Mat 7:16-27 | JFB | STEP | 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits-- not their doctrines--as many of the elder interpreters and some later ones explain it--for that corresponds to the tree itself; but the practical effect of their teaching, which is the proper fruit of the tree. Do men gather grapes of thorns-- any kind of prickly plant. or figs of thistles?-- a three-pronged variety. The general sense is obvious--Every tree bears its own fruit.

‏ Matthew 7:16-27

16. Ye shall know them by their fruits--not their doctrines--as many of the elder interpreters and some later ones explain it--for that corresponds to the tree itself; but the practical effect of their teaching, which is the proper fruit of the tree.

Do men gather grapes of thorns--any kind of prickly plant.

or figs of thistles?--a three-pronged variety. The general sense is obvious--Every tree bears its own fruit.

17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit: but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit--Obvious as is the truth here expressed in different forms--that the heart determines and is the only proper interpreter of the actions of our life--no one who knows how the Church of Rome makes a merit of actions, quite apart from the motives that prompt them, and how the same tendency manifests itself from time to time even among Protestant Christians, can think it too obvious to be insisted on by the teachers of divine truth. Here follows a wholesome digression.

19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire--(See on Mt 3:10).

20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them--that is, But the point I now press is not so much the end of such, as the means of detecting them; and this, as already said, is their fruits. The hypocrisy of teachers now leads to a solemn warning against religious hypocrisy in general.

21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord--the reduplication of the title "Lord" denoting zeal in according it to Christ (see Mr 14:45). Yet our Lord claims and expects this of all His disciples, as when He washed their feet: "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am" (Joh 13:13).

shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven--that will which it had been the great object of this discourse to set forth. Yet our Lord says warily, not "the will of your Father," but "of My Father"; thus claiming a relationship to His Father with which His disciples might not intermeddle, and which He never lets down. And He so speaks here to give authority to His asseverations. But now He rises higher still--not formally announcing Himself as the Judge, but intimating what men will say to Him, and He to them, when He sits as their final judge.

22. Many will say to me in that day--What day? It is emphatically unnamed. But it is the day to which He had just referred, when men shall "enter" or not enter "into the kingdom of heaven." (See a similar way of speaking of "that day" in 2Ti 1:12; 4:8).

Lord, Lord--The reiteration denotes surprise. "What, Lord? How is this? Are we to be disowned?"

have we not prophesied--or, "publicly taught." As one of the special gifts of the Spirit in the early Church, it has the sense of "inspired and authoritative teaching," and is ranked next to the apostleship. (See 1Co 12:28; Ep 4:11). In this sense it is used here, as appears from what follows.

in thy name--or, "to thy name," and so in the two following clauses--"having reference to Thy name as the sole power in which we did it."

and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works--or, miracles. These are selected as three examples of the highest services rendered to the Christian cause, and through the power of Christ's own name, invoked for that purpose; He Himself, too, responding to the call. And the threefold repetition of the question, each time in the same form, expresses in the liveliest manner the astonishment of the speakers at the view now taken of them.

23. And then will I profess unto them--or, openly proclaim--tearing off the mask.

I never knew you--What they claimed--intimacy with Christ--is just what He repudiates, and with a certain scornful dignity. "Our acquaintance was not broken off--there never was any."

depart from me--(Compare Mt 25:41). The connection here gives these words an awful significance. They claimed intimacy with Christ, and in the corresponding passage, Lu 13:26, are represented as having gone out and in with Him on familiar terms. "So much the worse for you," He replies: "I bore with that long enough; but now--begone!"

ye that work iniquity--not "that wrought iniquity"; for they are represented as fresh from the scenes and acts of it as they stand before the Judge. (See on the almost identical, but even more vivid and awful, description of the scene in Lu 13:24-27). That the apostle alludes to these very words in 2Ti 2:19 there can hardly be any doubt--"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

24. Therefore--to bring this discourse to a close.

whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them--see Jas 1:22, which seems a plain allusion to these words; also Lu 11:28; Ro 2:13; 1Jo 3:7.

I will liken him unto a wise man--a shrewd, prudent, provident man.

which built his house upon a rock--the rock of true discipleship, or genuine subjection to Christ.

25. And the rain descended--from above.

and the floods came--from below.

and the winds blew--sweeping across.

and beat upon that house--thus from every direction.

and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock--See 1Jo 2:17.

26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine--in the attitude of discipleship.

and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand--denoting a loose foundation--that of an empty profession and mere external services.

27. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house--struck against that house;

and it fell: and great was the fall of it--terrible the ruin! How lively must this imagery have been to an audience accustomed to the fierceness of an Eastern tempest, and the suddenness and completeness with which it sweeps everything unsteady before it!

Effect of the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 7:28, 29).