I love the trees around my house—maples, oaks, poplars, pines. Right now tiny buds are forming in readiness for spring blossoming. Some time ago, a massive tulip poplar from the next property, well over 50 feet in length, crashed into my driveway. It took down two of my trees, and damaged two cars and house shingles. Thankfully, no one was injured. It was a sunny day with not a breeze anywhere, so the weather was not to blame. The tree was dead. We had warned the property owner of the condition of the tree more than once, but it was ignored. Since then I am even more diligent about tree health.
Trees show up in Scripture over 250 times. Jesus taught about character and eternal destination using trees—good ones and bad ones—as metaphors.
“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’ (Matt. 7:16–23, NASB, emphasis added).
This teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:16–23 uses fruit bearing trees as the object lesson about the character and behavior of people. The tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. It serves as a warning that trees that do not bear good fruit are removed, and so it is with the ultimate destiny of the wicked.
Both kinds of trees had room, provision, and time to grow. Trees do not bear fruit when first planted, and so the ingredients for the tree to actually bear fruit took much time to process. The fact that the unfruitful trees are removed implies that the trees have someone who tends them, provides opportunities for fruit bearing, and inspects them when they should produce—a gardener who has ultimate decision-making power to remove the unfruitful tree.
Our lives are like the trees. We are given opportunities to produce good fruit as the gardener prunes and provides what is needed for a fruitful life. In what fruit is God interested? The fruit of the Spirit includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, which are produced by controlling the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:22–24). I’ve heard people pray for fruit to manifest supernaturally. I applaud the yearnings, but it just does not work that way. We have control of our deeds by the willful decisions we make. As we make decisions that reflect the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit grows (Gal. 5:16–17). Fruit is the natural outgrowth of the life of the Spirit. As we are transformed into the image of Christ through renewal by the Word of God and obedience in the Spirit, we take on His image, the image of the Triune God.
From the metaphor of the trees, Jesus makes a parallel to practitioners. He says that not all who claim to be followers of Christ are in fact, good fruit bearers, but rather are virtually imposters, not worthy of entering the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus equates these as ones who practice lawlessness. The word practice (prassō) carries the idea of accomplishment, performance, commitment, and perpetration. It’s not simply experimentation or impaired judgment, but rather willful and determined repetition. The character of wickedness is not just an impulsive mistake. God’s mercy and grace is repeatedly extended for those who seek His forgiveness and strive for repentance.
To what laws could Jesus have been referring? Jesus made it simple—love God and love one another. The law of love undergirds all that is done in and for the kingdom of God. The fruit of the Spirit is not in the miracles, signs and wonders one performs, but in the character produced by hearing and obeying God. The law of love is fulfilled, for God is love. Having the infilling of Holy Spirit gives us access to hearing God and power to obey, not out of demand, but out of love.
Jesus says that you will know them by their fruit. He does not give us permission to affirm or condemn people by these words, but we can discern fruit or lack of it. We are not given the imperative to metaphorically speaking cut down the trees and burn them. That belongs to the gardener—God. He simply gives us wisdom to discern the difference between godly character and wickedness. It is for us to check ourselves first and use wisdom in our dealings with others. It is for us to give the good news to the oppressed of evil so that they can be free.
The warnings of “that day” are sobering. It is so easy to assume godly character with supernatural wonder workings. The truth is that supernatural wonders are the works of God, not the works of humans. “Did we not . . .” implies that some workers of good deeds take ownership of the workings of God, robbing Him of the glory, as if piling up effort and good works motivated by self-aggrandizement impresses God. The indictment in this context is that God does not judge by appearances of performance. God knows the heart of every person and He is the ultimate judge. We get to participate in His works because of His great love, not to earn it, even though He does reward those who seek Him.
Does this mean that people whose motives are not pure should stop doing good works? God forbid! People who do not know God or may not even believe God exists do countless good works. They have their reward in feeling good or in self-promotion. The recipients of good works are blessed regardless of the vessel that gives to them. Jesus’ teaching is not about the recipients, but rather about the person performing the work. He is especially critical of those who give the impression of altruism while all along having selfish motivation.
James 3 compares two kinds of wisdom, that which comes from above with that which does not come from above. God’s wisdom produces pure wisdom that is peaceable, gentle, merciful, unwavering, and without hypocrisy. These attributes mirror the nature of God. In contrast, the demonic and natural world offers a different wisdom. Wisdom that is rooted in jealousy and selfish ambition generates every other kind of evil because it is in direct opposition to the love nature of God.
In a few weeks my trees will be covered with little fuzzy things, new pine shoots, and lots of pollen. It lets me know that they are good trees producing good fruit. May our hearts remain pure before God so that all we do in His name brings Him glory and serves His creation–good trees producing good fruit.
copyright 2016 by Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.