Daily Retreat 06/28/06

2006 Jun 28 Wed: Irenaeus, bp, mt M
2 Kgs 22: 8-13; 23: 1-3/ Ps 118(119): 33. 34. 36. 37. 40/ Mt 7: 15-20

 

From today’s readings:  “The king made a covenant before the LORD that they would follow Him and observe His ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book....  Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of Your statutes, that I may exactly observe them.....  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.”

 

By Their Fruits, You Will Know Them

 

Several times in the Bible, there are warnings given against false prophets, and Jesus, more than once, repeated a simple principle of discernment: By their fruits, you shall know them.

 

The tendency is to use other criteria.  At the time of Jeremiah, for instance, false prophets were welcomed simply because their message was not as harsh and demanding in comparison to true prophecy (cf. Jeremiah 28).  This is also true today!  At the time of Jesus, false prophets were accepted on the basis of their apparent sincerity and peaceful appearance (sheep’s clothing), and this is also true today as well.

 

But, by their fruits, you shall know them!  The adjectives that Jesus uses to describe trees and fruits are carefully chosen, since they also can describe moral behavior (the word connections are a bit softened in translation).   Just as a good tree bears wholesome fruit, so do good morals blossom with wholesome works.  And just as a rotten tree bears bad fruits, so do corrupted morals bring forth evil works.

 

Which brings up a question about the fruits of our own lives - what kind of character do they witness to?