p. 316 | Untitled article

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, November 5, 1867

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. XXX, No. 21

The Mote and Beam.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Matt. vii, 3-5.

These verses show that while Christ addressed his disciples as the children of God, he yet warned them that there might be hypocrites among them. If a man, whose eyes were closed with some obstruction or disease (which like a beam was evident to all, and which entirely prevented his seeing any object distinctly) should affect curiously to spy out some little particle in another man's eye, and officiously offer to remove it; he would render himself ridiculous. His attention should be directed to the disordered state of his own eyes, and his endeavors used to remedy it, before he offered his assistance to his brother.

Thus while Christians should watch over one another, and point out and remedy even small mistakes in each other's principles and practices, the man who presumes to reprove every defect of others, when his own spirit and conduct are notoriously wrong, only proves his own officiousness and hypocrisy. He who would become a wise reprover must begin at home; and first take heed to himself and his doctrine, temper and conduct. When these are become unexceptionable, he may with propriety, authority, and hope of success, offer his help to his brother in rectifying their judgments and promoting their sanctification: yet he will do it with humility, tenderness and candor. But alas! it is observable in spiritual optics, a beam in the eye generally renders a man quick-sighted in discerning other men's faults, and blind only to his own. It is probable that our Lord alluded to some proverbial expression familiar to his hearers, the knowledge of which would throw more light on the subject, than any criticism on the original words can do. “There was a proverbial speech among the Jews, in and before Christ's time, set down afterward with some variation in the Talmud thus. “They which say to others, Take out the small piece of wood out of thy teeth, are answered, Take out the beam out of thine eyes: to check the impetuosity of those who are always censuring and condemning others for small matters,—when they themselves are much more to be reprehended.” —Hammond's Scott's Notes.