The Prohibitions of Jesus: What He Taught Us Not to Do

Do Not Judge Others

Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:37

"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. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"

This often-cited command appears in the Sermon on the Mount and its Lukan parallel. It's not a blanket ban on all discernment (which would contradict other instructions from Jesus), but specifically targets hypocritical, harsh, condemning judgment that arises from a sense of superiority. Jesus emphasizes self-examination before attempting to correct others and warns that the standard we use to judge others will be applied to us. The prohibition is primarily against setting ourselves up as the final arbiter of another's standing before God—a role belonging to God alone.

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Do Not Lust

Matthew 5:28-30

"But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away..."

Jesus radically internalizes the prohibition against adultery, moving the focus from external act to internal thought and desire. The seriousness of this internal sin is underscored by the subsequent hyperbolic language urging decisive action against the root causes of sin. This demonstrates Jesus' focus on the heart as the source of action and impurity—an internal transformation of desires rather than mere behavioral control.

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Do Not Worry/Be Anxious

Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-31

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on... Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

Jesus repeatedly commands his followers not to worry about basic necessities or the future. He provides several reasons: worry is futile (it cannot add a single hour to life); it demonstrates a lack of faith in God's providential care; and it's characteristic of those outside a trusting relationship with God. The positive alternative to worry is seeking first God's kingdom, trusting that necessities will follow. This prohibition reveals a deep connection between theological trust and economic anxiety—worry often stems from misplaced trust in wealth rather than in God as provider.

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Do Not Swear Oaths

Matthew 5:33-37

"But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all... Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil."

Jesus challenges the contemporary practice of creating distinctions between different types of oaths (some binding, others not). He rejects these distinctions, arguing that any oath ultimately invokes God. His command aims higher: his followers should be characterized by such consistent truthfulness and integrity that their simple word is sufficient. The need for oaths arises from potential dishonesty; Jesus calls his disciples to a level of transparency and trustworthiness that renders such verbal guarantees obsolete.

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Do Not Resist an Evil Person

Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 6:29-30

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Jesus shifts focus from legal settings to personal responses to injury or insult. He commands his followers not to engage in retaliatory action against those who wrong them. He illustrates this with specific examples: turning the other cheek when slapped; giving one's cloak in addition to the tunic when sued; and going a second mile when compelled by authority to carry baggage. This teaching calls for breaking cycles of violence by absorbing personal offense and responding with unexpected generosity or forbearance, potentially transforming the aggressor by demonstrating the way of God's Kingdom.

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Do Not Store Earthly Treasures

Matthew 6:19-21

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Jesus contrasts the vulnerability of earthly treasures with the security of "treasures in heaven" (acts of righteousness, mercy, and charity). The key reason for this prohibition: "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The focus of investment reveals the orientation of one's heart. This prohibition is directed not against mere possession of wealth, but against making its accumulation the heart's primary treasure. Jesus perceives material wealth as a powerful spiritual rival to God, competing for human allegiance, trust, and affection.

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Other "Do Not" Commands

Jesus issued several other specific prohibitions throughout the Gospels:

• "Do not give dogs what is holy, or throw your pearls before pigs" (Matthew 7:6) – Calls for discernment about sharing sacred truths with those who demonstrate hardened rejection and contempt
• "Do not fear those who kill the body" (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4) – Reorients fear from temporal human threats to God, who holds authority over eternal destiny
• "Do not despise little ones" (Matthew 18:10) – Warns against looking down on humble, seemingly insignificant, or new believers, whose value is affirmed by their status before God
• "Do not be called Rabbi/Father/Teacher" (Matthew 23:8-10) – Forbids seeking or accepting honorific titles that establish hierarchy among believers, emphasizing equality as "brothers" under one Master (Christ) and one Father (God)
• "Do not let man separate what God has joined" (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9) – Prohibits dissolving the marriage union God intended to be permanent, directed against unjustified divorce

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Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees

Matthew 16:6, 11-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1

"Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

Luke explicitly clarifies the meaning: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Leaven (yeast) serves as a powerful metaphor for something small that can subtly permeate and corrupt a whole entity. Jesus identifies this corrupting influence primarily as hypocrisy—a disconnect between outward religiosity and internal spiritual reality. In his "Woes" (Matthew 23; Luke 11), Jesus detailed specific manifestations of this hypocrisy: seeking public praise; imposing burdensome rules on others while circumventing them themselves; meticulously following minor ritual laws while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness; focusing on external appearances while harboring internal greed.

This warning indicates that Jesus viewed hypocrisy not merely as an individual failing, but as a contagious ideology that could subtly infiltrate his own followers if they weren't vigilant.

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Beware of False Prophets

Matthew 7:15-20

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits."

This warning highlights the deceptive nature of false teachers—appearing outwardly harmless or pious but having destructive motives. Jesus provides a criterion for discernment: "You will know them by their fruits." Just as a tree's type determines its fruit, a teacher's true nature is revealed through their character, actions, and the effects of their teaching.

The placement of this warning near the end of the Sermon on the Mount is significant. After describing the demanding ethical path Jesus outlined (the "narrow way"), he warns of disguised false prophets who might offer an easier, more palatable path that compromises his requirements. Discernment between true and false teaching is essential for genuine discipleship.

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Beware of Covetousness/Greed

Luke 12:15

"Take heed, and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

This warning is delivered after Jesus declined to arbitrate an inheritance dispute, and directly precedes the Parable of the Rich Fool. Jesus links greed to a fundamental misconception about life's meaning: "one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Covetousness—an insatiable desire for more, particularly material wealth—is presented as rooted in a false value system.

By issuing this warning immediately before the Parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus frames the pursuit and accumulation of wealth not merely as unwise, but as a distinct spiritual danger requiring vigilance. The parable illustrates how greed leads to mistaking material security and abundance for true life, thereby neglecting the infinitely more valuable relationship with God.

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The Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:16-21

This parable depicts a man whose land yields an unexpectedly large harvest. His response is entirely self-focused: building bigger barns for his crops and goods, anticipating years of ease for his soul. God calls him a "fool," announces his imminent death, and asks: "Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"

The parable implicitly condemns:

• Radical Self-Centeredness: The man's internal monologue revolves entirely around "I" and "my"
• Hoarding Wealth: His solution to abundance is bigger storage, not distribution or generosity
• Materialism/Finding Security in Possessions: He believes his wealth guarantees future security and happiness
• Neglect of God: He fails to acknowledge God as the source of his wealth and lives without reference to his relationship with God

Jesus concludes, "This is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God."

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Woes to the Pharisees and Scribes

Matthew 23; Luke 11:37-54

The series of "Woes" denounced by Jesus function as prophetic judgments that implicitly condemn specific practices and attitudes of religious leaders. Through these denunciations, Jesus implicitly condemns:

• Obstructing Access to God's Kingdom: "You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces" (Matt 23:13)
• Harmful Proselytizing: Making converts "twice as much a child of hell as yourselves" (Matt 23:15)
• Hypocritical Oath-Taking: Creating elaborate systems to determine which oaths were binding (Matt 23:16-22)
• Neglecting Weightier Matters: Meticulously tithing herbs while ignoring "justice, mercy, and faithfulness" (Matt 23:23-24)
• External Appearance Over Internal Reality: Cleaning the "outside of the cup" while inside is full of "greed and self-indulgence" (Matt 23:25-26)
• Seeking Honor and Status: Actions done "to be seen by others," seeking places of honor and titles (Matt 23:5-7)

These "Woes" represent a sustained condemnation of religious externalism—how obsessive focus on outward performance and public reputation can mask profound spiritual corruption, ethical failure, and social injustice.

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Other Implicit Condemnations

Jesus employed additional methods to condemn what he found unacceptable:

• Symbolic Actions: His cleansing of the Temple (recorded in all four Gospels) condemned the commercialization and exploitation within sacred precincts. His cursing of the fruitless fig tree (Matt 21:18-20; Mark 11:12-14) symbolically condemned fruitless religiosity.
• Rhetorical Questions and Challenges: Jesus frequently challenged traditions that obscured God's commands, such as questioning the Corban rule (Mark 7:9-13), whereby dedicating property to God could be used to avoid caring for elderly parents.
• Condemnatory Labels: Jesus' application of terms like "hypocrites," "blind guides," and "brood of vipers" to religious leaders served as prophetic denunciations of their spiritual state and leadership failures.

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The Great Commandment

Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:28-31

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus identified two: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." He declared, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

This framework provides the ultimate positive context for understanding his prohibitions. Many negative commands can be seen as specific ways not to violate these two fundamental principles of love:

• Loving God is violated by serving Mammon (hence, "Do not store earthly treasures")
• Loving God is violated by fearing humans more than Him (hence, "Do not fear those who kill the body")
• Loving neighbor is violated by judgmentalism (hence, "Do not judge")
• Loving neighbor is violated by lust (hence, "Do not lust")
• Loving neighbor is violated by retaliation (hence, "Do not resist an evil person")

Love provides the overarching positive ethic, defining the goal and motivation, while the prohibitions act as guardrails, preventing actions and attitudes that contradict or undermine that love.

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The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-23

The Beatitudes describe the character traits and blessed states of those who belong to the Kingdom of Heaven: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted.

There is a reciprocal relationship between the Beatitudes and Jesus' prohibitions:

• Adhering to "Do not judge" fosters meekness and mercy
• Obeying "Do not lust" contributes to purity of heart
• Obeying "Do not retaliate" aligns with being merciful and a peacemaker

Conversely, the attitudes described in the Beatitudes provide the foundation for obeying the prohibitions. Someone who is truly "poor in spirit" (humbly aware of their need for God) is less likely to fall into the pride that fuels judgmentalism. Those who are "merciful" will find it more natural to refrain from retaliation.

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Positive and Negative Balance

Jesus' ministry included many positive commands that complement his prohibitions: "Repent," "Follow Me," "Let your light shine," "Be reconciled," "Go the second mile," "Love your enemies," "Be perfect," "Seek God's kingdom first," "Ask, seek, knock," "Do unto others as you would have them do to you," "Make disciples," "Deny yourself and take up your cross."

Often, positive commands provide the active expression of the principle behind a prohibition:

• The negative "Do not retaliate" is fulfilled in the positive "Love your enemies" and "Pray for those who persecute you"
• The negative "Do not store up treasures on earth" is balanced by the positive "Store up treasures in heaven" and "Seek first his kingdom"

Prohibitions often clear away obstacles or define boundaries, while positive commands direct the energy and focus of the disciple's life toward active good. A holistic understanding of Jesus' ethics requires integrating both. Prohibitions without positive commands could lead to a sterile morality focused only on avoidance; positive commands without the clarity of prohibitions could lack specific application.

Jesus consistently weaves them together, demonstrating that true righteousness involves both abstaining from evil and actively pursuing good, motivated by love for God and neighbor, and grounded in trust in God's kingdom.

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