Floyd Rogers – Texas Gospel Volunteer, Christian writer

Mathew 12:33-37 “Either assume the tree to be good as well as its fruit good, or assume the tree to be bad as well as its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart. 35 The good person brings out of his good treasure good things; and the evil person brings out of his evil treasure evil things. 36 But I tell you that for every careless word that people speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Floyd Rogers – Texas Gospel Volunteer, Christian writer

Matthew chapter 12 tells us of Jesus’ harsh words for those who speak blaspheme against the Spirit. Right after this,  Matthew 12:33-37 tell us that our words demonstrate who we are and that we will give an account of our words on the day of judgement.  What exactly are we being told?

Is it not clear Jesus is using the metaphor of a tree and its fruit to describe our heart (our desires/motives) and our words? To be clear, the tree is our heart, and the fruit is our words.  Verse 33 tells us a good tree brings forth good fruit, and the bad tree brings forth the bad.  I think it’s clear Matthew is telling us if we are good people, others will know by our words, and if we are corrupt, other people will know by our words. Verse 34 tells us the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.

Consider, it is not uncommon for one’s closest friends to know things about us even we ourselves do not know. People are often blind to their own prejudices that others can recognize clearly through our choice of words. Could we not learn something about ourselves by examining the things we say, things said without care?

Now consider, Verse 36 and 37 that tells us on the day of judgment, “…by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” I don’t think this means as some have suggested that if I misspeak, I will condemn myself for saying the wrong word. These verses speak of words that are the fruit of our heart, not flubbed words that say something completely different from what we were thinking at the time. Look at the context. This is Jesus’ response to the Pharisees blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. They spoke words from their heart as they attributed an act of the Holy spirit to the devil. 

Isn’t it a good idea to evaluate the words we choose and what they say about our heart. We will be judged by those words.

What are your thoughts?