NOTES for Mat 7:1-5

The beam and the speck are objects of the same nature but of a different “order.” And it may seem that, because of its size, the beam in one’s eye prevents one from seeing anything at all. But the point is precisely that the person carrying it in his eye is blind only in relation to himself. In relation to others, however, it works like a magnifying glass that helps him make out the smallest faults of others. This gives rise to the desire to help another person get rid of the speck (see Matt. 7:4). Yet someone gravely ill with a disease cannot cure another person of the same disease, even if it has only just begun. Moreover, with such a “magnifier” it is easy to confuse the dimensions and prepare a saw instead of a scalpel... Only a person who has already been healed and has gone through the pain of healing—for it hurts when Someone takes the beam out of your eye—can help another. This is why Christ says: “First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matt. 7:5).