English
Português
Español
Français
Response
We can make fair judgments—we can judge correctly—by surrendering to God in faith and striving to comprehend His Word. This is one potential interpretation of Jesus’ words in John 7:24: “Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (NASB). Although this statement is concise and memorable, it is not merely a stand-alone proverb. It is a snippet of conversation from a historical account. Jesus spoke these words to a specific audience at a particular moment, so it is important to delve into the context of John 7:24 before applying it in a contemporary context.
In John 7, Jesus travels to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 7:14, Jesus starts teaching in the temple. A curious crowd gathers, varied in their assessment of Jesus and His seemingly bold assertions. Jesus clarifies that those who are “willing to do [God’s] will” will recognize the origin and authority of His teachings, as His teachings come from God (John 7:16-18). It becomes evident that the reason the crowd fails to comprehend Him is their lack of knowledge of God (John 8:42-43). Despite having the Mosaic Law, they themselves are transgressors “Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?”, (John 7:19). This is evidenced by their intent to kill Jesus. If they truly grasped the Scriptures written by Moses, they would believe in Jesus, as those same Scriptures point to Christ “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.”, (John 5:46).
The crowd reacts unfavorably to Jesus’ statement that their accusationsThere was Moses «Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. », (John 5:45). Apparently, some still believed Jesus was a lawbreaker based on His healing on the Sabbath in John 5:1–15. Jesus, once again, corrects their misunderstanding of the Sabbath. He explains the relative priority of the Sabbath, using an example from their own tradition (John 7:22-23). As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has the right to correct their legalistic misunderstanding and reset the priority on human beings rather than on rule-keeping (Matthew 12:3-8). The Mosaic Law was not meant to be used as a legalistic and slavish instrument for self-righteousness, but to promote God’s righteousness in every area of life and draw His people closer to Him.
Following up on His scathing assessment of their hypocrisy regarding the Sabbath law, Jesus commands the crowds to “judge with righteous judgment” not by outward appearance «Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. », (John 7:24, NKJV). They were not judging based on God’s righteousness but on their own worldly assessment. Their judgments were based on the way things appear on the outside, and that judgment is incorrect. To judge rightly, Jesus’ audience needed to know God and place their faith in Him «If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. », (John 7:17). If they did, they would know who Jesus is, and their evaluation of the situation would be completely different. Their rejection of Jesus, as mentioned later in chChapter 8 demonstrates that they do not truly know God. D. A. Carson writes about Jesus’ exhortation in John 7:24, “This appeal has many formal Old Testament parallels. . . . Jesus’ appeal is more personal, eschatological, and redemptive. They have misunderstood his character by a fundamentally flawed set of deductions from Old Testament law, an approach that turns out to be superficial, far too committed to ‘mere appearances’. If their approach to God’s will were one of faith . . . they would soon discern that Jesus is not a Sabbath-breaker, but the one who fulfills both Sabbath and circumcision” (The Gospel According to John, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991, p. 316).
How do we apply the exhortation to “judge with righteous judgment” in modern times? At the very least, Jesus’ words should humble us, as we recognize that we are capable of distorting and misapplying God’s commands due to our own pride and self-righteousness. We are supposed to be discerning, but our judgments should be based on God’s revealed truth and our relationship with Him. When we judge a situation, do we allow our own pride to dictate our understanding, or do we, in humility, present our judgments to God and seek His direction? Faith in God is required to truly know Him and understand His ways «But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. », (Hebrews 11:6).
Jesus’ command to judge with righteous judgment also invites us to reflect on our own legalism and treatment of others. Do we ever dismiss others based on our own standards? When we quote God to evaluate someone else’s life or behavior, do we ever miss the true intention of what God has told us? We should evaluate our man-made traditions and values. If we had been present, would we have been part of the crowd that condemned Jesus for failing to follow
their own self-invented rules?
When we fail to demonstrate love and mercy, but instead condemn others for failing to follow standards we have invented, we are missing the entire point of God’s instructions «But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. », (Matthew 9:13). Carson concludes his evaluation of John 7:24 with a timely application: “In an age when Matthew 7:1 (‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged’) has displaced John 3:16 as the only verse in the Bible the man in the street is likely to know, it is perhaps worth adding that Matthew 7:1 forbids judgmentalism, not moral discernment. In contrast, John 7:24 requires moral and theological discernment in the context of obedient faith (7:17), while condemning self-righteous legalism and providing no approval for censorious heresy-hunting” (ibid., p. 317).
