MARCH 3, 2020 ROTTEN FRUIT? EEWW!!!
Matthew 7:16 “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
We live in a day and age when traditional values are being turned upside down and inside out! Women and girls are being assaulted in public toilets because men have been allowed access to them. Convicted felons have been released, particularly in New York, Illinois, and California. In many cases, these felons have speedily returned to commit more horrible crimes. Illegal immigrants are being granted privileges in some states that would be denied to them in any Third World country. Sometimes it seems that the world has gone mad! And the politicians who are pushing these horrifying agendas are doing so in the name of human rights, rejecting human decency.
Jesus knew the human heart better than anyone else in the history of the world. And Jesus knew his audience. When Jesus was speaking to crowds of thousands, he fully realized that some of his listeners were sincerely seeking the things of God and that the majority of his listeners were merely there in hopes of seeing signs and wonders. Nothing has changed! But Jesus also knew that as long as people would come, he had the opportunity to hook their interest with stories from their every day lives.
Here Jesus was continuing his warnings about false prophets. He already advised his audience that such charlatans were no better than ravening wolves. No in these verses, Jesus talked about grapes and figs, two of the most common fruits in Israel. Most people in the audience had helped harvest either or both of these fruits at one time or another. When Jesus asked about picking grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, some of his audience must have been elbowing their neighbors, “Look at those Pharisees! I’ll bet they never picked a single grape in their lives! If anybody’s going to go look for grapes on a thorn bush, it would be one of those guys!”
Growing grapes for either juice or for wine is a complex business, requiring an extensive knowledge of soil quality and temperature, rain fall patterns, and the proper kind of grapes to be grown and harvested. Plant poor vines and you will reap a poor harvest! No intelligent farmer is going to waste time and effort on raising the wrong kind of grapes, and nobody will continue to maintain grape vines that are no longer bearing. In verse 19 Jesus described what happened to unproductive grape vines: they were gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
This is an election year and many politicians are vying for favor from voters. The question Jesus raised is still the question of the hour: what are the fruits? And again, Galatians 5:22 – 23 helps us. “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self – control” -these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Let us examine our own lives to make sure we are bearing good fruit!
PRAYER: Father God, help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives so that we will bear good fruit our whole lives. And help us to discern those whom you want as leaders in the upcoming elections. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to listen. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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