BEWARE OF SOUND-LOOKING TREES WITH POISONOUS FRUIT (cf. Matt 7:15-20) Yesterday, while reflecting on the life of John the Baptist, we borrowed Matt 7:17, every sound tree bears good fruit, to form our central theme. Now, referring to the entire pericope (Matt 7:15-20), we came to an understanding that some deceptively-looking sound trees can be seen in the midst of really sound trees. With that analogy, Jesus warned his disciples against the deception of false prophets.😇👹 Jesus used the sermon on the mount (Matt 5:1 - 7:27) to expose the demands of the Kingdom of God to his disciples. The demand is beyond is beyond mere affiliation to the Law. It is rather a call to love - love lives above the law. Jesus knew that the enemy comes at night to plant weeds among the good seeds (Matt 13:24-26). So at the concluding parts of that Sermon on the Mount, he began to warn his listeners against the ploys of the devil (the thief) who comes to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). This enemy is sure to try to teach them different sermons from what Jesus had taught. Jesus warns them not to expect that the agents of this thief would come in the form of fierce wolves but in the form of gentle lambs (Matt 7:15).🐏 The agents of this deceptive enemy abound in greater proportion today. St John calls them the Antichrists (1 John 2:18-23) because they plan to lead the children of God astray (1 John 2:26), and so warns us to test every spirit before believing in them (cf. 1 John 4:1-6).👺 May these spirits of deception depart from us so that we may not miss our steps in our journey towards the Kingdom of God. Amen. Have a Spirit-led day ahead. It is well with you.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 00:03:27 +0000
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