“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.”
Matthew 7:15-20
If someone described you in five words, what would you hope that they would be? And can there possibly be a difference in how we describe ourselves/see ourselves and how others would describe us/see us? The words people would use to describe us are our fruits.
In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes an analogy to each person being like a tree. And each tree bears a kind of fruit, and is known for its fruit. When I was growing up, we had several fruit trees at our house—a pomegranate tree, a persimmon tree, a fig tree and a lemon tree. All produced a good amount of fruit. The lemon tree produced lots of lemons, but sometimes they were more bitter than sour. The fig tree had really nice figs but often they were attacked by beetles. The persimmon tree had really good persimmons but it was so tall we could not get the fruit, and it would often fall from the tree, staining our driveway. And the pomegranate tree had so much fruit, it became heavy and it was hard to hold up. Each tree had moments of greatness, and moments that were challenging. They kind of fit Jesus’ analogy I suppose.
In Galatians 5:22-23, St. Paul writes about the Fruit of the Spirit. He identifies nine fruits—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. If there is any “fruit” we should be cultivating in our lives, it is these. If someone described you in five words, would one of these Fruit of the Spirit make their top five. I look at this list of nine fruits and wonder which, if any, would make anyone’s list of my top five qualities. These things are what we are called to be.
Jesus is intentionally setting himself apart from the other leaders of the day. He warns those listening to “beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) It is easy to wear a cross around town, or have beautiful icons in our homes, or sit in the front row of church each Sunday or even put on vestments and stand in front of the altar, and be false, fake and ravenous. I think about my thoughts, my words and my actions, and have to wonder, am I really a person of patience, kindness, and self-control.
Jesus is correct in saying that we will know a person by their fruits. And in Christian terms, these fruits are those of the Spirit, not of a flesh. We think that being described as successful, effective, hard-working, dedicated and responsible are good words to have ascribed to us. But one can be all these things and still be sad, unkind, stress-inducing, selfish, harsh, and undisciplined. They can be these outwardly good things and still lack the spiritual fruit.
A sobering question to examine would be if God looked into your soul, how would HE describe you in five words—lonely, tormented, lost, confused, angry—what words would He use, what fruit would He see on your “tree”? Jesus uses the analogy of the fruit trees because many of the people in His audience were farmers, and this was language that they would understand. He poses the questions: “Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?” (7:16) The crowd, of course, would know that this is not possible. Good fruit comes from a good tree. And what would be the consequence for a bad tree that cannot bear good fruit? They would know that every bad tree is uprooted and destroyed because it is no good, and room would be made for good trees producing good fruit. Jesus says that the same fate awaits each of us from a spiritual perspective. If we do not bear good spiritual fruit, then we shall be “cut down and thrown into the fire,” (7:19) which will later be revealed as the fire of hell.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:17, “every sound tree bears good fruit.” What is a sound tree then? One that is cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit. If we temper our lives by cultivating love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control, then the things our lives produce will be good things, in fact they will be Godly things. We can enjoy real “success” because we will not only be succeeding in a material way, but in a spiritual way as well.
Why do you boast, o mighty man, of mischief done against the godly? All the day you are plotting destruction. Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking the truth. You love all words that devour, of deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; He will snatch and tear you from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and sought refuge in his wealth!” But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank Thee forever, because Thou hast done it. I will proclaim Thy name, for it is good, in the presence of the Godly. Psalm 52
Points to ponder: How would you hope people would describe you in five words? If God looked into your soul and described you in five words, what would those be? And how can we bridge the gap between how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how God might see us?
