As the lecture continued, some of the disciples of Jesus were having a rough time making sense of it all. John found the comments about not worrying somewhat of a mental break, because he was yet too young to have learned to worry. He snatched at a flying insect and missed it. In the process he almost missed the beginning of the next subject.
"Be wary of making condemnations. It could come back to haunt you. The standards you set for others will be mercilessly applied to you when you make mistakes yourself. How silly it is to try and help someone with a speck of wheat chaff in their eye, while you have a roof-beam sticking in your own eye! How can you dare to suggest that you can help correct his little problem, if your own is so great? Hypocrisy is not a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Make sure you first remove the roof-beam from your own eye before you begin searching out chaff in the eyes of others.
"At the same time, you cannot ignore that which is obviously wrong. Feeding Passover lamb to a filthy wild dog is a slap at God. And hungry pigs have little appreciation for treasures. If you offer them pearls, they will trample them into the mud as they turn to attack you."
As Jesus paused for a moment to let the picture sink in, John realized there were plenty of people in his world for whom the truths of God were just noise, and the Law was something to be dodged. Months later, as the hostility against Jesus from the party leaders of the Pharisees in Jerusalem began to reach a fever pitch, John would realize that they were just such swine. They would even go so far as to proclaim that Jesus' authority over demons came from Satan himself. Such men were so far gone they could not be saved. Jesus called it "blasphemy of the Holy Spirit."
We tread a fine line in leading others. No worthy leader wants to appear arrogant or hypocritical. The feelings of others DO matter, and we often have to handle them carefully. People who think you don't care won't follow long or very far without compulsion, and compulsion takes up time and resources.
You may have no choice in the matter if you are a military leader, or in some other line of work that does not allow followers to bail out when they wish. Even in the military it is widely recognized that if your subordinates are generally cooperative with you, then you must be doing something right.
An obvious element in eliciting cooperation is the absence of arrogance. When those who follow you feel you are being fair to them, not demanding more of them than you are already contributing yourself, they will put up with a lot more difficulty. That includes your having an otherwise difficult personality. Ask anyone who has passed through some sort of military initiation process: if the trainers were genuinely competent themselves in what they demanded from you, the yelling and screaming was not long resented. It was clear what they expected was entirely doable.
It is that genuine competence which permits righteous judgement. We have in our modern culture made too much a negative of the word "judge," along with such words as "discriminate" and "favor." Jesus' words about pearls and pigs was a warning that there are times one is obliged to discern, judge, and discriminate. In His public collisions with the Pharisees, Jesus was quite willing to confront and argue, but that was but one weapon in His arsenal. There were times when He quietly slipped away, as well.
He was focussed on the mission given by His Father. The method would naturally vary somewhat with the circumstances. Using a whip of cords against the Bazaars of the Sons of Annas, whose corrupt business hogged the Court of the Gentiles, was quite appropriate. That wouldn't have worked with the Samaritan woman at the well, who was essentially a harlot.
When the Pharisees accused Him of using Satan's power, it was clear that they were so completely hardened that there was no redemption possible for them. They could no longer tell the difference between the grace of God and deception of Satan. They were the pigs who rejected the pearls of God's gracious redemption. They were the dogs who were unworthy of the Passover Lamb. His condemnation of them was fully justified, because He lived well above the standard He used to judge them.
If treading that fine line between arrogant condemnation and tolerating too much seems difficult, remember what Jesus said right following the teaching on judgement (Matthew 7:1-12).
"Do you think that such discernment is above you? Ask the Father; He will give you wisdom. Search for it sincerely; He will make sure you find it. Knock on the door of wisdom's home; the Father will open the door and invite you in. No one is denied the Father's wisdom if they are persistent.
"What father would give his son a stone when he asks him to pass the bread at mealtime? Or a snake when he asks for fish? If sinful human fathers feel compelled to give their own children the basic necessities of life, how could you imagine your Perfect Father in Heaven would not give you what's necessary for you to serve Him?
"Take that wisdom, and let it guide you in dealing with others. Envision what sort of treatment you desire to receive, and give that treatment to others. What the Law and the Prophets demand of you in dealing with your fellow man could be easily summed up in that statement."
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Ed Hurst
26 September 2002
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