Matthew 7:4

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?

The deftness and accuracy of our Lord's comparisons have never been even approached by other teachers. A mote, although trifling and insignificant, can nevertheless be a serious and painful handicap when located in the eye. Thus, Jesus cannot be charged with making even the slightest sin or fault a matter of indifference. That is not the point under consideration. What he is emphasizing here is the evil inconsistency of Big Guilt correcting Little Guilt. It may be doubted that Christ ever employed humor in his teachings, but there is certainly a suggestion of it here. The ridiculous picture of a man with a plank in his own eye casting a splinter out of his neighbor's eye must have brought a chuckle from those who heard the Master's words.