Does John 8:15 Contradict John 8:26?

Question: John 8:15 appears to contradict John 8:26. I have read several commentaries which assert that in John 8:15 Jesus was saying he does not judge as the Pharisees do, but that is not what the verse says. It merely says “I judge no man”. The commentaries also say that in John 8:26 Jesus is saying he could judge the Pharisees, but he will not verbalize such judgement as he has in his mind. This is fine, but my understanding is that to judge someone includes having judgmental thoughts about them.

Answer: I really appreciate your desire to avoid the trap of explaining away seeming contradictions. It is very tempting to rationalize or to import meanings. It is also very hard, at times, to get at exactly what someone is saying or meaning, especially, it seems, when it is in dialogue with someone else. As I looked at the commentaries on this passage it became clear that they all are struggling to understand Jesus’ statements. I struggle too. Jesus is speaking with and to people who are adamantly against him and apt to take everything he says wrong, looking for weaknesses and desiring to trip him up. So Jesus is very careful about what he says in some ways, is even somewhat cryptic in his statements (for example, “If you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins” in verse 24, and “before Abraham was born, I am!” in verse 58; one could, in listening to the first remark add, in your mind, a predicate nominative, “I am he” but in the second instance it seems Jesus cannot be understood as meaning “I am he” but simply “I am” in reference to Moses’ conversation with Yahweh in Exodus 3).

Part of the problem in interpreting Jesus’ statements in 8:15 and 26 is the semantic range of the word “judge.” As in English, the Greek word covers a lot of ground. Our word in English can mean to evaluate, to condemn, to form an opinion, to form a negative opinion, to try a case, to rule or lead, all of which could also be true of the Greek word. When Jesus says, for example, “Judge not lest you be judged,” he cannot mean that if we don’t judge someone we will be exempt from the final judgment, because everyone will have to face final judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10). Jesus’ use of the word “judge” in Matthew 7 must have the connotation of condemn. But then, in Matthew 7:15-19, though he doesn’t use the word “judge,” Jesus urges his listeners to correctly judge false prophets, using evaluative standards that Jesus mentions (their fruit). Then in Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus judges that those who say “Lord, Lord” are actually evildoers and cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, the word judge is not being used but the action of judging is taking place, judging in the proper sense of evaluating, with the evaluating ending in a negative “judgment.”

All that to say, when in John 8:15 Jesus says, “You judge by human standards” he is faulting their judging, their judging being, as he says in John 7:24, “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” Jesus says, “I myself do not judge anyone,” and some have thought he has just not stated “the way you judge,” because he says in the very next verse that if he did judge it would be true judgment. But it is more likely he is referring to this kind of judgment not being in his instruction or mission from God, as he references in v. 26. He could judge, we might even say that in his thinking he has been judging, but the Father has not directed him to pronounce his judgments at this point. As it says in John 3:17, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” So Jesus’ statement, “I judge no one” is absolute as to his current responsibility, not meant as a statement of his whole role in God’s plan, because he will act as judge in the future, “the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22).

It’s tough to judge the correct interpretation, isn’t it?