Faithful in Being Fruitful (Lk. 6:43-45)
Hear
Good morning, church!
We have been looking at the teachings of Jesus which are centered on the command to love our enemies.
If I’m honest, this is an impossible assignment. I know that several of you have been wrestling with how to live out Jesus’ teaching in your own life. We wrestle with this because it goes against everything that our natural man tells us is the way we should respond to our enemies.
David Garland pulls no punches by stating,
The rough-and-ready ethic of those who do not hear [the words of Christ] says, ‘Do in all those who hate you, damn those who curse you, pray that those who harm you meet with immediate destruction.’[1]
And he continues by saying something that is probably true for a lot of folks. He says that even if we would never kill or hurt another person, somewhere deep inside of us we still want the power to do so. Even if we would never use that power, we want to hold it.[2]
But, as we have been learning, this is not the way of Jesus. He instructs us to do good, pray, bless, and give to our enemies. He tells us not to be judgmental and condemning toward them, instead we are to be merciful by extending forgiveness and generosity. Again, this is an impossible task and it requires a complete and total overhaul of our deepest passions.
This brings us to our scripture for today.
Open your Bibles to Luke chapter six and let’s pick up at verse forty-three.
Two Trees (Lk. 6:43-45)
Luke 6:43–45 NKJV
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Since the beginning of this chapter, Jesus has been preparing His disciples to go out into their surrounding areas with the power of God that leads to salvation - the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). He opens by reminding them that what seems like a loss or tragedy is really a blessing. They should not bemoan their situation as followers of Jesus. Life will be difficult, but it comes with great blessing. One of the more challenging parts of their new life as disciples and apostles of Christ is the requirement and expectation that they love their enemies by living a life of grace in their favor.
Starting at verse 43 Jesus goes deeper into the lives of His disciples to get at the roots. All that Jesus has shared with them about this paradoxical life will be utterly impossible without a right heart and solid foundation.
Let’s take another look at the two types of trees mentioned in Luke six.
Luke 6:43–45 NKJV
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Light
Jesus shares this same example in His Sermon on the Mount, but there He draws a distinction between true and false prophets (Two Trees - Matthew 7:15-20). A prophet is someone who speaks to the people on behalf of God. So, this should give us some idea as to why Jesus warns people to be on the lookout for false prophets. A true prophet is a “good tree” with “good fruit”. A false prophet is a “bad tree” with “bad fruit.”
In Luke’s gospel, it’s more general. This is not about spiritual leaders. This is about everyday persons who either pattern their lives after Jesus or they don’t. Specifically, at this location in Luke’s Gospel, it refers to the disciples of Jesus. You’re a “good tree” if you have “good fruit.” You’re a “bad tree” if you have “bad fruit.” And the fruit that you produce comes from deep within your heart. This is your treasure or rather, this is what you treasure.
I’m sure that most of us are aware that a good tree must have good roots, but I want to quickly highlight a few other key elements for a tree to be considered good.
Good trees must have good light.
Take a look at Psalms one.
Psalm 1:1–3 NKJV
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
Let me show you something in Psalm 1 that you can’t see in your English Bibles.
According to verse two, the blessed man, “delights in the law of the Lord.” The Hebrew word for delights is significant in this verse. There is a sense of this word which is taken from the language of horticulture. Delight means to “bend in the direction of.” Trees and plants have a growth hormone called auxin which helps to promote cell elongation.
Auxin is activated by the light of the sun through a plant's built-in response to sunlight called - phototropism. Tropos is an ancient Greek term meaning “to turn” and photo, we learned since grade school, has to do with light (i.e. photograph, photosynthesis). When put together, phototropismmeans to “turn because of light.”
Auxin in plant life, kind of mimics the Holy Spirit in the life of Christians. What happens when sunlight hits the leaves of a plant is that the auxin is moved over to the darker side of the leaf forcing it to search out the sun’s rays pushing out the darkness on that side. Similarly, when the Spirit of God comes alive in you, He turns you toward Jesus, the True Light, as you face the darkness of life.
This is the same idea in Psalm 1:2.
The blessed man is like a plant that yearns for the light of the sun in order to mature. The roots grow deeper, the leaves and stems are healthier and the healthier the tree, the more likely that it will produce good fruit. A tree that needs sunlight and does not get it will soon dry up and its fruit (should it still produce any) will be completely useless.
What we learn from reading God’s Word is that God, Himself, is our Light.
1 John 1:5 NKJV
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
Furthermore, to follow Jesus and model our lives after His means that we are Children of the light because Christ is the True Light.
John 8:12 NKJV
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
And nothing can possibly extinguish the Light of Christ.
John 1:5 NKJV
5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
What does all of this mean for those of us who are followers of Christ? It means that our lives are to mimic the behaviors of plant life in the natural world if we want to be fruitful in the kingdom of God. Just as a tree enjoys the presence of the natural sun, searching for it and leaning into it upon discovery, so too should you and I, as Christians, always bend in the direction of the Light of the World - the Son of God - Jesus our Lord.
This mirrors the familiar Augustinian quote which says,
For you made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.[3]
Soil
Jesus says that a good tree (person) brings forth good fruit (treasure) and that what is brought forth, in terms of fruit, comes from what is already inside at the deepest level of the person (heart) and He says that this fruit becomes visible when we speak because we are drawing out what is already inside at the core of our being.
Good trees have good soil.
Now, it’s interesting to me that Jesus says in Lk. 6:43, that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. This is somewhat problematic when compared with Isaiah chapter five. Turn there.
Isaiah 5:1–4 NKJV
1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?
This is a parable about Yahweh and the Children of Israel.
Here, Isaiah is speaking of a vine and not a tree, but I think the analogy holds. Notice that the vine/tree is good and yet it DOES produce bad fruit. Isaiah said that his Beloved removed from the vineyard all of the old stuff. Cleared the rocks. Built a tower and walls to keep animals and unwanted pests out. Made a winepress and last but not least, planted the top of the line grape vines and yet, it still produced wild grapes - bad fruit.
What this communicates is that, you can do everything within your power to clean yourself up and still not have kingdom qualities. You can shield yourself from bad people and bad influences and still not live the good life. Behavior modification is only good for this world and not for the richer life that God has called us to. Why not?
Well, the Beloved asks a great question, “What else could I have done to get the fruit I expected?”
Even though the Beloved had taken care of so many details to ensure His crop, He left one thing untouched - the soil.
Why would a good tree produce bad fruit? Maybe something is wrong with the soil.
Look at Luke chapter thirteen.
Luke 13:6–9 NKJV
6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’
8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
Here’s what we can learn from these examples in Luke and Isaiah.
Good behavior is not good enough. You can be a good tree, in terms of your morals, and yet be planted in the wrong soil making you ineffective in life. You can be a good tree and still have bad fruit because what is being produced in your life comes out of a heart that has not been regenerated by the grace of God. This is how people get confused about their salvation. If you ask them if they believe they’ll go to heaven when they die, they’ll tell you yes and if you ask them why they believe that, they’ll tell you that it’s because they are good people. But folks, you can do everything right behaviorally and still be on the wrong side of eternity because the soil of your heart is corrupted.
You can have it all together on the outside and be a total mess on the inside. You can be the nicest person ever to walk this earth and be as hell-bound as someone who’s broken every law imaginable. I know what you’re thinking too, “Well that’s not fair!” I’ll tell you what else isn’t fair.
It’s not fair that God would send His only Son to die in your place for your salvation when you have lived your life in total abandonment of Him and His grace. It’s not fair that the God of all creation has invited you to come and join His fellowship, but you have rejected Him. It’s not fair that He would become poor so that you, through His poverty, might become rich. It’s not fair that the One who knew no sin, became sin for you so that you could be the righteousness of God through Jesus, the One you are rejecting. And yet, though you suffer because of your own sin. You suffer because instead of surrendering your life to the one true God, you have become a god for yourself, the Bible teaches us that everyone who believes in Him to them was given the power to become the Children of God.
He loves you and He has provided, in Christ, everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Pt. 1:2-4).
Good behavior cannot save us. Only through a total surrender to Jesus and accepting His righteous sacrifice on our behalf can we be saved (Matt. 7:21). Then we will be good trees with good fruit.
Seed
Finally, if you want to be a good tree that produces good fruit, you bend toward the Light, you till the soil of your heart so that it’s fertile ground, and last but not least,
Good trees come from good seeds.
All of the Synoptic Gospels record that Jesus told a story about a sower who sows seed. He said that the seed was sown by the wayside, on stony ground, among thorns and lastly, on fertile ground. The disciples couldn’t understand what Jesus meant by telling this story so He explained it to them.
Luke 8:11–15 NKJV
11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
Good trees start from good seeds and when that seed is planted you need to give it plenty of water. Prayer is the water. Spending time in constant conversation with the Father everyday waters the soil of our hearts so that we may become fruitful in life. Think about this. Some of youset timers to water your lawn everyday so that it stays lush and green, but you have no timer to water your heart so that the seed which has been planted there can grow and bear fruit. You put weedkiller everywhere so that nothing that could destroy your lawn can take root, but you allow every kind of worldly influence to enter your heart and mind. Should we not care more about the health and growth of our souls than we do the grass that will soon fade away?
Notice that in the explanation of the parable about the sower sowing seed that nothing is wrong with the sower, whoever that person may be. The sower might be a pastor, a mentor, a teacher, a friend, a parent, or any number of persons. They aren’t the problem. The one planting the seed of God’s Word is generous. The sower is liberal with the seed. Scattering it everywhere. Furthermore, there’s nothing wrong with the seed either. However, the fruitfulness of the seed is determined by the condition of the soil that it is planted in. But again, there is nothing at all wrong with the seed. The seed is good and when it is planted in good soil it is productive.
Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel,
Matthew 13:23 NKJV
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
What exactly does the one who hears the word understand when the seed is planted?
In a heart that has been tilled, that person understands what the Word of God reveals about everyone of us.
We are sinners.
We need a Savior.
Jesus is the Answer.
The Seed is good! As a matter-of-fact, the psalmist says that the Word of God is flawless.
Psalm 18:30 NIV
30 As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
It is what the Apostle Peter describes as being incorruptible and eternally enduring.
1 Peter 1:23 NKJV
23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
1 Peter 1:25 NKJV
25 But theword of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
This is a message for those of you who always seem to take issue with what the word of God has to say about your life and experiences. You might not like what God’s Word says about the way that you’re living, but the Word is still good. You might disagree with the teachings of scripture as it relates to our world, but it’s still good. You may be suffering in ways that you never imagined right now, but the Truth of God remains. It’s still good. Things may not be working out the way that you hoped it would, but the Word of God is still good.
It’s living and powerfully active (Heb. 4:12).
It is a light and lamp to guide our way in the darkness of this world (Ps. 119:105).
It is a shield against the sinful desires of our flesh (Ps. 37:31).
The psalmist confesses, “I have hidden your word...” Where? “...in [the soil of] my heart...” Why? “...that I might not sin against you” (Ps. 119:11).
Psalm 119:11 NKJV
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Allow the Word of the Lord to take root in your heart today.
Respond
The disciples of Jesus would never love their enemies properly, if ever, without making sure that their hearts were right. They wouldn’t be effective in sharing the Gospel because whenever they would feel slighted or attacked, they would draw out unclean water from the well of their heart and respond in kind.
Without this work of Christ in the hearts of those who followed Him, they wouldn’t do good to their enemies. They wouldn’t pray for them or bless them or give to them. Instead they would judge them harshly and in condemning ways. They would withhold mercy and forgiveness and generosity from them because selfishness and worldliness is the treasure of a heart that has not been regenerated by the grace of Jesus Christ.
However, if they would lean into the Messiah like a plant turning toward the light they would be effective in making disciples wherever they went. If the fallow ground of their hearts were turned over to the Sower Who sows the Good Seed of the Word of God they would see a bounty of fruit.
The same is true for those of us who belong to Christ.
Maybe you’re hearing this and you’re not a Christian. Maybe the soil of your heart is hard and overgrown with the cares of this world and the Good Seed of God’s amazing grace is being choked out.
I want to ask you to surrender to the Sower today. He will take your heart of stone and give you a new heart, a heart of flesh so that you can know Him.
All you need to confess is that you are a sinner. You need a Savior. And ask Jesus to come into your heart today.
Tre Clark
Britton Christian Church
3/15/2026
[1] (David Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, p288)
[2] (David Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, p288)
[3]St. Augustian, Confessions, Book 1, chapter 1
