What did Jesus say about judging others?

This is one of the places where Matthew and Luke both record my words, and it is worth hearing both versions rather than flattening them into one. In Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, I said: “Don't judge, so that you won't be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you” Luke's account of the same teaching adds a parallel line: “Don't judge, and you won't be judged. Don't condemn, and you won't be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free” Notice that Luke includes condemning and setting free alongside judging — the scope is a little wider there. Both accounts then share the parable of the speck and the beam: the person rushing to correct a small fault in their neighbor while ignoring a large one in themselves. The point is not that fault-finding is always wrong, but that it must begin with honest self-examination. Matthew records me calling the hasty judge a hypocrite — strong language, but precise. Once you have cleared your own vision, you may actually be more helpful to your neighbor, not less. The underlying logic is reciprocal and urgent: the standard you apply to others will be applied to you. Mercy invited mercy; harshness invites harshness.