Daily Bread 2011 - Luke 6
Daily Bread 2011 – Friday, March 11th, 2011 Luke 6
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
What Does This Mean?
In Luke 6, we see what is called the “Sermon on the Plain”, similar to some of the teaching in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7). Jesus gives a variety of teachings to his disciples, while the growing crowd listens in the background. Many of the people who had been healed brought their friends to see what Jesus was all about.
As Jesus describes what life in the kingdom looks like, he uses the analogy of the good tree and bad tree. The bottom line he states is that the quality of the tree is judged by its fruit. Thorn bushes and briers don’t yield figs and grapes, but good trees do. Then he relates this to a person’s heart condition. If a person’s heart is good, good things will come out of it. Even the things that come out of a person’s mouth are indicative of what is stored up in their heart.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Jesus is teaching the crowds and the disciples about the kind of life they will lead if their hearts are transformed by the Word, which He has come in the flesh to reveal. In the next paragraph he will use the metaphor that those who build their lives on His teaching are like a man who built his home on the rock. When the rains came down, that man’s house stood secure because it was built on a solid foundation.
Importantly, he distinguishes between those who hear His word and put it into practice, as opposed to those who only hear it. In both of these analogies of the good tree and the house built on a rock, Jesus is teaching that we will only know the truth of what He is teaching if we allow it to sink into our roots (our lives). Just like a tree only bears fruit as it is rooted in the Vine, so we too if we build our lives on Christ’s teaching, will bear fruit that will last.
Jesus is teaching His disciples but also inviting the crowds to participate by applying what he is teaching His disciples.
Jesus help us to not only listen to your teaching but build our lives on it. We know that you will never lead us astray and our future will be secure no matter what happens to us, Amen.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
What Does This Mean?
In Luke 6, we see what is called the “Sermon on the Plain”, similar to some of the teaching in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7). Jesus gives a variety of teachings to his disciples, while the growing crowd listens in the background. Many of the people who had been healed brought their friends to see what Jesus was all about.
As Jesus describes what life in the kingdom looks like, he uses the analogy of the good tree and bad tree. The bottom line he states is that the quality of the tree is judged by its fruit. Thorn bushes and briers don’t yield figs and grapes, but good trees do. Then he relates this to a person’s heart condition. If a person’s heart is good, good things will come out of it. Even the things that come out of a person’s mouth are indicative of what is stored up in their heart.
What Does This Mean For Us?
Jesus is teaching the crowds and the disciples about the kind of life they will lead if their hearts are transformed by the Word, which He has come in the flesh to reveal. In the next paragraph he will use the metaphor that those who build their lives on His teaching are like a man who built his home on the rock. When the rains came down, that man’s house stood secure because it was built on a solid foundation.
Importantly, he distinguishes between those who hear His word and put it into practice, as opposed to those who only hear it. In both of these analogies of the good tree and the house built on a rock, Jesus is teaching that we will only know the truth of what He is teaching if we allow it to sink into our roots (our lives). Just like a tree only bears fruit as it is rooted in the Vine, so we too if we build our lives on Christ’s teaching, will bear fruit that will last.
Jesus is teaching His disciples but also inviting the crowds to participate by applying what he is teaching His disciples.
Jesus help us to not only listen to your teaching but build our lives on it. We know that you will never lead us astray and our future will be secure no matter what happens to us, Amen.
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