Second Sunday in Advent: Be a Good Tree

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

According to The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, in Greek the term repent (metanoein) used here  connotates a "change of mind" while the Hebrew term ( s̆ûb) means "to (re)turn" (away from sin and toward God.) While I have read this passage a number of times over the years, what caught my eye (and ear) in particular were the lines I have placed in bold: Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance and Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. It is quite evident that St. John the Baptist does not believe that faith alone is sufficient for the Pharisees and Sadducees. Nor is repentence. Good fruit is needed. Good works that go beyond the good intentions of repentance are the follow-through. New Jerome, p.637, 1990 ed. This, of course, is a foreshadowing of the words of Jesus himself in Matthew 12:33:

Either make the tree good and its fruit good: or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the tree is known.

and in Matthew 7:15-20:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.

What I found interesting is that the Gospel account of this incident in Matthew is slightly different than that found in the beginning of Luke 3:10-14. In particular, after John makes the pronouncement that "every tree which does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire," the crowds listening to him ask him what they should do:

And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"

He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise."

Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed."

Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?" He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."

So, evidence of your return to God consist in sharing your extra clothing with those that have no clothing and sharing your food with those that have none. Not taking more than you are entitled to, not taking that which doesn't belong to you and not lying. Oh, and you should also be satisfied with what you have. Hmm... sounds somewhat suspiciously like the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46.

But here is the catch: doing these things in and of themselves is not sufficient. What is important is why you are doing them. John says, produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance, not produce good fruit to earn your repentance.  St. Augustine, in his Sermon 22 on the New Testament, had this to say on the matter:

The Lord Jesus has admonished us, that we be good trees, and that so we may be able to bear good fruits. For He says, Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. When He says, Make the tree good, and his fruit good; this of course is not an admonition, but a wholesome precept, to which obedience is necessary. But when He says, Make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt; this is not a precept that you should do it; but an admonition, that you should beware of it. For He spoke against those, who thought that although they were evil, they could speak good things or have good works. This the Lord Jesus says is impossible. For the man himself must first be changed, in order that his works may be changed. For if a man abide in his evil state, he cannot have good works; if he abide in his good state, he cannot have evil works.

St. Augustine tells us to root out desire and plant in charity: "For as desire is the root of all evil, so is charity the root of all good." Do not think that you can bear good fruit if you remain a corrupt tree. Change your heart, and your work will be changed. Be a good tree.