The Sermon on the Mount (Bossuet)/Day 36
Thirty-sixth Day
'Judge not.' — Matt. vii. i, 2, seq.
'JUDGE not.’ There is a judge above you; a judge Who will try your judgments, and demand an account of them; who, by a just sentence, will punish you for having passed sentence on others without authority and without knowledge: — the two greatest defects that a judgment can have.
(I.) Without authority: — 'who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth'[1]: — it is for the master only to judge.
Judge not, then, him whose judge you are not.
And what St Paul adds to this should serve yet more to close your mouth, O rash judge! You pronounce on the state of another man’s servant, and say that he has either fallen or is about to fall; but ‘ he shall stand,' says the Apostle, ' for God is able to make him stand.' Do not you, then, declare that he will fall.
St Paul goes on: — ‘ But why dost thou judge thy brother? ’ And why do you despise your brother? He is your fellow-man, and your equal; and it does not belong to you to judge him. You are both alike answerable to the judge before whom both must appear. ‘For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.... So then every one of us shall render an account of himself to God.’[2] Do not dream, therefore, of judging others, but think of the account that you will have to give of yourself.
St James is no less decided. ‘There is,' he says, ‘one law -giver, and judge, who is able to destroy and to deliver.’[3] And to this he adds, ‘But what art thou, who judgest thy neighbour?’ which reflection he deduces from the grand principle previously laid down: — ‘ He that detracteth his brother, or judgeth his brother, detracteth the law, and judgeth the law ’: — namely, because the law itself has forbidden you to usurp the power of judgment. ‘ But,' continues this great apostle, 'if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.’ [4] You put yourself above your own rule of conduct; and the law will come down upon your head before long with its full weight, and will crush you. See what strength, light, and truth are opposed, by these two verses of the Apostle, to your rash judgments!
(2.) It is clear then, that you judge your neighbour without authority to do so. But you also judge without knowledge.
You do not know the man you judge; you cannot see his interior; you do not understand his motive, which may perhaps justify him; and even if his crime is a public one, you do not know that he may not repent: — or even that he has not already repented, and become one of those over whom the angels rejoice. Therefore, 'judge not.'
'Charity is patient, is kind. Charity envieth not, is not puffed up.... Is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil.... Beareth all things, believeth all things; hopeth all things, endureth all things.’ [5] We know also that she 'rejoiceth not ’ in the iniquity of others, but that she does rejoice when all do good ‘ in the truth.’ Hence, charity takes no pleasure in judging; and this all the more, because in judging others she would condemn herself. Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou dost the same things which thou judgest.’ [6] You are, that is, judged out of your own mouth, O wicked servant! and have pronounced your own sentence.
What joy for a criminal to hear from the very mouth of his judge: ' You shall not be judged!' But this can only be if he has himself judged no one.