Who Am I to Judge?

What Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount was powerful and convicting. It exposed their sin and drew them in to a radically different way of life. When we read it in 2025, we hear Jesus calling us to a way of life that is distinctively different from the rest of the world – a way of living out our faith that is simple and authentic; a way of treating other people that is full of grace.

To the people who first heard this message, it really was different, because their spiritual leaders, the models of righteousness that were always held up to them, were the scribes and Pharisees. And they had turned faith into a show, and worship into a contest to see who could look the most holy. They judged everyone based on their outward appearance, using their own impossible standard of holiness. And if you didn’t measure up, if you didn’t fit into their little system, they would pronounce judgment against you – and they would cancel you. But in Matthew 7:1-5, Jesus teaches us a better way.