⚖️ Do Not Judge (7:1-6)
Matthew 7:1-2
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
The imperative 'do not judge' (me krinete) does not prohibit all discernment—Jesus himself commands discernment in 7:6 and 7:15-20. What is forbidden is condemnatory, hypocritical, and definitive judgment of others. The mirror law ('with the measure you use') is one of the most solemn in the NT: the standard we apply to others will be the standard applied to us. This is not karma—it is the logic of mercy: those who do not show mercy cannot expect mercy (cf. Jas 2:13).
Matthew 7:7-8
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
The three verbs (ask, seek, knock) are in the present continuous in Greek: 'keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.' Prayer is not a one-time event but a lifestyle posture. The promise is universal ('everyone who asks') and unconditional—but the context is prayer in accordance with the Father's will (cf. 1 John 5:14). The a fortiori argument that follows (7:9-11) is irresistible: if imperfect human parents give good gifts to their children, how much more the perfect Father!
Matthew 7:12
"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
The Golden Rule is the ethical synthesis of the Sermon on the Mount—and Jesus presents it positively (not just 'do not do to others what you do not want done to you,' but 'do to others what you want done to you'). 'This is the Law and the Prophets'—the same phrase used in 22:40 about the two great commandments. Love for neighbor is not an addition to the Law; it is its essence.