The Friday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 18, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 6:36-42 (NKJV)
6:36 “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”
Devotion
As is so often the case, our Lord reminds us that our goal as Christians (disciples of Jesus) is to strive for God’s perfection, and the Lord should be our example in all aspects of faith and life. This admonition to be like our Father in heaven removes any foolish argument that Christians cannot judge anyone for their behavior. Jesus does not relieve His followers of the need for discerning the difference between right and wrong, but He does condemn unjust and hypocritical judging of others. The misconception is the same as the false opinion that Christians are not supposed to get angry; but we are called to avoid unrighteous wrath, as opposed to righteous anger. The true believer should be angered by sin and disrespect toward their Lord, as well as toward His holy Word and doctrine.
The “bosom” in verse 38 is literally the fold of the loose garment as it falls from the chest over the girdle; this pouch-like gathering of material was used as a pocket, presented here for carrying grain. The comparison between a speck and a plank should be seen as Jesus using hyperbole to sharpen the contrast and to emphasize how foolish and hypocritical it is for us to criticize someone for a fault while remaining blind to our own considerable faults against the Lord.
Collect: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
