Scripture Post #717: *RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT*

John 7:24: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

Disclaimer: The image used for this Scripture Post, in its original form, was from an image search engine. It is not an image of my own. 

Context:

John 7:22-24 King James Version (KJV): 

V. 22: "Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man."

V. 23: "If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?"

V. 24: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

Context:

John 7:22-24 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV):

V. 22: "But you obey the law Moses gave you about circumcision—and sometimes you do it on a Sabbath day. (Really, Moses is not the one who gave you circumcision. It came from our ancestors who lived before Moses.) Yes, you often circumcise baby boys on a Sabbath day."

V. 23: "This shows that someone can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the Law of Moses. So why are you angry with me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day?"

V. 24: "Stop judging by the way things look. Be fair and judge by what is really right."

The Pharisees judged JESUS unrighteously (unfairly). Because they judged JESUS based on appearance (what it looked like). JESUS healed a man on the Sabbath day, which is a day of rest. But Mosaic law allowed for circumcision to occur on the Sabbath. So JESUS confounded the Pharisees, in that, circumcising one body part for the purpose of purification on the Sabbath, can't compare to healing a man's entire body on the Sabbath! Their judgement wasn't righteous—their judgement wasn't fair. 

Notice—JESUS never said *not* to judge—HE said *how* to judge. We must judge situations with *RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT*, unlike the Pharisees. 

Originally Published: Sat. 8/30/14