Jesus speaks of specks and planks in our eyes. Our great advance in Scripture studies means we no longer need to be concerned with specks and planks but give our full attention to Jesus' teaching.

Jesus exaggerates according to his teaching method, so we get beyond his little parable or example to assimilate his teaching, which is for all of us in our daily lives. Jesus' teaching is not about specks and planks but about minor faults and failings and about rather serious sins. Concomitantly, he is pointing at our tendency to judge the minor faults of others severely and ignore our often greater personal failings. He is talking about the interior quality of our spiritual life and of our often quite divergent attitudes towards ourselves and others. We are often quick to see tiny faults in others and pay little attention to the larger faults and failings that beset ourselves. In modern terms, Jesus' teaching is about being self-reflective and less judgemental, more attentive to our own spiritual wellbeing than any self-centred need to correct others.