There is perhaps a reference here to Isaiah's prophecy about Messiah, "lie shall not judge after the sight of His eyesl" (Isa. xi. 3.)
The principle here laid down is one of vast importance. Nothing is so common as to judge too favourably or too un- favourably of characters and actions, from merely looking at the outward appearance of things. We are apt to form hasty opinions of others, either for good or evil, on very insufficient grounds. We pronounce some men to be good and others to be bad, — some to be godly and others to be ungodly, without anything but appearance to aid our decision. We should do well to remember our blindness, and to keep in mind this text. The bad are not always so bad, nor the good so good as. they appear. A potsherd may be covered over with gilding, and look bright outside. A nugget of gold may be covered with dirt, and look worthless rubbish. One man's work may look good at first, and yet turn out, by and by, to have been done from the basest motives. Another man's work may look very questionable at first, and yet at last may prove Christ-like and truly godly. From rashly "judging by appearances" may the Lord deliver us !
Whether our Lord meant "judge not persons," or "judge not actions," according to appearance, is a point on which com- mentators do not agree. If we take the application to be to "persons," the sentence means, " Do not hastily suppose that Moses and I are at variance, and that, therefore, I must be wrong, because Moses, the great lawgiver, must be right." But it seems far simpler and more natural to apply the expression to "actions," — "Judge not the thing done by the appearance only. Look below the surface and weigh it justly.'*