Mmm... Pineapple is a good fruit

Matthew 7:15-23

I find a strange sort of paradox in this section. In fact all through chapters 5-7. There are instances where it seems that what we do isn't really that important, and there are times when it seems that it really is important. So which is it?

At first, Jesus is saying, "you can tell a tree by it's fruit". I take this to mean that if you see someone doing the sorts of things that we are supposed to do, then that makes them a good tree. And bad trees are the ones that do bad things, obviously. So I would imagine that killing, lying, cheating, etc. are bad things, so those are the bad trees. Probably then, prophesying and demon casting-outing would be good fruits, so those are the good trees. Wait... what's that you say, Jesus?

"Not everyone who casts out demons or prophesys in my name will enter the kingdom of heaven". Say what? In fact, Jesus tells them to take hike and calls them "lawbreakers". Goodness.

So, what are we supposed to think. In the first place, He's telling us that we can recognize a good tree by its good fruit. But then right away, He says that not all of those with the good fruit will enter the kingdom. Where does that leave us?

I can't reconcile these. He's goes from telling us that a good tree will bear good fruit, then He goes on to say that not everybody who bears this good fruit will enter the kingdom. So, at best, He's not really helped us out at all. Unless I've overlooked one key assumption...

Jesus never tells us what "good fruit" is. He uses the term but never defines it. In fact, Jesus doesn't go into much detail at all during this sermon on the mount about the do's and don't's. He never says that prophecy and casting out demons were good fruit. That's my assumption.

Maybe the point that Jesus is subtly making is just that; those aren't the good fruits to be looking for. Jesus doesn't spend much time outlining our religious duties during this sermon. He does, however, tell us the kind of people we should be. Generous, honest, longing for righteousness (even perhaps if we don't attain it), peacemakers, etc. I know many of us see the "spiritual" things as the stuff we are supposed to strive for. But maybe Jesus is subtly trying, throughout this whole sermon, to bring our attention back to earth, to the place we live and run into each other.