Leaves Without Fruit - A Reflection on Matthew 21:28-32



“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

 

A little before Jesus told this parable, Matthew writes that “he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Annoyed, he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the tree withered” (Matthew 21:18-20). This was just after he lost his temper with the moneychangers in the temple, so one can understand his mood, but why did he get so angry with a tree? Because the tree gave every appearance of being fruitful by an abundant display of leaves but was, however, totally devoid of any fruit.

 

And Jesus was trying to make a point that sometimes our lives can be like that. We can give every appearance of being spiritual and devout by all the public displays of piety that we make. However, we don’t bear the fruit that show we are truly pious. The Pharisees were like that, making a great show of how religious they were, but as Jesus said, they were “like whitewashed tombs, beautiful to look at on the outside but on the inside were full of dead bones” (see Matthew 23:27). We can be like them, too, you know. But I am sure we don’t want to be, because we consider them obnoxious. So, how do we avoid this?

 

Today’s parable offers a clue. Jesus speaks about two boys to whom the father gave some chores. One said he would do them, but didn’t. The other said he wouldn’t do them, but did. Obviously, Jesus was pointing at the second boy as being the son who got it right. Now, note the words Matthew uses to speak about this second boy, because they are revealing. Matthew says, “he changed his mind”. Have you heard of the Greek word “metanoia”? This is what Matthew is talking about: a change in one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. In simple English: repentance. 

 

This is what Jesus was actually talking about here, and to make sure we didn’t miss it, he spoke about how tax collectors and prostitutes would beat the scribes and the Pharisees to the kingdom of God. Why? Because although they were considered the scum of society because they refused to obey God, they REPENTED when they heard John calling them to repentance. But the Pharisees, who were considered the cream of religious society, didn’t believe they needed to repent because they thought they were righteous. Alas, nobody is (see 1 John 1:8). 

 

So, let us remember that it is the fruit we bear that is a sign of righteousness, not the leaves that adorn us. And it begins with repentance (see Matthew 3:8).

 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/c5FvJ7slmPY

 

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