In this message we shall continue to consider 6:17-49, where the Lord Jesus teaches His disciples the highest morality.
Verse 37 says, “And do not judge, and you will by no means be judged; and do not pass sentence, and sentence will by no means be passed upon you; release, and you will be released.” Here to pass sentence is to condemn, and to release is to forgive. If we do not condemn, we shall by no means be condemned. Likewise, if we forgive, we shall be forgiven.
If we live in a humble spirit under the Lord’s ruling, we shall always judge ourselves, not others. God’s children will be judged with what they judge. If they judge others with righteousness, they will be judged by the Lord with righteousness. If they judge others with mercy, they will be judged by the Lord with mercy. As James 2:13 says, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Years ago I heard what C. H. Spurgeon said in a sermon on forgiveness. In that sermon he pointed out that it is difficult for Christians to forgive others. He said that we may think that we have forgiven someone. However, our forgiveness can be compared to burying a dead dog and allowing the tail to show. After forgiving someone, we may say, “So-and-so offended me, but I have forgiven him.” This is to show the “tail” of the “dog.”
If we have really forgiven someone, we should also forget the offense. Once we have forgiven someone in a matter, we should not mention it again. Every time we mention an offense which supposedly has been forgiven, we are pulling out the tail of the buried dog to show others that the dog has been buried. If we do this, it indicates that we have not released the one who offended us.
According to the New Testament, to forgive means to forget and to release. We need to forget the offense and release the offender. Once we have done this, we should never speak of the matter again.
In verse 38 the Lord goes on to say, “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will give into your bosom; for with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you in return.” M. R. Vincent has pointed out that here “bosom” denotes “the gathered fold of the wide upper garment, bound together with the girdle, and thus forming a pouch.” Here the Lord is saying that when we give to others, our Father in heaven will always return to us much more than we give.
I once heard of a saint who was considering giving a particular gift to someone. In this case the gift was a number of fish. First this saint had the thought of giving away ten fish. But the more he thought about it, the more he reduced the number. At a certain point he realized that the thought of giving less was a temptation from the enemy. Becoming angry with the Devil, he said to him, “Satan, if you keep on tempting me, I will give away everything.” This illustrates our need for the willingness to give. If we give to others, we shall receive in return. What we measure to others will also be measured to us.
Verse 39 says, “And He spoke also a parable to them: Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit?” At the time of speaking, this word could have applied to the leaders among the Jews. In Matthew 15:14 the Lord called the self-righteous and arrogant religionists “blind leaders of the blind.” They thought they were clear concerning the way to serve God, but they did not realize that their eyes were veiled by their religion with their traditions. Hence, they could not see the reality of God’s economy. Their blindness led them to fall into the pit.
The parable in Luke 6:39 is simple, yet it reveals the divine wisdom of the Man-Savior. I doubt that any philosopher has spoken such a parable.