily choices.
This chapter contrasts the true way (doing the will of the Father) and the false way (not doing the will of the Father). Having exposed hypocrisy, Jesus pointed out our human tendency to judge others and not ourselves.
SUPPORTING IDEA: Jesus' followers discern their own faults before examining the faults of others.
7:1-5. This is one of the most often misunderstood and misquoted passages in all the Bible. It is important to understand that Jesus was not making a blanket prohibition against all judgment and discernment, but only against that which is done in self-centered pride. A good summary of his meaning is, “Do not judge others until you are prepared to be judged by the same standard. And then, when you exercise judgment toward others, do it with humility.”
A primary evidence for this interpretation is in 7:5. Jesus did command his listeners to help their brothers and sisters with the speck in their eye (exercise judgment concerning another person), but only after we have taken the log out of our own eyes. This presumes that we have acknowledged that we have at least as great an offending capacity as our brother or sister, and so have no cause to think of ourselves as better. Matthew 7:6 also denies a sweeping “no judgment whatsoever” interpretation in that it assumes we should have the good judgment to discern a “swine” when we see one. It is impossible to carry out many of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount without exercising humble judgment concerning others (e.g., 5:6,7,9-11,20,39,44; 6:14-15; 7:6,15-20).
It is one thing to exercise judgment, and quite another to have a judgmental attitude. One is an action that might be carried out with right or wrong motives; the other is a negative character quality.
The theme of prideful judgment seems at first glance to be a radical departure from the flow of the sermon. However, when we consider some of the teaching Jesus had been giving his followers, we begin to understand why this warning is important. He had been challenging the people to rise above what had been wrongly considered the ultimate height of righteousness (5:20)—pharisaical self-righteousness. In fact, Jesus challenged them to perfection (5:48).
But Jesus also knew well our human tendency to take truth and use it to feed a new kind of hypocritical supremacy. He did not want the hypocritical followers of the Pharisees to become the hypocritical followers of Jesus. So he stopped and warned them to apply his teaching first to themselves, then to others.
This is the central application of 7:1-5. Our habitual response to Scripture must be to say, “What about me?” rather than, “What about others?”
The Greek word translated judge, condemn, discern is related to the English “critic” and “criticize.”
The command at the beginning of 7:1 is present tense and, therefore, is best rendered as “stop judging.” We are to get rid of a critical spirit, but seek to be a discerning person. (Passages that reinforce Jesus' teaching here are Rom. 2:1; 14:4,10-13; 1 Cor. 4:5; 5:12;Jas. 4:11-12.)
Verse 2 expands the principle stated in verse 1 with poetic parallelism. Some suggest that measure refers to charitable judgment. So verse 2 begins with a negative statement (“If you judge harshly, God will judge you harshly”), and ends with a positive statement (“If you judge generously, God will judge you generously”).
In 7:3-5, the speck can mean a small speck of anything. The repeated reference to your brother refers to fellow disciples (5:1-2), meaning that Jesus had the Christian community primarily in mind. But the principle is also applicable to anyone. Jesus' own familiarity with the carpenter's shop and the frustration of sawdust and small particles in one's eye personalizes the illustration.
7:6. The second of Jesus' four final exhortations is another warning. This warning balances the first (7:1-5), and attempts to head off another misconception Jesus' listeners might have taken away from the sermon. At first glance, this verse is difficult to interpret because the terms what is sacred, pearls, dogs, and pigs are not explained. But the verse does guard against our tendency to oversimplify the do not judge (7:1) statement, instructing us to be discerning about the character of other people.
Dogs and pigs (wild and unclean) likely refer to people who are not only unbelievers but also active enemies of the gospel (15:14; Luke 23:8; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 2 Pet. 2:22). The most likely interpretation is to take what is sacred and pearls to refer to the gospel or truth, and to take pigs and dogs to mean any person who persistently rejects the gospel or truth, whether Jew or Gentile. Jesus was teaching his people to use discernment when sharing the truth with others. To persist in sharing with a resistant person wastes time and energy. It can also destroy a relationship that might prove fruitful later. It could even (in the climate of growing persecution) result in harm to the believer; it could tear you to pieces.
Taking care with whom and how we share truth is an important principle for believers to grasp in their evangelistic efforts. When we share with our neighbors, we tend to feel we have failed if they do not accept the Lord on the spot. We need to be patient, giving our own lives a chance to speak as a testimony for Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to take his time to work the truth we have shared into the heart and conscience of the unbeliever (John 16:8-11). However, we should not be lazy or inattentive to signs that the unbeliever might be ready for more. There is an art to walking the line between pushiness and apathy.
SUPPORTING IDEA: Jesus' followers are not afraid to make requests of their Father.
7:7-8. The principle of persistent reliance on the Father as loving provider certainly applies to all these “good things.” But Jesus probably had the disciples' temporal needs in mind. This is the simplest, most obvious meaning, and it would further underscore Jesus' teaching against anxiety over daily needs (6:25-34). This is Jesus' third of four “final exhortations” (7:1-12), addressing possible misconceptions people might take away from the sermon.
Verses 7 and 8 have six symmetrically arranged verbs paired first in a triplet of commands (7:7) and then in a triplet of affirmations (7:8). There is no need to try to distinguish different kinds of activity between ask, seek, and knock. Jesus was probably using the three verbs to refer to the same activity of petitioning the Father. His use of three different verbs added emphasis to his message. This three-pronged approach, together with the fact that all three verbs are in the present tense, conveys a clear picture of persistence in prayer.
The other three verbs in 7:7 (will be given, will find, and will be opened) are in the future tense, while in 7:8 receives and finds are in the present tense, and will be opened is in the future.
With these tenses in mind, we could translate 7:7-8 as, “Keep on asking, and it will be given to you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking will continually receive, and he who keeps on seeking will continually find, and to him who keeps on knocking it will be opened.”
Some other passages on prayer (e.g., Matt. 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 14:13-14; 15:7), emphasize the manner in which the human activity is to be conducted. Here the emphasis is on the generosity and faithfulness of the Father. There is no condition placed on the promises (as “if you believe” in 21:22). James 4:2-3 gives some reasons why prayer sometimes does not “work.” Other passages that teach persistence in prayer are Luke 11:5-8; 18:1-8.
7:9-11. Verses 9 and 10 are rhetorical questions, implying that no parent would pull such tricks on their sincere children. A stone can resemble a loaf of “bread” (4:3), and some “snakes” can resemble “fish.”
In my experience as a pastor, I have come across several people who have a deeply rooted impression of God as a trickster. They view him as a kind of cosmic killjoy with a warped sense of humor. These individuals often come from an abusive background, so their ability to trust a father figure has been severely damaged. To them, God lives only to bring them some kind of grief, usually after-stringing them along and lulling them into a sense of security. As a result, they withhold intimate trust from him. Ironically, these people also tend to have a firm conviction about the moral superiority of God, so they do not see his trickery as evil on his part, but as something they have come to deserve.
Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus set up stringent standards for his disciples, but he also went to great lengths to change people's picture of God the Father. In today's environment of parental abuse, transient relationships, and growing isolationism, this portion of Scripture provides comfort for the deepest needs of many adults who are, inwardly, abandoned children.
In 7:11, Jesus brought his argument of verses 9-11 to a point. Because even the most evil parents provide the basic necessities for their children, how much more can we trust the Father in heaven, who is free from sin. (Note the assumption here of universal sinfulness; see Rom. 3:23.)
The Kingdom Servant Stands in Others' Shoes (7:12)SUPPORTING IDEA: Jesus' followers treat others with kindness.
7:12. The “Golden Rule” needs to be seen in a fresh light. For those who know the Bible, this verse has the tendency to go the way of John 3:16, often quoted but seldom applied. Jesus gave his audience a simple and profound principle to guide them in relating to others. We are to treat them the way we would want them to treat us in the same circumstance.
Jesus indicated that this “Golden Rule” sums up much of the Old Testament teaching on interpersonal relationships. Leviticus 19:18, together with Deuteronomy 6:5, quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22:35-40, is essentially an equivalent statement (see also Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14).
Conclusion: The Kingdom Or Destruction (7:13-27)SUPPORTING IDEA: Jesus' followers make choices each day that lead to life, not destruction.
Jesus finished his sermon with a series of challenges to wise choice and obedient action. He provided no new ethical teaching; rather, he challenged the disciple to obey what had already been taught. It is probably best to see 7:15-20 and 7:21-23 together as one warning rather than as a series of different warnings. These warnings emphasize the same message: Choose!
Then throughout the conclusion, the basic choices are laid before us. We see contrasts between two choices: life or destruction. This passage is the New Testament equivalent of the blessings and curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 11:26-29; 28. We also see a strong parallel to Moses' parting challenge: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deut. 30:19-20a; cf. Matt 16:24-27).
Another thread throughout the conclusion is the emphasis on doing God's will. Jesus prescribed the test of false prophets-teachers (Deut 13:1-11; 18:20-22). Every speaker and teacher of Scripture is to be tested against the truths in God's Word (Jude 3; Rev. 22:18-19). Note fruit (7:16-20), he who does the will of my Father” (7:21), evildoers (7:23), and puts them into practice (7:24). The difference between life and destruction boils down not to what a person hears and believes, but to what he does. The dividing line lies between doing right and doing wrong rather than between doing the spectacular and doing the ordinary (7:22-23).
Jesus made it clear that moral behavior is more important even than miraculous acts. Character matters. This warning must lead us to the conclusion that what may appear to be miraculous can be either: (1) convincingly faked or (2) imitated by evil powers. Miraculous acts in and of themselves guarantee nothing.
In the broader context, this emphasis on doing righteousness cannot be construed as a works-oriented gospel. Jesus placed obedience in the context of the picture of a helpless child (5:3-5,36; 6:11,25-34; 7:7-11) who is utterly dependent on the Father, even for the ability to do what is right (5:6; 6:12-13). Other New Testament passages that emphasize doing righteousness are Matthew 5:16,20,48; Romans 2:13; James 1:22,25; 2:14; 1 John 2:17.
A third thread found in the sermon's conclusion is the continual reference to final judgment. Note life and destruction (7:13-14), fire (7:19), enter the kingdom of heaven (7:21), on that day (7:22), away from me (7:23), and the foolish builder's house that fell (7:27). Jesus made it clear to his listeners that their present choices had eternal consequences, so now was the time to choose wisely. Jesus was concerned that his followers live every day alert to coming judgment.
7:13-14. In his first concluding warning—the “two ways”—Jesus talked about the rigors of true discipleship. The narrow gate is the way of personal faith in Christ. This is precisely what the Pharisees missed so badly (Matt. 5:20). The Pharisees used the wide … gate, which is the normal human tendency toward dependence on self-righteousness. The number of people who would, historically, find the narrow way has by now mounted into the millions, if not billions. But Jesus' few is a relative term. The true servant of the kingdom will always be in the minority.
7:15-20. Jesus began his second concluding warning with a clear statement of the kind of person he will be discussing in 7:15-23. They are false prophets—people claiming to be mouthpieces for God. He also began with a single statement metaphor—ferocious wolves in sheep's clothing—before switching to the metaphor of the two trees. The common theme between the two metaphors is the attempt to deceive, but the inability to do so. A wolf may get away with his deception for a time, but his true nature will become apparent when his hunger forces him to act like a wolf. In the same way, a thorn bush or thistle cannot keep up the deception of being a grapevine or fig tree, especially when the season for fruitbearing arrives.
Even though he spent most of his time on the tree metaphor, Jesus had an important reason for inserting the wolf metaphor (Acts 20:27-31)—to alert his listeners to the danger of a false prophet. If the false prophets were thought of as a source of bad fruit, then the disciples might think it was enough simply to recognize and ignore the false prophet, refusing to consume his bad fruit, and awaiting God's judgment on him. But the wolf metaphor attributes a more active and malicious motive to the false prophet. He is actually an enemy of the sheep, and, if not confronted, will get his way by destroying the sheep.
Although Matthew 7 distinguishes between true kingdom righteousness and hypocritical pseudo-righteousness (5:20), Matthew 17:15 comes closest to identifying the religious leaders as Jesus' target. Of all the people in Jewish culture, they were the ones most likely to be seen as spokesmen for God. And, of the three warnings of 7:13-27, Jesus reserved his strongest and most pointed language for this central warning. But Jesus' warning concerned not only the Jewish religious leaders of his day. He was preparing his followers (hence his church) to be able to discern those of any age who would profess to be disciples of Jesus, but who were really out for their own selfish purposes (also a major theme in Titus and 1 John). Jesus repeated his central theme twice in 7:16,20: By their fruit you will recognize them.
The expression is cut down and thrown into the fire implies the judgment of God (cf. with John's warning in 3:10,12; 13:40,42,50; 18:8-9; 25:41; Luke 13:6-9; John 15:6). The use of the present tense in both verbs implies that this was common practice among those who pruned orchards, but there is also an implied reference to future judgment, and the present tense intensifies the certainty of the future event.
This warning pertains primarily to those who were never believers in the first place. But believers would also do well to heed this as a warning against any kind of false or hypocritical obedience in our lives. It is possible for a believer, destined for eternal life, to experience some of the unhealthy fruit of death and destruction along the way (1 Cor. 3:1-4; 11:30-32).
7:21-23. This embellishment on the two-trees theme shares many similarities with Matthew 25 (note verses 11-12,41-44). As is true throughout the sermon's conclusion (7:13-27), the emphasis here is on doing God's will. This time the doing is contrasted with lip service, calling Jesus Lord, Lord. This double usage of “Lord” is found elsewhere only in 25:11 (also a parabolic reference to the day of judgment) and Luke 6:46 (parallel to this verse). Since the occasion for these quotes is on that day, on the verge of entering the kingdom of heaven, we can safely assume that “Lord” is to be taken with the impact of the Old Testament Adonai. Jesus here indirectly acknowledged his deity.
But the point of the passage is that someone else's acknowledgment of Jesus' deity will not be sufficient for their entrance into the kingdom, if they have not done the will of the Father. Note that this does not imply that if a person did the will of the Father but did not acknowledge Jesus as Lord, he or she might still enter heaven (see Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 12:3; Phil. 2:11).
This is the first time in Matthew that Jesus has said, my Father. It is significant that Jesus so closely associated himself with the Father that he implied his own deity as well as his role as the final judge.
The evidence that the claimants brought before Jesus in 7:22 would seem quite spectacular and convincing to most of Jesus' listeners. In fact, these were the kinds of works Jesus had been doing for some time (4:23-25). They were validating his claims and drawing large crowds. Therefore, this was a startling statement for Jesus to make. His listeners must have thought, If we cannot believe prophecy, exorcisms, and miracles—especially those done in the name of Jesus—as signs of a true prophet, then what can we believe?
Jesus went to this length to demonstrate the importance of righteousness by faith alone in Christ alone (Rom. 4) as the criterion for entry into the kingdom. Even doing the activities that he was doing was not sufficient. We should be warned that counterfeits today will look very much like they are carrying on the work of Jesus. But we must look at their lives as well as their works. Our culture's compartmentalization between a person's personal life and his or her professional life was a foreign concept to Jesus.
In 7:21-23 we have seen at least three ways the counterfeits try to get by without actual obedience: (1) lip service, claiming loyalty to Jesus as Lord and God; (2) spectacular signs; and (3) performing these signs in your name, in essence claiming them to be the work of God. What would lead someone to such an elaborate subterfuge? It seems easier to obey than to go to all this trouble in an attempt to fool the Lord. Pride is the answer. In our efforts to protect the little god of “self,” we humans can go to amazing lengths.
Jesus' response to the counterfeits was harsh, because he revealed that he had the power of the eternal judge. In the first part of his response, he used a verb meaning to “know by experience.” The greatest blessing in life and eternity is to know the Lord personally, and to be known in the same way by him. The greatest curse is to have this relationship denied.
The second part of Jesus' response, Away from me, you evildoers, is a quote from Psalm.6:8. In this psalm, David warned evildoers of their judgment, subsequent to his petition to God. Matthew used the present tense with an imperative force of the verb, meaning “go away, depart.” He also used evildoers as a synonym for those who practice evil. This is significant in light of Jesus' clarification of the original intent of the Old Testament law in 5:17-48. This is the bottom line of the sermon and kingdom righteousness. Even if a person performed works identical to those of Jesus, did those works in the name of Jesus, and called on Jesus as Lord and God, he would still be breaking God's law if his life was not lawful according to Jesus' definition throughout this sermon. True righteousness can be derived only from the Savior.
7:24-27. In this third and final challenge to choose between life and destruction, Jesus made it even clearer that the criterion for a righteous life is obedience to Jesus' teaching. His righteousness was diametrically opposed to pharisaical self-righteous works. Note these words of mine (7:24,26). The possessive pronoun mine is in the emphatic beginning position in that phrase. Jesus was equating his own words with the will of his Father (7:21). Jesus was claiming to have the same authority as the God who authored the Old Testament Scriptures—a claim he also implied in clarifying the original intent of the law in 5:17-48.
Jesus did not leave it to the crowd to perceive his authority (7:28-29). He claimed it openly. This is quite an audacious claim, unless he actually had the authority to make it. Jesus did not give his skeptics much room to maneuver in their opinion of who he was—he was either everything he says he was … or he was nothing at all. He must be fully accepted or fully rejected, for no “good moral teacher” would say the astonishing things Jesus did unless they were true. Jesus is God's Son.
Therefore in 7:24 refers to the preceding clarification (7:13-23), which justifies the generalizations Jesus made in 7:24-27. Anyone who knows of the coming judgment (7:21-23) but ignores Jesus' teaching is as foolish as a person who builds a house on sand.
The people represented by the two builders share one similarity and one difference. Both “keep on hearing” the words of Jesus. The present tense may imply that both hearers had been exposed to his teachings. In any case, both hearers were now accountable to obey what they had heard. However, the first person “keeps on doing” what Jesus taught, while the second “keeps on not doing” what Jesus taught.
The first man was wise; the second man was foolish. The first man found stability and blessing in this life and in eternity; the second experienced calamity in this life and in eternity (the rain, floods, and winds can represent both hardships in this life and God's final judgment).
Notice that wisdom (the rock) means to put the words of Jesus into practice.
SUPPORTING IDEA: Jesus' followers recognize Jesus' authority in his demands for righteous character.
7:28-29. Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with only his intended audience (his disciples) present, but by the time he concluded a crowd had gathered. Matthew's closing comments to the sermon emphasize that the crowds were amazed. Matthew used the Greek imperfect tense to denote an ongoing effect in Jesus' listeners. They just could not get over it. But it says nothing about their commitment. This is the only one of five discourses Matthew recorded in which he commented on the crowd's response. This does not mean that this discourse was unique, for Matthew continued to use the same word of the crowd's response to Jesus' teaching in a more general way (13:54; 19:25; 22:33). Most likely, he wanted his readers to understand that the crowd had this kind of response to Jesus' teaching wherever he went and whatever he taught.
Both the content and manner of Jesus' teaching were overwhelming. Unlike other teachers, he taught with authority (7:29). Unlike them, he did not cite other authorities—only his own and his Father's. And it was he alone who decided who would enter the kingdom and on what basis they would do so—through a personal relationship with God.
Jesus' authority is one of the central themes in Matthew. Jesus anticipated the questions of his listeners, “Who is this man that he speaks with such authority?” Matthew is about to demonstrate, by his collection of miracles in chapters 8-9, that Jesus was precisely who he claimed to be. Matthew now transitioned from Jesus' teachings into a lengthy account of his early miracles (chaps. 8-9) and his delegation of authority to his disciples (ch. 10). Jesus' authority increased the tension between Jesus and the hypocrites that would grow throughout the remainder of the book.
MAIN IDEA REVIEW: The righteousness of Jesus' followers will be evident in their relationships and in their daily choices.
The Golden Rule is a profound principle for living in relationship with other people. If other people treated you the way you treat them, how would life be for you?
PRINCIPLES
APPLICATIONS
A man was walking through a cemetery and noticed a tombstone that caught his attention. The epitaph read:
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, you are sure to be.
So may I say, as now I lie,
Prepare yourself, to follow me.
The man took out a piece of chalk and wrote two more lines under the epitaph:
To follow you I'm not content,
Until I know which way you went.
Dear Father, make me gentle and loving, not harsh and critical, in my discernment and judgment of others. Help me to remove the log from my own eye before I search for the speck in the eye of another person.
A. Summary
A lesser teacher might have finished the body of his sermon at the end of chapter 6, then added a suitable conclusion. But Jesus knew there were misconceptions people were likely to take away from what he said. Before closing, he added four final, balancing exhortations in an attempt to head off some of these misconceptions.
Verses 1-5 challenge people to humility and self-examination, lest Jesus' lofty teaching cause some to believe they are better than others. Verse 6, on the other hand, challenges people to be discerning, lest they become too tolerant of the kingdom's enemies. Verses 7-11 encourage God's beloved children to depend on him for everything, lest they fear his rejection after failing his high standards. And verse 12 sums up the entire sermon, lest people get caught up in the minute details of obedience, as a pharisaical mind is prone to do.
When Jesus closed the sermon, he did it with three parabolic warnings, challenging people to choose between the kingdom (obeying the will of the Father as revealed in Jesus' teachings) and destruction (disobeying the words of Jesus). Implicit in this warning was Jesus' claim that he was the source of Scripture and the judge of those who hear it.
B. The Authority Issue
Matthew 7 shows how Jesus prepared his followers for life in the church age. It raises the theme of authority, which will be key throughout the book. Who should the people follow—Jesus or the religious leaders? Who has the real authority of God behind him? How will we recognize it? Who will win the ultimate battle? Get ready for increasing conflict in the chapters ahead.
A. INTRODUCTION
C. CONCLUSION
