What does Matthew 7:19 mean?

[Nat11]

Hi, everyone. Today, I was looking at a Bible passage which is Matthew 7:19. It says “Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” I looked it up on Google becuause I was confused, Google said “Matthew 7:19 and Matthew 7:20 are the nineteenth and twentieth verses of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and are part of the Sermon on the Mount. The verses continue the section warning against false prophets.” But then 7:19 does not sound like it would be about false prophets. What exactly does it 7:19 mean?

Natalie

 

[TheLittleLady]

We don’t pull verses out of context, so, let’s read in context:

False Prophets. *15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.k16l By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?17Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.19Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.20So by their fruits you will know them.m

The footnotes give us this:

• [7:15–20] Christian disciples who claimed to speak in the name of God are called prophets (Mt 7:15) in Mt 10:41; Mt 23:34. They were presumably an important group within the church of Matthew. As in the case of the Old Testament prophets, there were both true and false ones, and for Matthew the difference could be recognized by the quality of their deeds, the fruits (Mt 7:16). The mention of fruits leads to the comparison with trees, some producing good fruit, others bad.

 

[Arwing]

Look at the previous verses, Matthew 7:15-17; Jesus is making an analogy about those who evil, such as false prophets. The evildoers are represented by the rotten tree that produces rotten fruits. They are known by their fruits, that is the false prophets can be recognized by their evil deeds, even if they appear to be people of importance and whatnot (e.g. prophets).

 

[Hodos]

To add to the couple responses above, the Sermon on the Mount is directly addressing the teachings of the Pharisees, who in Jesus day were twisting the scriptures to create loopholes that seemingly made them righteous, but Jesus points out that these teachings were aberrations from the will of God. The two major religious groups of the time were the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Sadducees upheld the sacrificial system of atonement at the Temple and held very literal readings of the Sinai covenant law. The Pharisees on the other hand taught that righteousness was obtained by following the law, but frequently read it in favorable ways that allowed them to see themselves as lawkeepers, when they were actually often violating the wording and spirit of the law, when viewed in its full context. So Jesus displays this by saying you have heard that it was said…He then demonstrates how the Pharisees taught the minimal upholding of the law even though they were actually breaking it… (Continued in next post)

 

[Hodos]

Jesus answers these teachings by saying he hasn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. He rebukes the Pharisees by saying our righteousness must exceed the Pharisees or we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. His first example of their hypocrisy is about murder. The Pharisees taught that just avoiding the act of murder was considered as keeping the law, making one righteous before God. Jesus however, makes implicit references to Leviticus 19:17, where they are commanded not to hate your brother Israelite in your heart, and uses it to demonstrate that such hate is a violation of the law before God, just as heinous as actual murder.

The Pharisees taught that if one abstained from adultery, they were righteous before the law. But Christ show implicitly refers to the 9th Commandment to show that coveting or lusting after a woman who is not your wife is just as heinous a sin before God, demanding of hell. Hence, once again, we are not righteous before God.

The Pharisees taught that because the Mosaic law allowed for divorce that divorce could be granted for any reason so long as a certificate of divorce was given, thus maintaining the legal righteousness of the person. Jesus says, no again.

Jesus then looks at the nature of the ritual practices that supposedly demonstrate outwardly one’s righteousness such as giving alms, prayer, and fasting. He says that performing these deeds for the purpose of demonstrating one’s righteousness before God is hypocritical and is a twisting of these practices.

Jesus then speaks of judging whether another person stands righteous before God. He demonstrates that in doing so, we condemn ourselves, because we are similarly unrighteous.

He then says to seek entry into the kingdom of God through the narrow gate. It was probably common teaching in the Church at the time that Jesus is the gate by which we gain entry into God’s presence (reference John 10:7). This is the point at which Jesus addresses the false teachers and prophets. Jesus speaks of knowing them by their fruit. Judging by the fact, that Jesus mentions both the actions of the Pharisees, and references their false teaching, the bad fruit most likely deals with both, knowing them by their evil deeds and by their teaching which are aberrations from God’s Word. This is reinforced by the next parable where Jesus states that anyone who hears his words AND puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds on rock.

 

[sheepovrep]

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
(Watch out for people behaving badly. They say they are doing right, but their hearts may not be as just.)
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
(By the fruit of peoples labor shall you see the difference between right and wrong. Do people want to eat the bad actions from people and come back to do it again?)
17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
(Good people do good things, and Bad people do bad things)
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
(A righteous person will have righteous actions, an unrighteous person cannot have as many righteous actions because they are defined as such)
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
(this has to do with going to hell or heaven)
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
(thus by the fruit of thy labor shall you see the good vs bad fruits/people/actions)

This is a very abstract passage in my belief.

 

[Cjbhoward]

Judging by the fact, that Jesus mentions both the actions of the Pharisees, and references their false teaching

Not to take anything from your well thought out post, but just to clarify.

Technically the Pharisees taught Moses’ law. Their practices were not true to the spirit of the law. Jesus taught his disciples to heed the Pharisees teaching but don’t follow their example.

He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill. The law was not & is not wrong. Human understanding was.

The Pharisees, like you said, conformed the law to their gain, to their interests & not to the will of God, the salvation of mankind.

 

[TULIPed]

The Pharisees taught that because the Mosaic law allowed for divorce that divorce could be granted for any reason so long as a certificate of divorce was given, thus maintaining the legal righteousness of the person. Jesus says, no again.

Ah yes…the good old days. “What, no scrambled eggs this morning?”

I’m totally kidding. Nice job Hodos.

 

[otrrl]

Yes, the Pharisees come under condemnation of Christ but they engaged in a lot of philosophical discussion about apparent conflict in Moses laws. The Torah said not to work on the Sabbath and so somebody had to figure out what that meant. How far could they walk? Could they pull an animal out of a ditch?

In a few words, I think Jesus was berating them for superficial adherence to the commandments and not to focusing on loving God. No one could keep all the laws, all sinned. Jesus came to write God’s laws on their hearts.

 

[Cjbhoward]

I think Jesus was berating them for superficial adherence to the commandments and not to focusing on loving God. No one could keep all the laws, all sinned. Jesus came to write God’s laws on their hearts.

I think it was more than just superficial adherence. The Pharisees were the opposite of superficial. Jesus said they, like the Saducees laid a heavier burden on God’s people than ever was intended.