The Good Tree

St. Matthew 12:30-37 (8/9) Gospel of Saturday of the Eighth Week after Pentecost

The Good Tree: St. Matthew 12:30-37, especially vs. 37: "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This passage from St. Matthew was occasioned by an encounter between a tragically disabled man and our Lord Jesus Christ (Mt. 12:22). The man survived in a society that lacked public assistance. He was not able to speak about his pain, but was simply consigned to beggary and
vulnerability. Added to all his physical impairments, he was also a habitation of demons. The Gospel account tells of a complete transformation in the man; for our compassionate Lord swept away the entire weight of blindness, silence, alienation, and inner turmoil, so that the man "both spoke and saw" (vs. 22).

The truly surprising twist of events in connection with this healing was the Pharisees' reaction to the Lord Jesus: "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons" (vs. 24). We
may ask who was living in blindness, alienation, and inner turmoil? This bitter response of the Pharisees led to the Lord Jesus' teaching in today's reading; for, although His response to the Pharisees was barbed, His words contain a wonderful gift. He provides the way to root out bitterness and hatred from our hearts, discover if we are "gathering or scattering abroad" with Him (vs. 30), and nourish ourselves from "the
Good Tree".

Our Lord begins with a proclamation of forgiveness. Sins, even blasphemy, can be forgiven; yes, even the slurs that the Pharisees aimed at Him were forgivable (vs. 31). God is "...faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn.1:9). However, forgiveness from God comes with conditions to be met: forgive others, confess our own sins to the Lord, make every effort to turn from whatever we said or did, and struggle to live in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ.

Such repentance begins with a decision, one that our Lord describes in a metaphor or parable having to do with trees. A fundamental life-decision necessarily must precede even confession to God. In the words of the metaphor, one must decide whether Christ Himself is "a good tree or a bad tree" (vs. 33).

Pious behavior aside (and piety was something the Pharisees doggedly pursued), earnest Christians must decide what they believe about Him they call Lord. In short: does Christ reveal the basic truth about
life, or is He just another man who had admirable ideals? Will we form our hearts on Him, live by His teaching, or adopt other guidelines for living? If you decide that He is "the good tree which gives good fruit
to eternal life," then you will repent and feed from the Tree of Life. You will confess to the God proven faithful to forgive.

To take the Lord Jesus seriously means uniting to the Church, a uniting measured by our inner response to the Holy Spirit. If we belittle, ignore, reject, or live contrary to the Divine Spirit, even if we affirms that Christ is "the good tree," we are apostates at heart. Life in the Spirit, then, is effectively, useless. To live such a
contradiction actually blasphemes the Holy Spirit. Persist in such a rejection, and one loses the gift of Divine forgiveness (vss. 31,32).

Those who choose "the Good Tree" must be watchful, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (vs. 34). Monitor what you say. What comes out of you? "good treasure or idle words" (vss.
35,36)? The Lord knows all about "slips of the tongue." He reminds us that we shall give an account even for our inner thoughts behind our words (vss. 36,37). Either we condemn ourselves or save our souls by living from the fruit of the Good Tree.

Grant forgiveness, O Lord; send also strength. Convert me, that I might live in sanctity, according to Thy holy will. Sanctify my heart as a dwelling place free of demons.