Rotten Fruit and a Call to Action

By Steve Leininger

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091121.cfm
1 Timothy 1:15-17
Luke 6:43-49

Jesus “departed to the mountain to pray” in Luke 6:12 and in verse 17 “he came down with them [the newly appointed Apostles] and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.” What follows is often referred to as “The Sermon on the Plain”. It encompasses Luke 6:20-49, which includes today’s gospel reading.

But wait, what about “The Sermon on the Mount”? The Sermon on the Mount includes chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. The beginning of Matthew 5 tells us “When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them…”

Most of the material in the Sermon on the Plain is included in the more expansive Sermon on the Mount. Both sermons include:

• Beginning with the beatitudes (Luke includes a list of woes as well)
• A call to love your enemies
• An admonishment to not judge others
• The Golden Rule
• A comparison of good and bad trees and their fruit.
• What constitutes being a true disciple
• A parable of sorts about building foundations and discipleship

The Sermon on the Mount presents many other subjects as taught by Jesus. Some of the additional categories include interpretation of the last 5 of the Ten Commandments and how to pray where he teaches the Lord’s Prayer.

So, were these two sermons the same event? Neither gospel gives an accurate description of the actual location. In one, Jesus went up the mountain, sat down and began to teach. In the other, he came down from the mountain to a flat area (or plain). Those of us who live in the mountains understand that level areas do indeed exist in the mountains and may not necessarily mean you have gotten all the way down the mountain. Without other clues in the two gospels, they could be the same place. The area known as “The Mount of Beatitudes”, a hill in northern Israel (also known as Mount Eremos) has been commemorated for more than 1600 years as the site for the Sermon on the Mount, but other locations have been suggested by those who have studied this in ancient history.

Some scholars believe that both sermons are possibly an anthology of many of Jesus’ teachings and were possibly similar in content to public sermons he gave many times in many places. It makes sense that in the days of spoken communication, the same message would have had to be repeated in every new venue, even the same venue for different crowds. While the words were recorded as being the true message of Jesus, those same words may have been repeated over and over again over many days, weeks, or months and in a variety of places.

Today’s readings from the Gospel of Luke are from the final verses of the Sermon on the Plain and are parallels to the last teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” [Luke 6:43-45]

Are we really talking about trees here? No, Jesus is saying that what a person produces is a result of what is stored in the heart. If your heart is full of goodness, you will produce good, while a heart full of evil cannot produce good, and only evil will come out of your mouth.

There must be some way we can fill our heart with goodness. Let’s read on. Jesus continues

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.” [Luke 6:46-47]

It looks like the key to heart filling goodness is:

• Come to Jesus
• Listen to his words
• Act on his words

Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Plain with:

“That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.” [Luke 6:48-49]

With the recent floods and storm damage we have seen lately in the news about Hurricane Ida and its remnants, the imagery is stark, as it would have been in the time of Jesus.

If you are the one that listens and does not act, you have not built a personal belief foundation (your house) on anything strong enough to weather the storms in life. But if you have come to Jesus, listened to his words, and ACTED ON HIS WORDS, you have built your beliefs on a solid foundation. When the river of life’s challenges burst against your house (your faith) your faith will remain unshaken.

I’ll state it one more time. To have a heart full of goodness and produce good and speak good things:

• Come to Jesus
• Listen to his words
• Act on his words