the danger of forming a hasty judgment.
April 2, 2021•382 words
The Jews at Jerusalem were ready to condemn our Lord as a sinner against the law of Moses, because He had done a miracle of healing on the Sabbath day. They forgot in their blind enmity that the fourth commandment was not meant to prevent works of necessity or works of mercy. A work on the Sabbath our Lord had done, no doubt, but not a work forbidden by the law. And hence they drew down on themselves the rebuke, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
The practical value of the lesson before us is very great. We shall do well to remember it as we travel through life and to correct our estimate of people and things by the light which it supplies.
We are often too ready to be deceived by an appearance of good. We are in danger of rating some men as very good Christians, because of a little outward profession of religion and a decent Sunday formality – because, in short, they talk the language of Canaan and wear the garb of pilgrims. We forget that all is not good that appears good, even as all is not gold that glitters, and that daily practice, choice, tastes, habits, conduct, private character are the true evidence of what a man is. In a word, we forget our Lord’s saying – “Judge not according to the appearance.”
We are too ready, on the other hand, to be deceived by the appearance of evil. We are in danger of setting down some men as not true Christians, because of a few faults or inconsistencies, and “making them offenders because of a word” (Isaiah 29:21). We must remember that the best of men are but men at their very best, and that the most eminent saints may be overtaken by temptation and yet be saints at heart after all. We must not hastily suppose that all is evil, where there is an occasional appearance of evil. The holiest man may fall sadly for a time, and yet the grace within him may finally get a victory. Is a man’s general character godly? Then let us suspend our judgment a little when he falls, and hope on. Let us “judge righteous judgment.”
—J.C. Ryle, ‘Expository Thoughts on John’