Jan 29 2025 5 mins 1
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Matthew 7:4
“Or how you will say to your brother, ‘You permit – I may eject the chip from your eye,’ and behold, the beam in your eye” (CG).
In the previous verse, Jesus asked why someone would see a chip in another’s eye but not examine the beam in his own eye. He now continues that line of thought, saying, “Or how you will say to your brother, ‘You permit – I may eject the chip from your eye.’”
The person Jesus is speaking of is annoyed at the teeny perceived imperfection in someone else’s eye. It is as if it is too much of an annoyance to allow it to continue without being highlighted and removed.
But more, he doesn’t say to the other fellow, “You should work on getting that chip out of your eye.” Instead, he deems it appropriate that he himself will be the one to eject it from his eye. He assumes that he is qualified to mess with such things.
In Jesus’ words, He uses a new word, ekballo. It is derived from ek (from, out of, etc.) and ballo, (to throw, cast, etc.). It is the same word used later when referring to casting out demons. It is used in the sense of ejecting something.
In this case, he wants to get his hands on the other guy’s eyeball and squeeze it until the chip comes free. Despite this, Jesus repeats the same thought as the previous verse, noting that his own troubles are far greater, saying, “and behold, the beam in your eye.”
While standing there noting that he can take care of the little chip in another’s eye, he is unwilling to acknowledge the 2x4 sticking out of his own eye. It is the height of hypocrisy because Jesus is actually referring to a moral defect in the person, using the chip and the beam as metaphors for spiritual truths.
People find it very easy to highlight teeny weeny little faults in others, even while they have immense moral defects of their own.
Life application: The words here are given as support for the initial words of Chapter 7, “Not you judge.” Jesus is not telling His disciples to never make judgments. In fact, in the next verse, He will actually tell them it is ok to do exactly that. He will then do so again in the verse following that.
However, there is an appropriate way to do so and there are inappropriate ways of doing so. For someone to walk around judging when they are committing their own moral transgressions is not a sound way of conducting one’s life.
And the fact is that everyone commits some sort of transgression at one point or another. Therefore, to arbitrarily judge others without clearing up one’s own personal failings is a hypocritical way of conducting one’s affairs.
Jesus is speaking to His disciples and to Israel in general in these verses, but many of the truths He conveys to them extend beyond the law to people in any culture or time. They are moral precepts that should be considered so that we don’t find ourselves on the receiving end of judgment.
Such is the normal way things will turn out when we go pointing fingers at others while we ourselves are not living in a manner that is appropriate.
Lord God, give us wisdom to apply the moral precepts of Your word to our lives. The book of Proverbs is a great place to learn basic truths about such things. May we read it along with the rest of Scripture to continually refine our thinking and remind ourselves of those things You find acceptable or unacceptable. Amen.
