Reflection on Mt 7:19

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down

and thrown into the fire.”

Jesus does not speak here about a physical tree, but rather about man and his evil works. He says it at the end of the statement about false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Jesus continues: “You will know them by their fruits.” And then He adds: “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” And then: “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” With a nature corrupted by original sin, we can’t really bear fruit that lasts for eternity. The root of original sin is the seed of the devil. This is the pride of self-deification and rebellion against God, either overbearing pride and arrogance or subtle spiritual pride of pharisees, which is even worse. All this grows from a poisoned root, and that is why Jesus says: Deny yourself, i.e. the source of evil within you. Yes, we were grafted in baptism onto a new tree and we received the divine life, but the question is whether we create the conditions for this divine life so that we may bear fruit worthy of repentance. Only this fruit is good fruit, not poisoned with original sin in us. Therefore, those who do not show true repentance daily cannot bear good fruit. They regard their goodness and truth as the highest inviolable standard and defy God’s truth and God’s laws. They regard their philosophizing as the height of wisdom, and in fact it is all a gross fraud. Humility is truth. There is no truth in pride, but only lies and self-worship. Therefore, such a tree, such a person who rejects God’s truths, God’s laws and God’s conditions for salvation, is a bad tree that will be cut down and thrown into the eternal fire.

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