Pigs Don't Wear Jewelry

If you say that someone is casting pearls before swine, you mean that they are wasting their time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it.

I don’t think I have used today’s idiom, but I have heard it a time or two. To cast pearls before swine comes from the New Testament and the book of Matthew and is a small part of Jesus’ longest recorded sermon in the Bible.

All of Matthew 5, 6 and 7 is a non-stop discourse from Jesus about how to live. He starts with The Beatitudes, and chapter 5 alone includes messages on Christ fulfilling the law; believers are salt and light, adultery, anger, the sacredness of marriage, and loving your enemy and going the extra mile.

Chapter 6 Jesus continues with encouraging people to do good for God’s sake, He taught us the model prayer: The Lord’s Prayer, He spoke about fasting, laying up our treasure in heaven, how the eye is the lamp of the body, He cautioned about trying to serve two masters and he spoke quite a bit on not worrying about things.

Chapter 7 begins with just 7 words and a warning from Christ. “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1 NKJV

Now, when you hear the word ‘judge’ what comes to mind?

We size people up all the time, right? We quickly take that first, or 10th, impression and we make a judgement call. But this word more precisely means ‘condemn’.

It could read, “condemn not, that you be not condemned.”

According to Strong’s Concordance the word ‘judge’ in this context means: …to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish or avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine…”

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5 NKJV

All very good advice to live by! I really appreciated the Message version of these verses.

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.” Matthew 7:1-5 The Message

And the comes verse 6: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” NKJV

What is Jesus saying here?

The Message Version puts it in more modern language. “Don’t be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you’re only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” Matthew 7:6 The Message Bible

Got questions dot org offers this. Before Jesus says, “Do not cast your pearls before swine,” He says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred.” An analogy mentioning dogs is also used in Proverbs: “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly” (Proverbs 26:11). A dual reference to swine and dogs is also found in 2 Peter 2:22, “Of [false teachers] the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.’” In His sermon, Jesus uses dogs and pigs as representative of those who would ridicule, reject, and blaspheme the gospel once it is presented to them. We are not to expose the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have no other purpose than to trample it and return to their own evil ways. Repeatedly sharing the gospel with someone who continually scoffs and ridicules Christ is like casting pearls before swine…

The command not to cast your pearls before swine does not mean we refrain from preaching the gospel. Jesus Himself ate with and taught sinners and tax collectors (Matthew 9:10). In essence, the instruction in Matthew 7:6 is the same that Jesus gave to His apostles when He said, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town” (Matthew 10:14). We are to share the gospel, but, when it becomes apparent that the gospel is not welcome, we are to move on. We are responsible to share the good news; we are not responsible for people’s response to the good news. Pigs don’t appreciate pearls, and some people don’t appreciate what Christ has done for them. Our job is not to force conversions or cram the gospel down people’s throats; there’s no sense in preaching the value of pearls to swine. Jesus’ instruction to His apostles on how to handle rejection was to simply go elsewhere. There are other people who need to hear the gospel, and they are ready to hear it.