Jun. 29th, 2022

The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 12, Verses 33-37 reads:
 

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
 

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
 

35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
 

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
 

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.


Re-Tread

Notice that I'm repeating some of the verses from last time; that's because these selections together form one coherent thought. In many Bibles they are grouped together.

It's worth noting that the original text is divided neither into chapter, nor verse; this came much later, and is seen as a serious problem by some. Why? Well, when was the last time you heard someone quote a Bible passage-- those in this particular chapter are very commonly used for this purpose-- without any context, in order to prove a point? It's much easier when your Bible itself is divided into little sections which can be pulled out and re-arranged in more or less any order you like.

Karma

That said, what are we really being taught in this section? The lesson is not, I believe, that God is a kind of intergalactic Stalinist, who sends his angelic goons to write down everything you say so that he can use it against you later on. This is the lesson that I picked up in my Catholic childhood, and which led me to run as far away from Christianity as I could for many years.

No, what I believe Jesus is teaching is very simple: All of your actions have consequences. And that includes your words, which arise from your thoughts. We have already discussed the way that mental events are as real as events in the material world. Jesus reiterates that point here, and also points out that the mental or psychic world exists in a causal relationship to the material world. Purify your heart and good words will flow from it. Make the tree of your soul good and pure, and the fruit of your actions will be good and pure. No, God isn't going to literally sit you down and say, "You called your sister a brat when you were 12, and you stole a Snickers bar from the 7-11 when you were 16, and you've spent the last 20 years staring at the backside of every woman that walks past you, so I'm just going to go ahead and set you on fire until forever now."

What really happens is simply this: You will eat the fruit of your own tree.

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