Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  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?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 7:1-12

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapter 5 - 7.  Today's reading begins chapter 7.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught:  "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient to the day is its own trouble."

"Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  My study bible says that we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the very things that we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves have failed in repentance, it says, and in fleeing from sin.  When we pass judgment upon others we assume God's authority.  The second part of this verse is found in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:28, each of which is in a different context.  Jesus no doubt repeated this message many times, an important teaching about our own discipleship, also echoed in His earlier teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about forgiveness (see Tuesday's reading).

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  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?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  Again, there is more here regarding our own level of discipleship.  There is room in the Church for mutual correction; in fact, Jesus will recommend it (Matthew 18:15-17).  But here He's warning against judgment, which is a different thing.  If we are not practicing ourselves an awareness of our own dark "specks" or even "planks" then we have no business thinking we have a good capacity for judgment, for "seeing" what is needful or even for understanding how to help.  Spiritual discernment and guidance is meant for help and support, not judgment, and given in love.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."  My study bible says that dogs and swine refer to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15), but it would also include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to patristic teaching, dogs are those who are so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, and swine are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  The pearls, my study bible says, are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, which include Christ's teachings (13:46) and also the great sacraments.  These holy things are restricted from the unrepentant, not in order to protect the holy things themselves.  Christ needs no protection.  Instead, faithless people are thus protected from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt.  In the context of the previous teaching, these words would also apply to a holy correction, which is lost on those who have mere contempt for holy things, including wisdom.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  The verbs ask, seek, and knock are what are called present progressives.  Their translation would literally be closer to "be asking," "be seeking," "be knocking."  There is a synergy here which my study bible notes.  Our effort is command but it is never apart from the immediate help of God.  This is most essential for us to understand.  We ask in prayer, we seek by learning God's truth, and we knock by doing God's will.  Human beings are called evil here not to condemn everyone, but rather to contrast the imperfect goodness in people (where each of us has corrections to make) with the perfect goodness of God (see 19:16-17).  If imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, my study bible says, all the more will God work perfect good.

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  My study bible tells us that the "Golden Rule," which Jesus states here, fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets and is a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (22:39-40).  It's a first step toward spiritual growth.  The negative form of the Golden Rule ("Don't do to other what you don't want them to do to you") was well-known already in Judaism.  But Jesus' form here is positive, it evokes our initiative.  It is the action that begins to draw us toward God.  Again, we note the reciprocity evoked consistently in His teachings throughout this Sermon. 

Jesus asks us to take the initiative.  Or perhaps more accurately, He places a lot of emphasis on what we choose to do.  We must forgive or we won't realize our own forgiveness (6:14-15)  Here we're commanded to keep asking and seeking and knocking.  Whatever we want others to do to us, that's what we must do also to them.  Jesus calls this the summing up of the Law and the Prophets.  We're told that how we judge will determine how we are judged.  And this reciprocity also includes admonitions in the negative:  "Judge not."  "Do not give what is holy to the dogs."  We're not to speak about our brothers' flaws unless we're aware of our own!  We can't practice correction properly if we aren't also experienced in our own correction and have made consistent efforts at this practice.  In today's world, we see a lot of things that go in complete contrast to Jesus' teachings here.  While Jesus tells us that we must practice the same righteousness with which we wish to be treated, bullying and condemnation and retribution seem to pervade our media on every level we can turn to.  One person's perceived harsh action is good for endless reciprocal treatment, endless judgment and punishment.  This is not Christ's teaching.  Discipleship is called discipleship for a reason.   It demands of us adherence to His word and values, and forward movement, eyes focused on a particular direction.  Not only are we responsible for what we do; that is, we can't blame our bad actions on those of another -- but we are also called repeatedly to sharp awareness that what we do, we will reap.  That is, that so much depends upon our own initiative in discipleship, in His kind of discipline.  He asks us to watch our words.  He asks of us to practice forgiveness.  He asks of us to be aware and practice our own correction, and only then will we understand the correction of others properly.  Note that we are also to be aware of those who cannot accept the wisdom He gives us.  He asks us to spend our time occupied in asking and seeking and knocking at the door of holiness, seeking the Kingdom of heaven, asking in prayer.  It is similar to what we read yesterday, in which Jesus taught that we have a basic choice to make about what we will love, and that will carry over into the rest of our lives.  Jesus asks us to occupy our time and efforts with a particular focus here, dwelling on the things of God, our concern with discipleship -- and to steer clear of that which is outside of it, not to become entangled with "friends" who'd trample us down for our love of what is holy, for seeking the things of God.  How do we practice the love of God?  How do we practice discipleship?  "Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."   For those who love Christ, that would include loving correction, a great learning curve, a particular road of devotion.