A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher

 And He spoke a parable to them:  "Can the blind lead the blind?  Will they not both fall into the ditch?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that it is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.

"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  For every tree is known by its own fruit.  For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.  And the ruin of that house was great."

- Luke 6:39-49

We are currently reading Jesus' Sermon on the Plain, begun in Tuesday's reading.   Yesterday we read that Jesus taught, "But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.  But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to receive as much back.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.  Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

And He spoke a parable to them:  "Can the blind lead the blind?  Will they not both fall into the ditch?  A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove the speck that it is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye."  My study bible says here that Christ does not judge anyone (John 8:15, 12:47).   St. Cyril of Alexandria writes therefore "if the Teacher does not judge, neither must the disciple, for the disciple is guilty of worse sins than those for which he judges others."   We read Jesus' comments here on discipleship, remembering that the Sermon on the Mount was prefaced by Jesus' choosing of the twelve disciples who would be apostles (Tuesday's reading).  He teaches us all how to be good disciples and those like apostles sent to one another:  if we are not aware of our own flaws and spiritual need for work, how can we then help others?  We must first practice our own repentance and change in order to recognize and know spiritual problems, and help others with the remedy.  Therefore we will "see" in order to help and guide others.

"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  For every tree is known by its own fruit.  For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."    Jesus implies a link here between what we treasure and what is in the heart.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about what we treasure, and He says, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).  Here He seems to teach that what is called the guarding of the heart is most essential for a disciple.  What matters is what we cultivate in our own hearts:  from there we produce good fruit or bad.  He will also apply this teaching to discernment in the Sermon on the Mount, and understanding the fruits of false prophets (Matthew 7:15-30).  If we would truly be His disciples, the most important thing is the cultivation of the heart, our awareness of ourselves in His light, producing both repentance and blessings.

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?  Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:  He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.  But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell.  And the ruin of that house was great."  My study bible comments here that hearing the gospel alone isn't enough, because salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).  The rock upon which the house is built is the rock of faith, against which the floods of life cannot prevail.

 Jesus never separates our inner lives from our outer lives.  In fact, the problems he cites in the Gospels come from doing just that:  a focus completely on our external lives, and even on what good appearance we make doing a good work, at the expense of the work of the inner life, the work in the heart.  From His teachings, it seems that Jesus  indicates quite clearly that in fact nothing good comes from focusing purely on good works.  The only way to produce good fruit is through a good tree -- that difficult work on the awareness of the heart.   The other analogy He uses is addressed to our own blindness to our personal flaws, the plank in our own eye we don't see, while we criticize the speck that is in another's eye.  He goes so far as to say to us that "a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit."   It is impossible, He seems to indicate, that we will produce truly good fruits without this interior work of the heart, without a depth of consideration and daily work on the treasures of the heart.  That is, discovering just what it is we treasure, and focusing on what He teaches us to treasure.  We listen to His word, but do we do what He teaches us to do?  Do we take it seriously that our interior lives are powerful and important?  It is there that the choices are made to turn away from one thing and another we may treasure, and to find the treasure He speaks of, thus making the tree -- and the fruit -- good.  Everything seems to come down to choice.  We have a Helper in this, of course, but His teachings on discipleship emphasize our own choices in this matter.  God will not compel us to love God or care for God's commands; we must first make the decision about what we consider the good treasure of our hearts.  This is the long work of discipleship, which never ends.