John 7:24 - "Judge righteous judgement"

[CatholicZ09]

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

So, what falls under righteous judgement? I know we also quote Matthew 7:1 which states:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

So, what should we judge then? I thought it wasn’t right to judge at all, but apparently, this is not the case as stated by John 7:24.

 

[_L]

So, what falls under righteous judgement? I know we also quote Matthew 7:1 which states:

So, what should we judge then? I thought it wasn’t right to judge at all, but apparently, this is not the case as stated by John 7:24.

Well I’ve always taken “Judge not lest ye be judged” to mean that we do not usurp God’s power to judge souls, we can never tell someone they are going to Hell because that is the ultimate form of wrong judgment, because you claim to be able to judge their soul which is certainly not the case.

This is different than judging actions because there are several occasions in the NT where it talks about admonishing people for their actions.

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John 7: 21-25 21 Jesus answered, and said to them: One work I have done; and you all wonder: 22 Therefore, Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers and on the sabbath day you circumcise a man. 23 If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day? 24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment. 25 Some therefore of Jerusalem said: Is not this he whom they seek to kill?

This is the whole passage around the verse you linked, and from the context I think its directed at the pharisees who were extremely legalistic in regards to the sabbath, they denounced Jesus for healing someone on the Sabbath, but Jesus fired back saying that they would perform circumcision on the sabbath as well which in their legalistic mind set would be on par with healing on the sabbath thus condemning their hypocrisy. I think Jesus was challenging them to look past the superficial and obvious and try to see what was really going on, that the Son of God, the Lord of the Sabbath, was healing people who needed help. But the pharisees could not see this, they just saw a man who was violating the sabbath in their view.

 

[jerry_kelso]

So, what falls under righteous judgement? I know we also quote Matthew 7:1 which states:

So, what should we judge then? I thought it wasn’t right to judge at all, but apparently, this is not the case as stated by John 7:24.

According to Paul, judging is why we’re here contained in rulership training. (2 Timothy 2:12). We will also judge angels.(1 Corinthians 6:3).
We are not to judge if we’re hypocritical like the Pharisees who couldn’t get the mote out of their own eye. (Matthew 7:1-5).
One example of righteous judgement is Paul judging the son committing fornication with his mother. Chapters 5 and 6 talk about righteous judgement concerning believers. God judgeth sinners, v13. God Bless! Jerry Kelso

 

[Nita]

If you look at the situation of John 7:21-24, you will see that the judgement Jesus is talking about is whether or not an action of His conforms to the Law or not — does Jesus’ decision (judgement) to heal a man on the Sabbath break the Law about not doing “work” on the Sabbath or not.

21 Jesus answered, and said to them: One work I have done: and you all wonder:

22 Therefore *Moses gave you circumcision: (not because it is of Moses, **but of the fathers,) and on the sabbath-day you circumcise a man.

23 If a man receive circumcision on the sabbath-day, that the law of Moses may not be broken: are you angry at me because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath-day?

24 *Judge not according to the appearance, but judge just judgment.
This type of judgement (whether specific acts are in conformity with God’s law or not) are judgements we are continually called on to make – it is part of living our Christianity. First we must learn God’s and the Church’s commandments, and then as situations arise, we have to judge which action/s are in conformity with the teaching we have received. And also, whether an action is contrary to that teaching.

Sometimes more than one command of God/Church is involved in a particular situation. In the instance Jesus speaks of, the command “not to work on the Sabbath” and the command to “love your neighbor” are involved. A judgement had to be made as to whether or not it was in convormity with God’s law to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus, of course, healed on the Sabbath - and He points out how there is a precedence, if you will, for this choice in the fact that circumcision is allowed to be performed on the Sabbath.
An example I recall from Catechism was the command “Thou shalt not steal”. We were taught that in the case of starvation (for oneself and/or one’s family) stealing was not a sin if that was the only alternative. Involved is not only love and care for oneself and one’s family, but also the recognition that everything (all food/resources) belongs to God and He has provided them for all His children. Normally, private ownership prevails as the rule to be followed; but in case of emergency/starvation, love prevails.

Regarding the judging we are never to do: as mentioned by the others, that is the judgment regarding the soul of another human - whether they are culpably “guilty” of sin. We are not to make any judgement regarding the state of their soul.