What Kind of Fruit Do You Produce?

In the early Church, those who spoke in the name of the Lord were considered prophets. It was important for the early Christians to discern between true and false prophets. In today’s Gospel, from Matt 7:15-20, Matthew writes about false prophets. He uses the analogy of trees that bear good fruit (true prophets) versus those trees that bear bad fruit (false prophets). The analogy is meant to correlate to the works of those who speak on behalf of the Church. Some of those who spoke were false prophets, evidenced by their bad deeds. With bad intentions, these false prophets produced bad fruit. Whereas, the Apostles and their disciples, who remained true to the teachings of Christ, produced good fruit via their good deeds.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus asks a rhetorical question:

“Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matt 7:16).

Jesus’ question is more of a statement. He tells us that people know the difference between good and evil. People know where to find goodness, and it doesn’t come from thorn bushes or thistles! Like the early Christians, we, too, rely on... Read more...