Matthew 7

The crowd sat on the slope. Jesus was still teaching.

Jesus said, "Do not judge, or you will be judged" (7:1).

Here, to judge means to condemn. It means deciding someone is worthless or beyond hope. Jesus was not telling people to stop knowing right from wrong.

Then Jesus used a picture from the market. Sellers measured grain with a scoop or a basket. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (7:2).

This is a comparison. If you use a harsh measure on other people, that same harsh measure comes back to you.

Next Jesus asked a question. "Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?" (7:3).

A speck is a tiny bit of dust. A beam is a big piece of wood, like the kind that holds up a roof.

This is an exaggeration. Nobody really has a wooden beam in their eye. A picture this big is hard to forget.

The person with the beam wants to fix the other person's speck. But the beam is so big that they cannot see.

Jesus called that person a hypocrite. A hypocrite is a pretender. The Greek word meant a stage actor.

But Jesus did not stop there. "First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye" (7:5).

So the speck still matters. Jesus wants the brother or sister helped. First deal with your own wrong. Then you can see clearly to help.

Then came a short, surprising saying. "Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine" (7:6). Swine are pigs.

Pigs cannot eat pearls. They would stomp on them in the mud. Then they might "turn and tear you to pieces" (7:6).

This is a comparison. It is also a puzzling saying. It's okay to notice things like this. Careful readers have asked about it for centuries.

One likely meaning: Some people keep mocking and attacking what is holy. You do not have to keep pushing it on them. A moment before, Jesus had warned against judging. This saying adds a balance. Not judging people does not mean letting them attack you.

Then Jesus gave three short promises.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you" (7:7).

Asking uses words. Seeking means looking. Knocking means standing at a closed door and waiting for someone to open it. In Greek, these three verbs are in a form that pictures ongoing action. So many teachers read them this way: Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking.

Then Jesus repeated the promise. "For everyone who asks receives" (7:8). That means everyone, not only very holy people.

Then Jesus asked his listeners about their own families.

Suppose your son asks for bread. Would you hand him a stone? Suppose he asks for a fish. Would you give him a snake?

The answer is no. No loving parent would play a cruel trick like that.

Then Jesus made his point. "If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (7:11).

Jesus called his listeners evil. One likely reason: he meant that all people, even loving parents, are sinners. Yet even sinners know how to give good gifts. God is far better than the best parent.

Jesus did not promise that God gives everything we ask for. He promised that God gives good things.

Then Jesus summed up his teaching.

"In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets" (7:12).

The Law and the Prophets was a way to say the Scriptures of Israel. Essence means the most important part of something.

Think about what you want. You want to be listened to. You want mercy when you mess up. You want help when you are stuck. Jesus said to do those things for other people.

The whole teaching fits together. God gives good gifts to people who don't deserve them. So God's children can give good things to others too.

This part isn't retold as its own scene.