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"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."
- Matthew 12:33-42
Yesterday, we read that one was brought to Jesus who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit." This is a theme repeatedly used in the Gospels. It's the idea that "by their fruits you will know them" -- the works we do betray what kind of person we are internally. The "fruits" here are spiritual fruits. And the way to heal what we do is to heal the internal person. This is why there is such a strong emphasis on repentance, or "change of mind." This is a direct warning to the leadership to look to their hearts. It hearkens back also to John the Baptist and His warnings to the same people: "Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (3:10).
"Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." A "brood" are "offspring." Vipers gives us a picture of demonic activity, and suggest a surreptitious poisonous effect. This is another phrase that was used by John the Baptist for the Pharisees and Sadducees, as they came to be baptized by him and he asked, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (3:7). Again, Jesus emphasizes how the inner life creates the outer. Moreover He emphasizes the language we use, and not for the first time. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus likened name-calling to murder (5:22). Here, the emphasis is on our language, even every idle word. The men to whom He speaks here have just called His work as that which comes from the power of demons. He's warning them that their own words will condemn them in judgment.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." In some peculiar way, these men defend their behavior by demanding a sign from Jesus that He's really the Christ, the Messiah. They've scathingly attacked Him for works that did good for people but were performed on a Sabbath (like healing a man's hand, in Wednesday's reading). They've claimed He casts out demons by the power of demons (in yesterday's reading, above), although doing so was also an act of healing, and a prophesied sign of the Messiah. This demand is made with malicious intent, not honest searching.
But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." Jesus characterizes their demand for a sign as unfaithful -- to be both evil and adulterous is to be disloyal to God, to break covenant. The only sign He will give them is the sign of Jonah, who was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish -- so He as Son of Man (a messianic title) will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (in death). Jesus then returns to the subject of faith, citing those who showed far more faith than the Pharisees, examples from Old Testament Scripture. He cites the foreigners, those from the Ninevah (present day site of genocidal violence against Assyrian Christians) who listened to Jonah's preaching and repented -- a condemnation made stronger because a greater than Jonah is here, Christ Himself. He cites another foreigner from far away, the Queen of the South, who came to listen to all the wisdom of Solomon, for a greater than Solomon is here.
Jesus emphasizes the importance of what we say, and the importance of our inner lives, and how these things are tied together. If we don't take care and pay attention to the inner life, we're not going to do much about the fruits we produce, whatever works we do in the world. Repentance (literally meaning "change of mind" in the Greek word metanoia) is the tool for that. But it involves a commitment for real awareness. That is, the kind of consciousness that Jesus calls us toward when He reminds us that even every idle word we'll have to answer for. Are we slandering people? Do we measure what we say? This is a really key way of practicing awareness, mindfulness! How do we interact? Are we saying what we really mean? Do we look to the heart -- and there our relationship to Christ -- for a good intent, discernment, helpful guidance? These men have committed an outrageous spiritual injustice, a true blasphemy, by calling the good work of the Spirit the work of evil. It's a strong, vivid example of what to avoid. But Jesus reminds us that it's the work of each of us to know our own hearts, to practice the kind of mindfulness that seeks to be aware of the choices we're making, and that means right down to the words we choose, for "by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
