Jesus in Matthew 7:1–2 establishes a principle of reciprocal justice.
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again."
The Warning: It cautions
humans that applying hypocritical, unjust, or unmerciful standards to others
invites and compels God to use that exact same strict standard against them.
In fact if a person is harsh you treat them as you would any other harmful
person.
It does not mean you deny them mercy. It makes no sense to
deny mercy to a judgemental bigot and grant it to someone who stashes money
away and starves the poor.
Using a person's unjust standard on them is
selective and is revenge.
In Matthew 23:34–36, Jesus delivers a fierce
polemic against the scribes and Pharisees, culminating in a twisted accusation
that exploits the suffering of innocents against them.
He states that upon
them will come "all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of
righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew
between the temple and the altar."
Abel and Zechariah represent the
chronological span of murders in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis to 2 Chronicles).
Historically and legally, the 1st-century Pharisees were completely innocent
of these ancient crimes.
Within Christian theology, Jesus is viewed not
merely as a human peer subject to the law of Matthew 7, but as the divine
Judge. Proponents of this view argue that while humans are forbidden from
judging because they cannot see the heart and are guilty of sin themselves, a
divine figure possesses the absolute right and perfect knowledge required to
execute judgment.
But as people don't personally know Jesus they will
be using him to judge for them. They own his judging.
In the ancient Near
Eastern context, guilt was often viewed corporately and generationally rather
than purely individually. The text frames the 1st-century religious leaders
not as literal murderers of Abel, but as the climax of a long historical
trajectory of rejecting and persecuting God's messengers (prophets). By
opposing Jesus, they are seen as "filling up the measure" of their ancestors'
sins (Matthew 23:32).
Historians note that sectarian debate in the
ancient Mediterranean was intentionally hyperbolic, harsh, and aggressive.
Similar biting critiques of religious establishments can be found in the Dead
Sea Scrolls. From a literary perspective, Matthew 23 uses extreme, stylized
language to draw a sharp theological line between the old establishment and
the early Christian movement.