December 20, 2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1.27)

“Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7.17-18)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Jesus aligns the image of false prophets/teachers/leaders with a tree that bears bad fruit. You won’t see these trees at your local nursery. I wonder who would buy a bad fruit tree if someone was selling them. Let’s consider this a moment. 

There are trees whose fruit is not edible. It doesn’t mean it is rotten but indigestible or poisonous. Perhaps Jesus was speaking about these trees as He was teaching about false prophets. Are there prophets who are born out of a venomous word? Jesus called the Pharisees and Temple leaders “sons of vipers” and the offspring of the “Father of Lies.” But, were they born this way? Was their purpose before birth determined to be evil and destructive? It is possible, I suppose, that Jesus was speaking about these individuals. If not that, then what?

There are fruit trees who because of poor care and nurture produce bad fruit. Through no fault of their own, the fruit which comes from them will not be harvested and turned over for human consumption. That fruit may serve no better purpose than to maintain the cycle of life of which fruit flies and gnats are a part. Even that rotten fruit serves no good function for even fertilizing the ground. We certainly can see how this image crosses over to the issue of identifying false prophets. The words they produce are the fruit of bad horticulture of thought, ideas and practices. The ground of their being is corrupted by sin and creates bitter and inedible fruit. It sours the stomach, the mind and the heart of people. Their actions and reactions speak of the illness which has been poured into them, willingly or unwillingly. The parable of the soils speaks to this. The seed is good but the condition of the soil determines the “fruitfulness” of the harvest.

This leaves us with good fruit trees. These trees were created for the purpose of bearing good fruit producing generations of good fruit. They also provide the benefit of feeding generation after generation. In the right hands of a loving fruit farmer and arborist, a fruit tree that had produced bad fruit could be redeemed to bear good fruit once again. Obviously, those prophets in whom the word of God is planted and nurtured in the culture and climate of faith, hope, love and truth the response of the listeners would be clearly good.

Or would it? Out of the mouths of prophets who speak the truth in love, the love of God, come words which also challenge those who have consumed bad fruit and are satisfied with it. The response is clear that there is good and bad. The ultimate test comes in what the harvest would be. Does it bear life and promote the will and word of God? Does it promote death and bear the will and the word of those against God? I think it becomes obvious that Jesus used the image of fruit trees but was clearly speaking to people. He was not speaking as one who grew fruit trees but one who sought to make disciples of all nations. He was drawing the line between those who speak the truth in love of God and those who speak the lie in love with themselves. As mighty ones of God, I believe there needs to be some line drawing to acknowledge prophets who are good and those who are not. It should also be an encouragement and an accountability to each of us to bear good fruit and be a prophet who speaks the truth in love of God.

PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain this eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.