Devotion: John 7:24

John 7:24 “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” 

In today’s verse from the book of John, we are taken to Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. Take a few minutes to read the chapter our verse is taken from and then return to go through today’s devotion.

In this chapter we see Jesus at odds with the religious leaders who are upset with Him for healing on the Sabbath and are looking for excuses to have Him killed. Our verse is the conclusion of the confrontation between the leaders and Jesus.

Jesus is seen in this section challenging the religious leaders to cease with their judgement of the outward appearances. Instead, He tells them to judge correctly. But what does “judging correctly” mean exactly? And how does it apply to our lives today?

Let’s look at the Greek word for “judge” and see if it reveals anything to help us understand. The word used is the same as what we have seen before, but the form of it differs. We have the root word for judge – krino – which we learned means to distinguish, decide, or evaluate. The word in this sentence is krinete, which is the present active imperative form. Both times it is used in this verse we see it in the form krinete. That form paired with the other Greek wording leaves us with an interpretation that is a command to make a decision or pass judgement with the correct, moral, or righteous judgement rather than personal opinion based on outward appearance.

The religious leaders had prioritized legalistic traditions over divine mercy. They only looked at the outward, physical act – the breaking of the Sabbath rule that occurred when Jesus healed a man. They looked to tradition and legalistic practices, completely ignoring the miracle that had taken place. They also refused to acknowledge the intent behind the healing.

What we need to understand from this passage and in particular from our verse is that we are not being told NOT to judge. We are being warned to avoid hypocrisy. If we are to judge, we are to do so with our views aligned with God’s Truths. And we find these truths in one place – the Word of God.

Imagine how our world would be if people stopped looking at the outward appearance of things and instead judged things based upon God’s standards. And beyond that, imagine how things would be if all judgement was done with a loving intent, a desire to see salvation, restoration, and transformation. Our world would look vastly different if God’s standards and His love were the basis for all judgements made.

Let’s make every effort to avoid judging people, situations, or what have you by the outward appearance. Instead, let’s try to look at things through His eyes. How would Jesus respond? What would His course of actions look like? To understand that, one needs to understand the ministry of Jesus and what He actively preached and modeled.

Prayer: Lord, Help me to look beyond the outward appearance. Give me Your eyes to be able to see things the way You see them and respond the way You would respond. Amen 

You might also like this:

Devotion: Psalm 3:3 Devotion: Philippians 1:18 Devotion: Isaiah 61:1