NO. 1
When Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged,”
He meant that:
We can never say someone else is wrong; everyone has their own truth
Anytime we judge someone else, God judges us
We shouldn’t be quick to judge others for things we do ourselves
Only God can see what’s sin and what’s not
The full passage is Matthew 7:1–5 (ESV), which reads, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Many passages in the New Testament instruct us how to lovingly confront sin, which would be hard to do if we weren’t supposed to be able to discern when someone is sinning (consider Luke 17:3–4). But we should be conscious of our own sin first, especially if we might be guilty of the very same sin for which we’re passing judgment on someone else. Most of all, sin should always grieve us as it grieves God, so we should never be self-righteous or triumphant when we spot someone else’s sin.
NO. 2
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,”
He was talking about:
People who give away all their possessions
People who are humble
People who don’t do self-care
People who aren’t very interesting
Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 ESV), in contrast to, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24 ESV). Why? Not because there’s anything wrong with having wealth, but because having enough money for our needs tends to make us feel less dependent on God—self-satisfied, secure and even able to earn our way to salvation. Those who are poor in spirit, whatever their material possessions might be, admit their sins and the gulf between themselves and God that can only be bridged by Jesus Christ.
NO. 3
When Jesus said, “For you always have the poor with you,”
He meant:
There’s no point trying to fight poverty
Poor people should work harder to help themselves
The government shouldn’t spend money on social services
We always have opportunities to help the poor
Many people quote this part of Matthew 26:11 (ESV) out of context as though Jesus were saying that because we can never completely eliminate poverty, we shouldn’t even try. These people have overlooked the fact that Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11 (ESV), which has the completely opposite meaning: “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” They’re also ignoring the parallel verse in Mark 14:7 (ESV), “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them.”
The key to understanding this verse is in the second half, and the story that surrounds it. The full verse is, “For you always have the poor with you ... but you will not always have me.” Jesus’s death is nearing. A woman has just anointed His feet with costly perfume out of love for Him. The disciples are scandalized that the price of the perfume wasn’t given to the poor instead. Jesus is simply telling them to honor this woman’s devotion, because soon He would not be there to receive such gifts.
NO. 4
When Jesus said, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead,”
He was saying:
That it’s ungodly to grieve when our family members die
That Christians shouldn’t have funerals
That we shouldn’t put off following Him
That we should cut off ties with our non-Christian relatives
The full passage is Luke 9:59–60 (ESV): “To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’”
Commentators have interpreted the man’s request in various ways. Some suggest the verb tense in the original means the man’s father was still alive and the man wanted to delay following Jesus until his family obligations were past. Others suggest the man is referring to the practice of leaving a body in the tomb for a year, then moving the bones into a box called an ossuary. Either way, it’s clear the man is making an excuse for not following Jesus immediately. Jesus replies with a play on words, referring to both physical and spiritual death. It was not the man’s desire to bury his father that Jesus was rebuking; it was the man’s obvious excuse-making.
NO. 5
When Jesus said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” He meant that:
We should always want to be more Christlike
We have to do everything right for God to accept us
We can be good enough to go to heaven if we try hard enough
God can’t use us until we’re good enough
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we can never be perfect by ourselves; no amount of trying will get us there. But this verse, Matthew 5:48 (ESV), is the culmination of a passage about being salt and light in the world, keeping our inner thoughts pure as well as our outward behavior, loving our enemies and many other practical steps for following Christ. We will never be perfect, but we can always be moving closer to that goal. Most importantly, when we repent and seek righteousness, our sins are forgiven through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and in God’s eyes, we are blameless: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7 ESV).
