Matthew 7:1-5 (NKJV) 1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (emphasis added)
Now we come to the heart of the matter. It’s about splinters verses logs. Both are metaphors used by Christ to point out that both parties had sin in their lives. The one with the splinter in his or her eye is clearly being affected by sin. And it is no small matter, even though it’s a splinter. It hurts. It affects vision. You can’t walk around with a splinter in your eye and not be noticed! You’re likely to fall on your face. The other person, in this case, the Scribes and Pharisees are afflicted with a log in their eye. They are completely debilitated and yet they see it their duty to remove the splinter from another all the while there is a log in their eye.
I don’t think it takes much exegesis to get the point here. Just exactly how were they to accomplish this task of removal on another when they couldn’t see to make such a delicate operation?
Both had sin, splinter, and log, but the log speaks to a greater seriousness of sin. Neither are insignificant, but the person with the log in the eye was in a whole other category. This sin pictured total blindness. The ones with the log were blind to their own sinful condition and there is no sin so blinding as self-righteousness. This is the one sin that Jesus throughout His ministry condemned the Scribes and Pharisees of committing.
Self-righteousness always manifests itself in self-justification and the condemning of others. It is cruel, ugly, and poisonous. It is a destroyer of people, a murderer of another’s character and cannot be contained. Self-righteousness plays God, claiming to be both lawgiver and judge. It is the ultimate denier of Gospel because it claims its own righteousness and fails to see its own neediness and bankruptcy. When a person, clothed in self-righteousness, pounces on the sins of others, there is only destruction left in his or her path.
The ultimate in hypocrisy is on full display with the self-righteous. They pretend to be something they are not and are imminently worthy of our Lord’s condemnation. There is no uglier display of religion that that self-righteousness. It is the self-righteous, hypocritical judgment that Jesus is condemning, not loving reproof (Romans 15:14; Ephesians 5:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:15; Titus 2:4).
The sad thing is, those who claim that they will get to heaven based on their own good works are also blinded to the fact, that they too, are self-righteous, and see no need for the grace of God displayed on the Cross of Calvary. “Not of works of righteousness,” (Ephesians 2:8; Titus 3:5) means just that. There is no hope of heaven while you cling to your own righteousness.
-Michael Holtzinger