Figs, Grapes & Thorns - A Reflection on Luke 6:43-49

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”

 

In the gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus warning to beware of false prophets. “Watch out for false prophets”, he says. “They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matthew 7:15-20).

 

In today’s gospel, Luke says the same thing can be said of us. We will be known by the fruit we bear, and one of the best indicators of good fruit are the good words we say. And this has to be consistent. We can all say good things at times, but we cannot do this consistently unless our heart is right. And for the heart to be right, we have to be solidly rooted in Jesus and his word. We have to, as Jesus says, “remain in him and let his word remain in us” (John 15:7). We have reflected upon this several times before, so let us go beyond the obvious lessons. Jesus said, “Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.” 

 

What is the significance of the figs, grapes, thorns and brambles that Jesus speaks about? Without going into a botany lesson, if they are well taken care of, fig trees can produce fruit for over 100 years. Similarly, the words we say can outlast our lives if they are gracious and godly, as the words of so many people in the past have been. Another interesting fact about the fig tree is that the fruit appear before anything else and the flowers actually develop inside the fruit where they can’t be seen. We don’t know what is happening inside the hearts of people, which is another reason we shouldn’t judge them, as we saw a couple of days ago.  

 

Grapes grow on vines, as you know, and grow in the thousands. But in order for them to be tasty and juicy, all the nutrients and energy need to go directly to the fruit. Consequently, all the dead wood needs to be removed. But live wood that is unnecessary must also be removed. This takes a certain ruthlessness. How much dead wood do we carry around with us—sinful habits and behavior that sap our spiritual nutrients? But how much live wood do we also carry—things that aren’t sinful, but unnecessary to our growth like all those tv shows and social media? How fruitful we would be if we eliminated this from our lives, no?

 

And now we come to the thorns and brambles. You may be surprised to know that thorny plants and bramble bushes also produce fruit, but it is hardly worth the effort trying to get them. Many Christians are like this: they bear fruit, but their thorny, abrasive nature makes it hard to approach them. They often poke you, drawing blood and causing pain. But let us not judge them; rather let us try to be like fig trees and grape vines, producing fruit not only in abundance but fruit that will outlive us.

 

Happy fruit bearing! 

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/sKlsJZ1rcyU