If in the process it may appear that certain elements of the law are for all practical purposes "abolished," this will be attributable not to their loss of their status as the Word of God but to their changed role in the era of fulfillment, in which it is Jesus, the fulfiller, rather than the law which pointed forward to him, who is the ultimate authority
we must carefully note the exact meaning of "judge" (κρίνετε); in this context it does not mean a court trial or admonition. It cannot refer to discerning or evaluating right and wrong. All such are valid for believers (e.g., 1 Cor 5:5; Phil 3:2; Gal 6:1; Heb 3:13; 1 John 4:1). So what does this judgmental attitude connote? It means looking down on a person with a superior attitude, criticizing or condemning them without a loving concern (the opposite of the second we-petition on forgiveness, 6:12).
The key component is the absence of love. Admonition has a humility that says, "I love you enough to want to help you, and tomorrow you will need to correct me." There is no sense of superiority, no desire to make yourself look good at the expense of another. Bruner says this prohibition is the flip side of the fifth beatitude (5:5, "God blesses those who are merciful") as well as of the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer (6:12, "forgive us our sins") and recapitulates the commands in ch. 5 against anger, revenge, and hate
Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 257–258.
The Old Testament may be likened to a chamber richly furnished but dimly lighted; the introduction of light brings into it nothing which was not in it before; but it brings out into clearer view much of what is in it but was only dimly or even not at all perceived before. Thus the Old Testament revelation of God is not corrected by the fuller revelation which follows it, but is only perfected, extended and enlarged.Biblical Doctrines (New York: Oxford University Press, 1929), 141- 142.
the Masoretic Text is a post-Christian, Jewish version of the Old Testament. As such, it reflects the theological perspective of post-Christian, rabbinic Judaism.The Messianic Hope: Is the Old Testament Really Messianic? (NAC Studies in Bible & Theology) (p. 36).
The messianic thrust of the OT was the whole reason the books of the Hebrew Bible were written. In other words, the Hebrew Bible was not written as the national literature of Israel. It probably also was not written to the nation of Israel as such. It was rather written, in my opinion, as the expression of the deep-seated messianic hope of a small group of faithful prophets and their followers.The Messiah and the Hebrew Bible, JETS 44 (2001): 23