A Good Tree Cannot Bear Bad Fr …

“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” – Matthew 7:18 (KJV)

Picture Jesus speaking King James’ English for a second. Ok, stop. Funny stuff.

So much of our understanding of scripture is skewed by our lack of understanding of primitive living. I say primitive with the utmost respect. In Jesus’ time, and for thousands of years up until just recently, it would be common knowledge how to provide for oneself. How to get food, what was safe to eat, what wasn’t.

Today the concept of “bad fruit” as shown in the picture above is mistaken for rotten fruit. What do we expect from people that do their farming at Safeway? If the sign says “mushroom” then they know it’s safe to eat. If they get sick from listeria infected cantaloupe, then they hire a lawyer and sue someone. Those “primitive” people sure would think we are ridiculous. The rotted pear in the tattoo above is clearly the best kind of fruit there is. A seed capable of producing a tree covered in fruit like its momma.

Jesus also said: “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” He didn’t say: “That brown spot on your banana is evil.” Even when he cursed the fig tree in Matthew 21, it wasn’t for the fruit being rotten, it was for there being no fruit at all! Thorns, thistles, poison, or no fruit at all. How do they relate to the people we might meet during our brief time here on earth?

1. Firstly, and probably most important of all, bad fruit has nothing to do with the slowness with which a fruit tree grows:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” – Matthew 13:3-8

In fact, given Jesus’ mention of “It sprang up quickly” above, it seems that non-delayed gratification should be a warning sign of bad fruit, not good fruit. Producing a crop above is clearly a process that takes time. Faking it, that can happen as quickly as a grease-pit can flip out a burger.

2. “Rotten fruit” is not “bad fruit”, it’s aged fruit. If the fruit one eats were like money they spend, then rotten fruit is like the money they invest. Don’t be fooled into judging slow returns to be no returns. Only God really knows the long term value of one’s “fruit.”:

“Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” – Matthew 13:12

Notice the above comes shortly after the parable of the farmer above it. The terminology is identical to what Jesus says much later in Matthew after talking about the man who did not invest his talents:

“For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” – Matthew 25:29

3. Not everything sweet and attractive is good fruit.

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” – Genesis 3:6

Many fruits, berries, and plants today are appealing to the eye but poisonous. The same with false prophets and charismatic non-believers.

So I believe that a good tree never bears bad fruit. Even our mistakes will be redeemed by God.

Conclusion: I’ve personally spent much of my Christian walk struggling with my own opinion of my fruit. I suspect that many sincere followers of Christ have. Add to that the confusion of combining “Fruits of the Spirit” with this and it’s easy to see how many of us could be lured into expecting quick returns on our investment in the kingdom. If many of our investments are longer term, we may never know what the result was, but it’s our faith that keeps us doing what we believe God wants.

So I believe that a good tree never bears bad fruit. Even our mistakes will be redeemed by God. That is faith, that even in the face of hate and persecution we stand firm, even if someone calls hate and persecution our fruit. When we are near to God, when we set our hearts on His will, nothing is futile, nothing is vain. We are good trees and we can know that in the end our fruit will be good. Even if just now some of it looks like the rotten pear in the picture above.