Matthew 7:15-29
“Judge!”
6/1/08
Signs! They’re everywhere.
They’re on streets. They’re in front of
businesses. They’re in front of churches.
They’re on medicine bottles. They’re on restroom
doors. Signs tell us what to do and what not to do. They
warn us of possible danger. They tell us to be on the
alert. They inform us and tell us what we can expect. Some
signs we can disregard, like billboards and advertisements. But
there are other signs that would be foolish for us to disregard, signs
like warning labels, traffic signs, or signs that say things like
“No entry” and “Violators will be prosecuted.”
In today’s Gospel text, Jesus puts a warning
label on false prophets, when He tells us to beware of them.
These preachers may come dressed in sheep’s clothing, but
inwardly they are ravenous wolves. So Jesus gives us signs to
look for, in order for us to be able to tell who the false prophets
are. He says, “You’ll recognize them by their
fruits.” Healthy trees bear good fruit; diseased trees bear
bad fruit. If a tree bears good fruit, it’s a good
tree. If a tree bears bad fruit, it’s a bad tree. But
in order to be able to distinguish between good and bad trees,
you’ve got to be able to tell the difference between good and bad
fruit. You’ve got to look for the signs. You’ve
got to be able to judge.
The minute this word “judge” comes up,
however, we are immediately met with all kinds of resistance, both from
unbelievers as well as many ignorant Christians, who say that
it’s wrong to judge. And they back this up with the words
of Jesus, who in this very chapter says, “Judge not, that you be
not judged.” Jesus says not to judge; therefore, it’s
a sin to judge. All judgment, then, is forbidden. To judge
others is both to place ourselves under God’s judgment and also
to classify ourselves among intolerant religious fanatics, which
include people like the Muslim extremists. (But isn’t that
judging the Muslim extremists?)
You see, in today’s culture people believe
that it’s judging that’s gotten our world into the trouble
it’s in today. It’s the intolerant judgment of
Islamic fanatics upon Jews and Christians that has led to their acts of
terrorism, which in their eyes is their god’s judgment on their
enemies. So, for Christians to embrace this word
“judge” is to tell the world that we are intolerant
religious fanatics as well. It is to put ourselves in the same
camp as the Muslim extremists, so that people can expect that we too
will be just like them, committing acts of terror against all who are
opposed to us.
But this is a false conclusion. Jesus gives
His N.T. people neither the authority nor the command to kill false
prophets. He Himself will take care of them on the Last Day, when
He alone will say to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness.” And He will throw them into the
fire. The right to pour out God’s judgment of wrath on
false prophets belongs to God alone, not us. That’s not the
kind of judging we are called to do. The kind of judging that our
Lord calls us to do is that of differentiating between those on the one
hand who proclaim the truth about Jesus and walk by His Word and those
on the other hand who proclaim what is false and do not walk by the
Lord’s Word. As Jesus puts it, we need to know how to
distinguish between those who hear His words and do them and those who
hear His words and don’t do them.
The judging that our Lord calls us to is the kind of
judging that you do all the time in order to avoid harm and
danger. It’s the kind of judging you do every time you
cross the street. You don’t just step out onto the
road. You look both ways, waiting until it’s safe to do
so. Isn’t this what you teach your kids? Otherwise,
they could be seriously hurt or killed. Similarly, you judge
which doctor would be the best for you; you want a doctor who has a
good reputation not a bad one. You also judge when taking
medication. You read the label. You don’t take more
than you’re supposed to. You make sure you don’t take
anything that will interact with the medication. You also judge
what chemicals you use in the house. You judge which school your
children will go to. You judge what friends they ought to be
hanging out with. You judge what you see, what you hear, what you
eat, and what you wear. Why is it, then, when it comes to judging
between what’s true and what’s false, between the truth of
God’s Word and the lies of false prophets, that we Christians are
then “judged” as being judgmental?
The fact is, if it’s important for us to judge
between taking poison and taking prescribed medication to preserve our
physical life, how much more important is it for us to judge between a
false gospel and the true Gospel, when our eternal life is at
stake? And that’s the reason why Jesus tells us to beware
of false prophets, because they are a danger to us and our
salvation. They preach a different Jesus, a different spirit, and
a different gospel (which is really no gospel at all in St.
Paul’s words). And to ingest their false doctrine is to
take spiritual poison; it leads to death. That’s why Jesus
calls them ravenous wolves. Their intent is to kill you.
They are in league with the devil, whom Jesus calls a murderer from the
beginning. They disbelieve God’s Word and act contrary to
it, and they want you to do the same. They want to steal your
Savior and His Gospel away from you, taking away your hope of the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life
everlasting, dragging you to hell along with them. This is
what’s at stake in listening to false prophets. And so we
must first of all get over this notion that it’s wrong to judge,
and then learn how to judge the right way, so that we won’t fall
victim to these ravenous wolves.
Now, there’s a right way and a wrong way to
judge. The wrong way is to observe someone committing some
particular sin and conclude either that he/she isn’t a Christian
or that he/she isn’t a very good Christian. For example,
“That person drinks,” or “That person smokes,”
or “That person goes to ‘R’ rated
movies.” So, he/she must not be a Christian, or else he/she
is a back-slidden Christian. This is where Jesus’ words not
to judge apply. To those who would judge in this way He says,
“First take the log out of your own eye, you hypocrite, and then
you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s
eye.” All Christians sin, and we cannot judge whether a
person is a false prophet or not based on how much or how badly he
sins. We need to point that judgmental finger back at ourselves
and each of us confess him/herself to be the chief of sinners.
But there is a right way to judge, and as Jesus says
here it is to observe a person’s “fruits.”
You’ll know the difference between a true prophet and a false one
by their fruits. Well, what are these fruits? Are they
simply obedience to the 10 commandments? I know a lot of
preachers who are good people in this world; they’re very
law-abiding citizens, who do plenty of good things for others.
Jesus even says that the false prophets will use His Name, and on the
Last Day they will claim that they prophesied in His Name, that they
cast out demons in His Name, and that they did many mighty works in His
Name. But Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you; depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness.” So, we can’t
judge whether a person is a false prophet or not simply by the fact
that he uses Jesus’ Name or that he does good things for people.
The good fruit that we are to be looking for in one
who claims to speak for Jesus is whether he hears the Lord’s
words and does them or not. Jesus says, “Everyone then who
hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who
built his house on the rock.” Conversely, everyone who
hears His words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand. What’s Jesus talking
about? What does He mean by hearing His words and doing
them? First, hearing His words doesn’t mean simply letting
them bounce off your eardrums. It’s the hearing of
faith. It’s hearing the Lord’s words and taking them
to heart, believing them, treasuring them, keeping them. And
it’s not selective hearing either, hearing only what we want to
hear, but it’s hearing everything our Lord teaches us in His
Word, especially what He proclaims to us about His work of salvation on
the cross for us. It’s only those who first believe that
Jesus is their Savior and that for His sake God declares them righteous
and forgives them all their sins, who can then do the Lord’s
words. Such people are true disciples. Those who proclaim
such things are true prophets. They believe and confess the truth
about Jesus crucified for our salvation, and as a result they walk in
obedience to His Word. This is what Jesus calls doing the will of
His Father in heaven.
But to do the will of the Father is more than just
obeying His commandments. It includes confessing that you are a
sinner and that you have broken every one of His commandments. It
includes living at the foot of the cross of Christ, receiving your
heavenly Father’s forgiveness, and being on the receiving end of
His gifts of grace given out in His Word and Sacraments. To do
the Lord’s words is first of all to be done to by those words, to
be given new birth and the Spirit through Holy Baptism, to be made a
child of God, and then to live as the child of God that you are now in
Jesus Christ, living in faith towards God and in love towards your
neighbor, speaking the truth about Jesus crucified for your salvation.
These, then, are the signs or fruits to look for
when our Lord tells us to beware of false prophets. Do they
proclaim Christ crucified? Do they proclaim salvation through
faith in Him alone apart from any works of obedience on our part?
Is what they teach about Jesus in line with what is written about Him
in the Scriptures? Do they live in repentant faith, confessing
Jesus, trusting in His words and living according to them by the power
of the Holy Spirit? The answers to these questions will tell us
whether they are true sheep or ravenous wolves?
Signs are given for a reason. They are to be
heeded. They not only give us information, but they warn us of
danger. Our new church sign should say something about what goes
on in this congregation as we gather around God’s Word and
Sacraments. So our own lives - the fruit of our lips and the
fruit of faith, our confession of Jesus and our works of love towards
one another - should act like signs that tell others the truth about
Jesus. And let us not be lax in observing the signs of others, so
that we might not be deceived into believing in the false christs and
false gospels that they proclaim. But having built on the solid
Rock of Christ and His Word, we will not perish when the winds, rain,
and floods of God’s wrath come. Instead, we will stand firm
until the end. And the Lord will say to us, “I do know
you! Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Amen.