Jesus said to his disciples: “Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.”
These words of Jesus from today’s Gospel reading are clear enough: goodness comes from what is good and rottenness from what is evil. The section of Matthew’s Gospel this comes from is titled “False Prophets.” The passage begins “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them.” Jesus describes people who appear to proclaim the faith for the glory of God but in truth are deceivers.
God, help me see the false prophets of my time. It is not only money-loving televangelists who deceive but every YouTuber who lures viewers only for the sake of private gain or self-aggrandizement. More than that, swindlers abound and thrive on social media, promulgating a self-enclosing mystique all for the sake of gaining followers and greater profit. God, help me understand whose views to avoid and disregard: “By their fruits you will know them.”
And I can’t discount that the most treacherous prophet I may face today is myself. To the degree that I refuse to let go of the wheel, to be bent on my way only, the claims I make and the demands I place in order to achieve my ends are rotten fruit from a bare, rotten tree. God, teach me to be a supple bough that blows in the wind where your Spirit wills.
As the day passes, let me be aware of the voices of the false prophets, those who would draw me into a fog, into a stupor, when instead there is such simple beauty in nature and in those closest to me—the fruit of God’s creation.