First, take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:5)
In His great Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus used a holy hyperbole here to make a powerful point. Before you spend time trying to remove a tiny speck of dust from your friend’s eye, take a moment to remove the massive plank from your own. In other words, Jesus is telling all of us that we can become blind to our own faults. Instead of focusing on the faults of others, we ought to examine ourselves and when we do, we will know that we too, fall far short of God’s goal for our lives each and every day.
Jesus made this point in a profound way when the religious leaders brought to Him the woman caught in the act of adultery. First, being caught in the act of adultery presupposes two people. But nowhere do we read about them bringing in the man too. So, how does Jesus respond to their “plank” perspective?
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).
Of course, the only person in the group who was without sin was Jesus. Jesus was the only one who had the right to cast judgment upon this woman, and he did. He did not excuse the woman’s sin of adultery, and when He forgave her, He told her “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11).
Now, Jesus was not telling His people to forsake judgment. He did say there was a speck in the eye of others. We are called to speak the truth in love and to offer help, encouragement, and even rebuke to others . . . in love. But, before we can help anyone, we must first let Jesus help us and come to terms with our own faults, sins, and shortcomings.
Remember, the problem with a plank perspective is we simply cannot see clearly. We must first honestly face up to the true condition of our hearts, which is deceitful, and then we can in love, look to others to help, heal, and provide hope.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 