Righteous Judgment and the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:1–12)

How do I love my neighbor as myself? Just as Jesus leaned into our love for God, so now he turns to press us with regard to our love of neighbor. As he begins to draw the Sermon on the Mount to a close he reveals the hypocrisy of a condemning spirit, the necessity of discernment, the help the Father is ready to provide, and a handy rule of thumb to help guide our interactions with one another. Misunderstandings multiply when we consider parts of this passage in isolation; let us give attention to the flow of Jesus’ thought.