Matthew 7

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Judging Others

7 r “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 s For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and t with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but u do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

6 v “Do not give w dogs what is holy, and do not throw your x pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Ask, and It Will Be Given

7 y “Ask, z and it will be given to you; a seek, and you will find; b knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for c bread, will give him c a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, d who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will z your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

The Golden Rule

12 “So e whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is f the Law and the Prophets.

13 g “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy [1] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and h the way is hard that leads to life, and i those who find it are few.

A Tree and Its Fruit

15 j “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are k ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them l by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, m every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 n Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them l by their fruits.

I Never Knew You

21 o “Not everyone who p says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will q enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who r does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 s On that day t many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not u prophesy in your name, and cast out demons v in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 t And then will I declare to them, ‘I w never knew you; x depart from me, y you workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

24 z “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, b the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 c for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Translation Notes

[1] 7:13 Some manuscripts For the way is wide and easy

My Notes

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Matt. 5:1–7:29 The Authoritative Message of the Messiah: Kingdom Life for His Disciples. This is the first of five major discourses in Matthew (chs. 5–7; 10; 13; 18–20; 24–25). Speaking to his disciples (5:1), Jesus expounds the reality of discipleship lived in the presence and power of the kingdom of God but within the everyday world. Some interpreters have thought the purpose of this sermon was to describe a moral standard so impossibly high that it is relevant only for a future millennial kingdom. Others have thought its primary purpose was to portray the absoluteness of God's moral perfection and thereby to drive people to despair of their own righteousness, so they will trust in the imputed righteousness of Christ. Both views fail to recognize that these teachings, rightly understood, form a challenging but practical ethic that Jesus expects his followers to live by in this present age. The sermon, commonly called the “Sermon on the Mount,” is probably a summary of a longer message, but the structure is a unified whole. It has similarities to the “Sermon on the Plain” in Luke 6:17–49, but there are also significant differences. The three main theories about their relationship are: (1) they record the same sermon but Matthew and Luke give summaries that report different sections and emphases; (2) they record two different sermons, given on different occasions but repeating much of the same content, as itinerant preachers often do; and (3) either Matthew or Luke, or both, have collected sayings that Jesus gave on different occasions and put them together in a sermon format. View (3) seems to make Matthew's presentation of this as a single historical event untruthful (cf. Matt. 5:1–2 with 7:28–29; 8:1; and Luke 6:17, 20 with Luke 7:1), and evangelical commentators have not generally adopted it. Views (1) and (2) are both possible, and it is difficult to decide between them.

Matt. 6:1–7:12 The Development of Kingdom Life in the Real World. Jesus sets forth principles for spirituality in religious life (6:1–18), everyday life (6:19–34), and community relationships (7:1–12).

Matt. 7:1–12 Jesus moves from personal temptations to interpersonal temptations. He warns against inappropriate judging (vv. 1–5) and commends appropriate evaluation (v. 6). He then looks at God's guidance as the source of the believer's stability in relationship to others (vv. 7–12).

Matt. 7:1–2 Judge not forbids pronouncing another person guilty before God. But see note on vv. 3–5. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged. Undue harshness and a judgmental attitude toward others will result in being treated in much the same way by God.

Matt. 7:3–5 Jesus may have drawn on his background as a carpenter (13:55; Mark 6:3) for his metaphor of a log in your own eye, which of course was hyperbole (intentional overstatement; cf. Matt. 5:29–30). then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Jesus does not forbid all evaluation or even judgment of others, for ultimately the one who feels grieved and humbled over his own sin can help remove the “speck” from others. What Jesus does rule out is pride that views oneself as better than others (cf. Gal. 6:1).

Matt. 7:6 In the ancient world, dogs lived in squalor and scavenged the streets for food (Ps. 59:14–15). Jews considered them unclean and used the term to describe those apart from, or enemies of, Israel's covenant community (cf. 1 Sam. 17:43; Ps. 22:16; Prov. 26:11). Pigs were rejected by Jews, probably because they too were scavenging animals, and they were unclean according to OT law. Pearls symbolize the great value of the message of the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 13:45–46). Believers are to be merciful, forgiving, and slow to judge (7:1–5), yet they should wisely discern the true character of people and not indefinitely continue proclaiming the gospel to those who adamantly reject it, so that they can move on and proclaim the gospel to others (cf. 10:14; also Acts 13:46; 18:6; Titus 3:10–11).

Matt. 7:7–11 Ask. Disciples should come to God in humility and conscious of need. Seek connects one's prayer with responsible action in pursuing the will of God. Knock suggests perseverance. Disciples are to persist in prayer, confident that their Father will provide whatever is best for them, according to his sovereign, gracious will.

Matt. 7:11 you . . . who are evil. Earthly parents have an innate impulse to do what is best for their children, yet they are flawed as a result of sin's corruption of all humanity through the fall of Adam and Eve (cf. Rom. 5:12–14), and the quality of their parenting does not match God's. This is an example of a “how much more” argument frequently used in Matthew and Luke (e.g., Matt. 10:25; 12:12; Luke 11:13; 12:24; cf. Heb. 9:14).

Matt. 7:12 do also to them. Known as “The Golden Rule,” this verse summarizes the teaching of the Law and the Prophets (see note on 5:17). The way in which one wants to be treated should determine the way that one treats others. This should come naturally for believers who love God with all their heart and soul and mind, and who love their neighbor as themselves (22:37–40). See note on 5:17.

Matt. 7:13–29 Warning! With Jesus or Against Him? Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount by giving the disciples, the crowd, and the religious leaders four basic warnings: they must choose between two gates and roads (vv. 13–14), two kinds of prophets (vv. 15–20), two kinds of disciples (vv. 21–23), and two foundations (vv. 24–27). They are either with Jesus or against him.

Matt. 7:13–14 narrow gate. The way to eternal life is “narrow” in that it is through Jesus alone (cf. note on Acts 4:12). Though the way is hard, those who choose the way that is easy (by seeking the approval of man rather than God) will find that the easy way only leads to destruction—ultimately to eternal punishment and separation from God.

Matt. 7:15–20 Beware of false prophets. Maintaining the earlier balance of not judging (vv. 1–5) yet not being naively accepting (v. 6), Jesus teaches his disciples that they must be wisely discerning when professed prophets come into their midst. The life of the prophet and the results of his influence on others are the fruits that will indicate whether or not his message is consistent with the kingdom life of righteousness. fire. The only thing bad trees are good for is firewood, a striking metaphor of the future judgment for false prophets.

Matt. 7:21–23 The kingdom community must guard against not only false prophets (vv. 15–20) but also false disciples. Lord, Lord. An oral confession of Jesus as Lord does not always indicate a repentant heart.

Matt. 7:22 False disciples may exercise power in Jesus' name but their activities are meaningless because they deceive themselves and other believers, desiring attention for their own spectacular displays. Mighty works are not proof of the Father's will since they can come from sources other than God, including demons and human contrivance (cf. Acts 19:13–16; 2 Thess. 2:9–12; Rev. 13:13–14).

Matt. 7:23 then will I declare to them. Jesus says that he will one day exercise the prerogative of condemning people to hell, something that only God can do (cf. note on John 5:22). Though these condemned prophets appeared to belong to Jesus, they were never truly saved, for Jesus never knew them (cf. note on Matt. 7:21–23).

Matt. 7:24–27 hears these words of mine and does them. A parable brings the Sermon on the Mount to a close as Jesus calls for his audience to decide between himself and the religious establishment, drawing a dividing line between himself and any other foundation for life. The evidence of whether one is truly a believer is in whether one does the words of Jesus (cf. James 1:22–23 and 2:20–22 and notes on these verses). wise man. Disciples who build their lives on the bedrock of Jesus and his message of the kingdom of heaven are truly wise, regardless of the shifting cultural or religious fashions.

Matt. 7:25 the rain fell, and the floods came. During the hot summer months, the sand around the Sea of Galilee was hard on the surface. But a wise builder knew that he needed to dig several feet below the surface to the bedrock in order to establish the foundation for his house.

Matt. 7:26–27 on the sand. The religious establishment had embraced a mere surface righteousness built on an unstable foundation of religious pretense.

Matt. 7:28–29 Astonished suggests a variety of emotional reactions to Jesus' words, but not a commitment of faith. While the scribes cite other rabbis, Jesus has inherent divine authority.