New Testament 82

Luke 6:43-45

Compare Matthew 7:15-20; 12:33-35

Immediately following a strong exhortation not to judge, Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Plain has Jesus explain that, just as trees are known by the quality of their fruit, people are known by their actions.

This is, very plainly, a recognition that we do and must constantly make judgments, not only about fruit trees but about people — and the corresponding passages in Matthew are, if anything, perhaps even more clear on that.

So what are we to make of the prior admonition that we “judge not”?

It seems to me pretty clear that we’re being exhorted not to avoid making any judgments at all, which is impossible, but to avoid “criticizing” or “condemning” or arrogating to ourselves the right (which is God’s alone) to pass final judgment.