For there is no good tree which produces corrupt fruit, nor a corrupt tree which produces good fruit;
The Lord has been teaching His disciples how to treat other people. Now He turns from what they do to what they are, and asks what kind of tree is standing there.
The picture is not about a tree trying harder. It is about what a tree is. One commentator points out that the Lord settles the matter at the level of nature, and that no one can change a nature:
Then He shows how clearly it is a question of nature. "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit." You cannot change the nature. The Lord did not yet show how the two natures act, or how allowing the old can hinder the fruits of the new creation. He simply points out that there are two natures. He does not speak here of the two natures existing side by side in the same person, though that is in fact true even of a real believer.
The verse follows straight on from the Lord's words about the log in your own eye. Judging yourself is the way to clear sight, and it reaches deeper than the crop:
Judging yourself, and not your brother, was the way to gain clear moral sight. If the tree is good, the fruit will be good. Self-judgment applies to the trees. This is always true. In self-judgment, you do not only correct the fruit; you correct yourself. And the tree is known by its fruit — not only by good fruit, but by its own. The Christian bears the fruit of the nature of Christ.
The picture answers a practical question: what is fruit for? Notice that it cannot be tied on from outside:
Anyone can tell that the tree lives and is healthy, because of the crop it is bearing. Its life shows itself in fruit. If there were no fruit the tree had better be cut down as a waste of the ground. But there is fruit. It is the necessary evidence of the life. The fruit does not produce the life, but the life the fruit. You might decorate the tree with fruit, but that would not give it life.
The Lord is speaking to a crowd of disciples, and not all of them were real. From this verse on, the subject is the claim to be a follower — and how to test it:
From verse 43 the outward profession of discipleship is in view. The Lord may have had someone like Judas especially in mind in speaking this way. Among those who took the place of being His disciples there might be "an evil man" as well as "a good man." Their fruits tell them apart, seen in both speech and action. Fruit reveals nature. We cannot see into the secrets of nature, either in a tree or in a man. But we can easily and correctly work out the nature from the fruit.
If no one can improve a nature, the verse leaves only one door open. God must put something into the heart that was not there before:
In these verses the Lord strikes at people who pretend to be good while His grace has never touched their hearts. They have no new life, so they are still under sin. A good person is one whose heart is purified by faith in the Son of God, for by nature "no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:12). Only the grace of God can make a difference in the person. In this case God plants a "good treasure" in his heart — the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, given to "jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:6-7). Only good can come from this, however weak the vessel may be.
- Root. The verse works backwards from fruit to nature. What a person produces is decided by what a person is, and a nature cannot be talked out of acting like itself.
- Self. The self-judgment the Lord calls for reaches past the fruit to the tree. Real self-judgment corrects not just what you do, but who you are.
- Evidence. Fruit proves life; it never creates it. Decorating a dead tree with fruit changes nothing about the tree.
- Test. Because nature shows itself in speech and action, a claim to be a disciple can be checked. We cannot see inside a man, but we can read the crop.
- Remedy. No one grows good by trying harder. A heart purified by faith in the Son of God receives a good treasure. Only good comes from that source, however weak the person who carries it.
for every tree is known by its own fruit, for figs are not gathered from thorns, nor grapes vintaged from a bramble.
The Lord ends His teaching with a test anyone can run: nobody picks figs off a thorn bush. So what does fruit prove, and whose tree does He check first?
The fruit saying sits inside a larger argument about what a person is by nature.
Then He shows how clearly it is a question of nature. "For there is no good tree which produces corrupt fruit, nor a corrupt tree which produces good fruit." You cannot change the nature... At this point the Lord did not yet show how the two natures act, or how allowing the old one can hold back the fruits of the new creation. He only points out that there are two natures. He does not show them living side by side in the same person, which is what really happens even in a true believer.
Matthew and Luke word the same lesson differently. Matthew turns the eye outward on other people; Luke states a rule that covers every tree.
"Every tree is known by its own fruit." This is peculiar to Luke — I mean the putting it in so strong a manner. Matthew says, "By their fruits you shall know them." Luke makes it more comprehensive and emphatic.
The two words its own carry weight. Fruit can look fine and still not come from Christ.
"Every tree is known by its own fruit." Not only bearing fruit, but fruit that Christ produces should be ours. An upright nature produces fruit too, like that of the young man who came to Jesus. But that was not divine fruit; it was the tree's own fruit. Where Christ is the root and the stock, the fruit is Christian fruit — fruit that will remain (John 15:16). Two men may go along together up to a point. Then some test for Christ comes: one goes on with Him, the other turns aside. "Its own fruit" — fruit shows itself, springs of itself.
Just before this, the Lord spoke about the speck in a brother's eye and the log in one's own. So the disciple runs the fruit test on himself first.
Judging yourself, and not your brother, was the way to clear moral sight. If the tree is good, the fruit will be good. Self-judgment applies to the trees. This is always true. In self-judgment, it is not only the fruit that is corrected; it is oneself. And the tree is known by its fruit — not only by good fruit, but by its own. The Christian bears the fruit of the nature of Christ.
If the crop follows the root, work on the branches is wasted. One writer turns the picture into a warning about cultivating the flesh.
So if man seeks to cultivate the flesh, even in its fairest forms, he is doomed to disappointment. If I cultivate a thorn-bush under the illusion that it is a vine, I shall only increase the size and number of the thorns and not succeed in getting one grape. No one would be so foolish as to mistake a thorn-bush for a vine. But sadly, in moral and spiritual things, even leaders in the Christian world are making a worse mistake, and the consequences are graver.
Another writer asks what God makes of the actions of people who have not been born again.
The outward character of people's actions does not matter. Some actions win the applause of others; some bring down their condemnation. But as long as they come from people who have not been born again, they are nothing but evil in the sight of God... So, as Luther said, it is not a question of doing, but of being; not a question of the character of actions, but a question of nature.
Thorns are not a neutral picture in the Bible. They have a history.
Thorns and thistles came into the world as a result of Adam's sin. God drove him out of the beautiful garden of Eden, and the ground would be cursed because of him and would produce thorns and thistles. Many times in the Bible thorns picture wicked people, and just as thorns are burned in the fire, the prophets spoke of a righteous God punishing the wicked.
What you keep in your heart comes out in what you say and do.
If we foster wrong and unkind thoughts sooner or later they will become wrong and unkind words and deeds. If, on the other hand, we treasure the words and teaching of our blessed Lord, we shall speak kind words and act in kindness and love as He did.
- Root — the nature of the tree decides the crop. There are two natures, and you cannot change a nature.
- Own — Luke's "its own fruit" goes further than Matthew's "by their fruits." Fruit springs of itself, and Christian fruit is the fruit Christ produces.
- Self — the test aims at the examiner first. Self-judgment corrects the tree, not just the fruit.
- Futility — cultivating a thorn bush only grows more thorns; the question is being, not doing.
- Evidence — what fills the heart comes out in words and deeds. Treasure Christ's teaching, and kindness follows.
The good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good; and the wicked [man] out of the wicked, brings forth what is wicked for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The verse closes the Lord's picture of the tree and its fruit with a rule about speech. It raises the sharpest question of the passage: not how a person talks, but what kind of person is talking.
The Lord is not measuring behaviour here. He is exposing what a person is. One writer notes how Luke sharpens the wording:
Then He shows plainly that it is a question of nature. "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit." You cannot change the nature. … "Each tree is known by its own fruit." This is unique to Luke — I mean the way Luke states it so strongly. Matthew says, "You will recognize them by their fruits." Luke makes it wider and stronger.
Nature stays hidden, so fruit is how we read it. Here that test falls on people who claim to follow Jesus:
From verse 43 the Lord looks at the outward profession of discipleship. He may have had someone like Judas in view as He spoke. Among those who took the place of being His disciples there might be "an evil man" as well as "a good man." Their fruits show which they are, in both speech and action. Fruit reveals nature. We cannot see into the hidden nature of a tree or a man, but the fruit tells us what it is, easily and correctly.
So where does a good store in the heart come from? One commentator traces it to grace, not to anything people own by nature:
In these verses the Lord strikes at people's pretence of goodness while their hearts stay untouched by His grace. They are not born again, so they are still under sin. A good person is one whose heart is purified by faith in the Son of God, for by nature "no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:12). Only the grace of God can make a difference in the person. In this case God plants a "good treasure" in his heart. It is the treasure of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, given to "jars of clay" (2 Cor. 4:6-7). Only good can come from this, however weak the vessel may be. Without this good treasure a person has only "an evil treasure" in his heart, and his mouth soon expresses it, for whatever fills the heart most is what the mouth will speak.
The saying also turns back on the listener. Luke's version, one writer observes, is a rule for self-examination:
But Luke presents the matter far more as a moral principle. It is true of every man that out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. This is an important test for the state of our souls. Our lips betray the condition of our heart — of our affections.
A front held in public cannot last:
What is really filling my heart will come off my tongue. And therefore you can always tell what my heart is occupied with, because I have a tongue. I cannot long deceive you.
It is rarely a speech that exposes us. One writer points to a single word:
The evil is not the things themselves dug out of the earth, but the love in the heart for them. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." An impatient word betrays the heart. A blow I may restrain and yet utter the word.
So the cure works at the source, not at the lips:
"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart" — at the very source of all the issues of life. This is very precious. Whatever is in the heart comes out through the lips, and in the life. How important then, to have the heart full of the word of God! It should be so full that we have no room for the vanities and follies of this present evil world… So we can judge what is in the heart by what comes out of the mouth. The tongue is the organ of the heart — the organ of the man… the heart is the mainspring of our entire moral condition.
- Nature — The tree decides the fruit. Luke states it in the strongest form: each tree is known by its own fruit. The question is what a person is, not what they do.
- Treasure — By nature no one is good. Grace plants the good store in the heart. Without it, only an evil treasure is there to draw on.
- Mouth — Whatever fills the heart most reaches the tongue. Words are where the hidden store becomes public.
- Test — Luke makes this a test for our own souls. Our lips betray our affections, and one impatient word is enough.
- Source — The heart is the mainspring. So fill it with God's word, until there is no room for the follies of this world.
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?
Jesus closes a long teaching about trees and fruit, hearts and mouths with a question aimed at the hearer. The sting is in the title itself. "Lord" is not a compliment but a claim, so to use it while ignoring His words is to contradict yourself.
One writer sets the question beside the saying just before it, that the mouth speaks out of what fills the heart:
It is true of every man, that out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks, and this is an important test for the state of our souls. Our lips betray the condition of our heart — of our affections. Then there is another thing. If we own Christ to be Lord in word, how is it that we do not do what He says? The very saying that He is Lord implies the obligation of subjection to Him.
One commentator names this hypocrisy, then clears up an apparent clash with Paul:
Deceit in one's heart will often result in good-sounding words. One of the worst forms of hypocrisy is to call Jesus "Lord" when one has no intention of obeying Him (v.46), but this is as common an evil today as it was when He was here. This does not at all contradict 1 Corinthians 12:3, which says, "no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit". There Paul is speaking of ministry given in the church, where the Lordship of Christ was paramount. But here in Luke the Lord does not have the church in mind at all, but people who casually use the Lord's name without any thought of subjection to Him.
Saying the title twice, or a thousand times, does not create the relationship it assumes:
This leads to the consideration that mere profession counts for nothing. Men may repeatedly call Jesus their Lord, but if there is no obedience to His word, there is no discipleship that He acknowledges. Only obedience lays a foundation that cannot be shaken when testing comes.
Another writer says where the heaviest judgment lands:
Whoever proves his faith by his obedience will never be moved or ashamed... The heaviest blow, when the Lord returns in glory, will fall not on those who have never heard the Gospel, but on the baptized who have heard it and not obeyed.
Matthew records the same question, and Jesus Himself gives the answer. Impressive achievements do not change the verdict:
To say Lord, Lord, without doing His Father's will, is worthless. Many will say in the future day of account, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" But He will answer, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." It was hollow profession, whatever the works of power, which only made the guilt worse and will add to endless regret.
The verse is easy to aim at other people. One writer turns it on believers who neglect what they already know:
I do not speak here of privilege, but of obedience. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you?" Is it because our eyes cannot see Him at present that there should be no loyalty of heart? It is amazing how little real regard we pay to the word of our Lord. Thousands of believers stay away from the table of the Lord, with plenty of excuses but no good reason at all. The smallest trifle, which would never keep them away from business or even from pleasure, becomes excuse enough for staying at home.
Does obeying Him turn faith into cold duty? One writer answers with what the Lord is really after:
Often to say the name "Lord" means nothing. But to give ourselves up in everything to His will, as shown in His Word — that is what it really means to acknowledge that He is Lord... Far be it from us to think it is bondage to obey Jesus! He has revealed Himself to us as our precious Saviour, our peace, our joy, our hope, our heaven, our all, so that He may win our hearts for Himself. He does not want the cold service of the apprentice or the slave. He wants the loving heart-service of His chosen friends.
- Lips. The title "Lord" means authority. Say it, and you have already committed yourself to obeying Him.
- Heart. Good words can come from an untouched heart. But the mouth reveals what fills it, so this question tests the real state of your soul.
- Life. Repetition proves nothing. Where there is no obedience to His word, there is no discipleship He recognises.
- Storm. Obedience alone lays a foundation that holds. Empty words end with "I never knew you," however impressive the works.
- Love. The obedience He asks is not the cold service of a slave but the willing service of friends whose hearts He has won.
Every one that comes to me, and hears my words and does them, I will shew you to whom he is like.
Right before this, Jesus asked why people call Him "Lord, Lord" and do not do what He says. Verse 47 answers with three things: coming, hearing, and doing. Then He promises to show us what such a person resembles.
Matthew's account of this parable begins with hearing. Luke puts a word in front of it.
From Matthew 7:24 onward, the Lord is showing the great thing: having the right foundation, one that will bear all testing. It is true that hearing is not enough — it is "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them." In Luke it is, "Everyone who comes to me." The coming would speak of faith. You get this in Hebrews: "Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." So if there is hearing and no doing, the root of the matter is not there.
One writer presses what the title Lord commits a person to.
If we own Christ to be Lord in word, how is it that we do not do what He says? The very saying that He is Lord implies the obligation of subjection to Him... The heeding of the words of Christ is what survives every shock of the adversary. He who proves his faith in this way, by his obedience, shall never be moved nor ashamed... The heaviest blow, when the Lord returns in glory, will fall not on those who never heard, but on the baptized who heard the Gospel and did not obey it.
A person can hear Christ's words, call Him Lord, and still build nothing that will hold.
Mere profession counts for nothing. Men may repeatedly call Jesus their Lord, but if there is no obedience to His word, there is no discipleship that He acknowledges. Only obedience lays the kind of foundation that cannot be shaken under the testings. Just hearing His word, without obedience, may put up a structure that looks like the real thing. But it means disaster in the day of testing.
Verse 48 spells out what "does them" looks like: the man dug down deep. One writer weighs the cost of that digging.
A man sets to work to build a house; he first looks for a foundation. He selects the rock. That is wise, at any rate; but merely to lay the stones on the surface would be folly. So he digs! This means toil, but it is toil that pays. He digs deep! This means determination. He dreads being shallow and flimsy. He expects the flood to rise and the stream to beat, and perhaps to beat hard. So he counts every extra spadeful quarried out of the rock invaluable, and every effort that binds the rock and the house together.
The same writer names two habits that make up the digging.
The ones who dig deep are those who kneel before God in complete dependence on Him, and who search His word each day. This is the proof of building on the rock. Nor does anyone advance in divine ways who fails in these two spiritual exercises.
The digging goes down to bedrock. That bedrock is a Person.
Here the Lord approves and encourages real faith. It is faith that takes His Word to heart and responds in obedient action. The Person of the Lord Jesus means everything to that person. He digs deep, through all the mere build-up of earthly-mindedness, and reaches the bedrock. That bedrock pictures Christ as the Son of God. He wants reality and is satisfied with nothing less than the eternal Son of God to build his whole life on.
Commentators differ on what the building pictures. One reads it as the believer's walk rather than a sinner's rescue:
This is not a question of building upon Christ, the Rock, for the salvation of the sinner. It is the path of the saint... The very thing people are called on to do is to follow Him. When I follow, it proves that the Master's words have taken such hold on my soul that they can carry me over the difficulties.
Another ties the same verse to the day of judgement:
His one foundation must be the teaching of the Son of God. Without that, he has nothing at all that will help him when the storm of divine judgement arises... All who bow at His feet, owning who He is and what His sacrifice has done, have laid their foundation on the rock.
- Come — Luke alone adds coming before hearing, and coming speaks of faith; without it, hearing has no root.
- Hear — a title costs nothing. Calling Him Lord carries the obligation of subjection to Him, or it is only profession.
- Do — only obedience lays a foundation that cannot be shaken. Hearing alone can raise something that looks real and still falls.
- Dig — deep digging means searching the word daily and kneeling in dependence. Neglect these two, and you make no progress in the things of God.
- Rock — the digging reaches Christ Himself, the Son of God. Commentators differ: is this the sinner's salvation or the believer's path? Either way, the whole weight rests on Him.
He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; but a great rain coming, the stream broke upon that house, and could not shake it, for it had been founded on the rock.
Luke ends this teaching with a builder's picture. Two men build houses. One flood comes and settles which is which. The difference is not in what they heard. It is in what lies under the house.
Matthew's version of this saying begins with hearing. Luke puts something in front of it, and one writer sees faith in that extra step.
The Lord is showing that the great thing is to have the right foundation, the kind that will bear all testing. It is true that it is not enough to hear. It is "everyone who hears these words of mine and does them." In Luke it is, "everyone who comes to me." The coming would speak of faith. You get this in Hebrews: "whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." So if there is only hearing and no doing, the root of the matter is not there... Hearing, with the doing also, means reality; and nothing but reality will do for God.
The wise man picks rock. But choosing well is not the whole job. He digs, and he digs because of what he expects to come.
A man sets to work to build a house; he first looks for a foundation. He selects the rock. That is wise, at any rate; but simply to lay the stones on the surface would be folly. So he digs! This means hard work, but work that pays. He digs deep! This means determination. He dreads anything shallow or flimsy. He expects the flood to rise and the stream to beat against it, perhaps violently. So every extra spadeful quarried out of the rock is priceless to him, and so is every effort that binds the rock and the house together. He does not begrudge the labour.
So what does digging look like in ordinary life? The same writer names two habits.
Those who know how to kneel down before God in complete dependence on Him, and who daily search His word — they are the ones who dig deep. They give proof of building on the rock. Nor does anyone make progress in divine things who fails in these two spiritual exercises.
What has to be dug through, and what lies at the bottom? One writer names both.
He digs deep, through the whole build-up of earthly-mindedness, until he reaches the bedrock. That bedrock is a picture of Christ as the Son of God. He wants reality, and nothing less than the eternal Son of God will do as the base for his whole life. Whatever floods or storms arise, he is not moved, for it is the foundation Rock that secures him.
The ESV ends the verse "because it had been well built." Older translations read "for it had been founded on the rock," and that is the wording these writers quote. Either way the point is the same: what holds the house is what lies under it.
A house without deep foundations can still look impressive. So can a person who calls Jesus Lord.
This leads to the thought that mere profession counts for nothing. Men may call Jesus their Lord again and again. But if there is no obedience to His word, there is no discipleship that He recognises. Only obedience lays the kind of foundation that cannot be shaken under testing. Hearing His word without obeying it may put up a building that looks like the real thing. But on the day of testing it means disaster.
The builder digs because he expects trouble. That trouble has names.
The floods are certain to rise, and the streams to beat. We may expect enemies of every kind to attack the truth — unbelief, immorality, imitation, persecution, trial, worldliness, even Satan himself. Nothing overcomes them except faithfulness to God and the Spirit-given use of the word.
The storm does not decide the outcome; the foundation does. One writer ties the word "Lord" to the obedience that keeps a house standing.
If we call Christ Lord with our words, why do we not do what He says? Calling Him Lord in itself means we are bound to submit to Him... Paying heed to the words of Christ is what survives every shock of the enemy. The one who proves his faith in this way, by his obedience, shall never be moved or ashamed.
- Come — Luke's added word points to faith; hearing without doing shows the root was never there.
- Dig — the real work is downward and unseen: daily searching of Scripture, and prayer that leans on God.
- Through — the spade cuts through earthly-mindedness until it strikes Christ, the Son of God.
- Build — obedience lays the foundation, not profession. A house can look real and have nothing under it.
- Stand — floods, opposition and worldliness will come. The house on the Rock holds.
And he that has heard and not done, is like a man who has built a house on the ground without [a] foundation, on which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the breach of that house was great.
Jesus ends His teaching with a picture of collapse: a man heard His words, built his life, and lost everything when the water rose. The question is not whether we hear Christ, but what we are standing on when the storm hits.
The verse belongs to a question asked a few lines earlier — why call Him Lord and not do what He says. One writer finds the answer in the title itself. To call Him Lord is to admit you owe Him obedience.
If we own Christ to be Lord in word, how come we do not do what He says? The very saying that He is Lord implies the obligation of subjection to Him... Paying attention to the words of Christ is what survives every shock of the adversary. He who proves his faith in this way by his obedience will never be moved or ashamed.
The same writer traces this back to the heart: our lips betray the state of our affections.
The failure is not that this man never listened. It is that his listening never touched who the Speaker is.
On the other hand, if one "hears" with no resulting obedience, he is building without a foundation. To him the words of the Lord Jesus are merely optional principles of a good man, not having great importance. To such a person the Lord's words do not show the truth of who the Lord Jesus is. But to separate His words from the solid, eternal truth of His person as the living Son of God leaves the hearer wide open to the storms of life. He has no place to stand at all.
A person can admire the teaching, repeat it to others, and be worse off for it. Fruitless hearing is not neutral.
Preaching morals to others, or hearing even Christ's words without any fruit, only adds to one's own condemnation. Nothing can take the place of real obedience of heart.
The same writer says where the heaviest blow will land:
The heaviest blow of the Lord returning in glory will fall, not on pagans who have never heard, but on the baptized who have heard the Gospel and not obeyed it.
Nothing in the story exposes the two builders until the water rises. Until then both houses look like houses.
This is how vividly the Lord of all describes the collapse of all the hopes of those who have not built on His words. Heaven is silent today... but a real hurricane of divine wrath will burst out before long. It will show beyond dispute where men really stand. Every unreal structure will then totter and fall. Some people have a fine moral and religious appearance. That will not shield them from judgement if they have not, as lost sinners, put their trust in the Saviour and in His precious blood.
The verse does not merely say the house fell. It says the fall was great. One writer ties that greatness to how real the man's confidence was.
Useless indeed is the profession of the lips — the saying "Lord, Lord" — unless the life confirms it. Not that the best life will justify before God, or save in the day when everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But it is still evidence that Christ is the foundation of the soul — of a house built secure against all the storms that can hit it. Faith in Christ must, of course, be real. But the more real a person's faith in other things, the more complete the delusion. The ruin waiting for him is surer and more deadly. "The ruin of that house was great."
Note the balance: obedience does not save, but it shows that Christ is the foundation underneath.
- Hearing. Both men heard the same words. Hearing was never the difference — only one man acted on what he heard.
- Foundation. Treat Christ's words as optional advice from a good man, and you cut them off from who He is. That leaves you with no place to stand.
- Building. The man without a foundation still builds. A fine moral and religious life still shelters no one when wrath breaks out.
- Storm. The flood does not create the difference; it reveals it. Every unreal structure falls the moment the water tests it.
- Ruin. The fall is great because the confidence was real. Faith placed in the wrong thing makes the delusion complete and the ruin final.