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

Christ dividing the sheep from the goats. Mosaic. Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, 6th century

"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 Christ 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.  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."   Jesus returns to the image of a tree, which He has used before in Matthew's Gospel (see 7:16-20).  It was also used by John the Baptist (3:10).  This metaphor or image encourages us to develop an internal integrity, so that the fruits we bear outwardly reflect that consistency of character.  Brood of vipers is also an image we've been given earlier, as it was John the Baptist's expression for the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism (see 3:7).  Brood means offspring; it is an expression, as used by both John and Jesus, indicating practices of deception and malice.  A viper, as a venomous snake, is an image of evil influence, and as used here, begetting poison and pain for human beings.  Jesus speaks of the heart to teach about human life, how our own depth of character and psychology works, linked to the soul.  My study bible explains that the heart in Scripture refers to the center of consciousness, the seat of the intellect and the will, the place from which spiritual life proceeds.  It says that when God's grace permeates the heart, it masters the body and guides all actions and thoughts.  But on the other hand, if malice and evil capture a person's heart, they become full of darkness and spiritual confusion.  Again, as with yesterday's reading, Jesus' teaching here ends with an affirmation of the importance of words and the true weight they carry, watching how we speak.  Even idle words measure and "say" something about us, and the warning about judgment is clear.  We should recall that this discussion follows the leadership's accusation that Christ casts out demons by the power of demons, and they therefore blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

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."  My study bible comments that after so many signs, the Pharisees show their wickedness by demanding yet another.  It points out that Jesus does not cater to anyone who demands a sign out of wicked intent.  His only sign for them will be His Passion and Resurrection.  And adulterous generation is the image used by the prophets when Israel was unfaithful to God (Jeremiah 2; Hosea 2:2-13).  The Gentiles of Ninevah repented at the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3).  The queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba who came to Israel to hear the wisdom of Solomon and deeply honored that wisdom, a grace of God (1 Kings 10:1-13). 

Jesus has been speaking about the power of God at work in the world through His ministry, specifically the power of the Holy Spirit.  He compares Himself to Solomon, whose wisdom was honored by the Queen of Sheba.  Solomon's wisdom was a gift of God (1 Kings 3:6-14).  It was an answer to a prayer, when Solomon asked for the gift of discernment.  But Jesus says that a greater than Solomon is here, referring to Himself.  Even the Queen of the South revered the wisdom of Solomon, but the leadership treats Christ with disparaging words, claiming that the work of the Holy Spirit through His ministry is the work of demons (see yesterday's reading, above).  Even the Gentiles of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, when God sent Jonah to them.  But Christ's presence yields no repentance on the part of the Pharisees.  Once again, Jesus speaks of Himself and His ministry on no uncertain terms, even as the Pharisees have begun to plot to destroy Him.  He rebukes their demand for a sign, saying, in effect, that with or without a sign their rejection of Him and His ministry only speaks volumes about them.   As they reject Christ and the signs He has already done, so they reject the presence of God in their midst.  Jesus reminds us that all the choices that we make, whatever we do or say, it all begins in the heart.  The heart is the place where we choose what we will love, what we put first, and the rest follows.  Even our own idle words will be subject to judgment, so we must pay attention, take care what we are about and what we do.  Today we have at our fingertips the easy and potentially great impact of social media.  How simple is it to disparage someone, to speak hasty words in anger?  How much do we care for our own heart, to guard what is there, what we discern, what wisdom we ask for from God?    Do we take seriously our own practice and exercise of judgment, knowing that as we judge, so will we be judged (Matthew 7:1-2)?  How carefully do we choose our words?  Or do we let "idle words" mean nothing to us, even as we may be impacting others?  What is important in Christ's teaching is that He asks us to cultivate a kind of self-awareness that keeps us responsible.  What do we value and put first in our lives?  What is wisdom and where does it come from?  If we take our own internal state of being seriously, He seems to say, then our own words will also become more valued and measured.  Ultimately, it is the truth of Christ -- the truth of God -- that matters, as we seek to put that first.  It is the one standard by which we can measure all, but especially by which we should measure our own internal lives, our truth, our ways of reaching out to the world and to the ones we touch with our words, no matter who they are.  Above is a mosaic depicting judgment, in Christ's image found in Matthew 25:31-46. As Jesus warns of judgment -- and that even our idle words will require an accounting -- we should remember that this is a warning and not a final edict.  Even these men to whom He speaks have an option for repentance, as do we all.  Will we be like goats who are still known for their stubbornness, or will we choose the role of sheep who can willingly follow where the wisdom of the Shepherd would take us?  Let us remember that we always have these options alive and well within our hearts.