Luke 6:37-49 comments: a solid foundation

Luke 6:37 ¶  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 39  And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40  The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42  Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. 43  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. 46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Verses 37 and 38 show us something of the nature of the judgment awaiting the followers of Christ, who it appears shall be judged by the same leniency or severity, mercy or self-righteousness, that they judged others by. We are warned elsewhere.

James 2:13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

To render benevolence to others is an important trait that Christ commands we are to express.

Proverbs 19:17  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

The person who does not understand or accept the basic fundamentals of Christ’s will for the believer is like a blind person trying to lead someone who is blind. Both will stumble. We are to be like Christ, He says.

In keeping with these thoughts the question arises of why, when we have our own glaring faults and transgressions are we so intent on nitpicking other people’s faults? Be concerned with your own sins first before you go off on others about theirs.

Before we can examine the sins of someone else we must look to our own. I mentioned Galatians 5 in the last passage and a born-again person produces that fruit. How can we hope, with a bitter, self-righteous, and judgmental heart to produce the fruit that Christ wants for us?

Christ finishes in this passage with an analogy to building a house with a foundation on solid ground or on soft soil. These passages have been ripped out of context and misused so many times to justify a pastor’s desire for control or a political agenda that it is sickening. Look at the context of the entire passage and see what Christ is trying to get across to His followers as to what He expects from them. This is the solid rock on which Christ’s Christian religion is based. It is not about the respect you think you deserve, your desire for vengeance, a pathological fear of not having your manhood affirmed, or any other selfish desire you feel. It is about Christ. Would it be so that more conservative Christians would put self, paranoia, bigotry, and fear aside and trust and obey the one who created them.