In modern times the understanding of judgement and forgiveness that Christ gave us (Mt 7:1-5, Mk 4:24-25, Lk 6:37-38, 41-42), has seemingly been lost and is most certainly vague, if not misunderstood. When examining this topic, a deeper look at these scripture passages themselves is where we should go; especially in an attempt to return to a proper understanding of Christ’s call and command. What is meant by “Judge not”? And how should we approach forgiveness?
It is firstly proper to briefly account that this pericope is taking place towards the end of Our Lord’s sermon on the mount. During this sermon Christ is presenting us with “a perfect standard of the Christian life: and this we do not rashly venture to promise, but gather it from the very words of the Lord Himself”1 It is being given on a mountain as Christ is presenting us with “higher precepts of justice,”2 and He is sitting, “the expression of the plenary authority of the teacher.. the cathedra or chair.”3 To supplement the thoughts of St. Augustine above we read from the commentary by Rev. A.J Maas:
“He (Christ) sits down, after the manner of the Jewish teachers, in a spot that commands the whole plateau; his twelve surround him immediately; then come the disciples, and around them the vast multitude forms an enclosing circle. It is therefore not necessary to distinguish between a discourse delivered on the mountain to the disciples [Mt.] and another delivered on the plain to the multitudes [Lk. cf. Aug.] … the discourse as related by the first evangelist was not addressed to the disciples alone is evident from 7:28; and similarly, the discourse contained in the third gospel [Lk. 6:20 ff.] was not addressed to the multitudes alone, because our Lord began to speak, “lifting up his eyes on his disciples.”4
Furthermore, “Jesus does not so much legislate as he provides the disciples with a new understanding of God that, if followed, will radically change and transform their lives… the truth of what he teaches can only be known by those who put it into practice.”5
The point that is clear and attributable to the pericope we seek to examine is that Christ is trying to present us with not only a new way of thinking, but a new way of living. “The lofty ethics that are expressed here will continue to astonish people.. and impress them as the height of moral greatness.”6 Divine Justice is presented to us within the passages of this pericope in a way that we too can partake in. If we live according to the principles Christ gives us, we can more fully experience the life God wills for us, and thus follow the command of Christ to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
In the articles to follow we will dive deeper into Christ’s words, engaging the passage that we find throughout each of the Gospels and finally closing on the fundamental understanding of what is meant when we are told to “judge not” and how we should approach forgiveness.
1 St. Augustine, Commentary on the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount with Seventeen related Sermons, trans. Denis J Kavanagh (Washington DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1951), 19
2 St. Augustine, Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, 20
3 Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth – From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, trans. Adrian J Walker (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 65
4 Rev. A.J Mass SJ, The Gospel According To Saint Matthew With An Explanatory And Critical Commentary (Missouri: Herder, 1898), part 3, at Catholics Online for the Third Millennium, https://www.ecatholic2000.com/index.php
5 Rev. Frank Matera, The Sermon on the Mount: The Perfect Measure of the Christian Life (Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2013), 60
6 Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, 123
A Holy Legacy 