Judgement
Dublin Ireland has a courthouse near the city center that was built by the British back when they occupied Ireland. The courthouse has a famous statue of Lady Justice. The statue rose to prominence because it has a few issues with it.
For one the statue has its back to the people, even though statues of justice are supposed to face the people that they sit in judgment over. The statue is also missing a blindfold, which means it is missing the symbolism of justice being blind. Worst of all because of the way the statue holds the scales its arm blocks water from one side of the scale when it is raining. The result is that when it rains, and in Dublin that is like 300 days a year, the scales fall out of balance.
This statue became a symbol for the Irish people of the oppression they suffered at the hands of the British. It serves as a reminder to us that people care about how they are judged. All of us want to be judged fairly and justly. In our scripture for this week, Jesus talks about how we, as Christians, are to appropriately judge those around us. You can read his words from Matthew 7 below:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
This week we are going to unpack this passage and consider how we can:
Resist the temptation to judge others harshly
Mind our own logs
Love the Specks
Look forward to seeing you Wednesday!
