Knowing the Fruits

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives a warning to his disciples about wolves in sheep’s clothing. He says that we will know them by their fruits and goes on to give an example of good trees baring good fruits and likewise bad trees baring bad fruit. 

The first thing we should notice here is that we can’t always trust what we see on the surface. A wolf in sheep’s clothing looks like a sheep; it acts the part and fits into the flock. Jesus is telling us that appearance isn't something we should rely on. If we try to judge based on how someone looks or sounds, we’re likely to get it wrong. 

This mentality helps us to stay humble. It keeps us from judging others prematurely, but it also reminds us not to rely strictly on our own intuition, which can often be clouded and lead us into sin. 

Let us be cautious of wolves in sheep’s clothing, we are called to be patient observers to be attentive to the actual "fruit" people produce over time. 

He then switches over from others who may be disingenuous to ourselves. He calls us to look inward. What kind of fruit am I bearing? How can we ensure that we are the good trees in this story? The answer is tucked away beautifully in the Gospel of John. After the Resurrection, when Mary Magdalene is weeping at the tomb, she sees Jesus but doesn't recognize him at first. She actually mistakes him for a gardener.

This is not a coincidence. As a good gardener does, He takes care of His garden and trees and focuses on them baring fruit. He knows when we need to be watered, he knows when we need to be pruned, and he knows exactly what it takes for us to grow. We don’t have to struggle to produce good fruit on our own We just have to stay planted in Him. When we let the Divine Gardener take care of our soil, the good fruit follows naturally.