NOTES for Luk 6:37-49

How should we understand the parable of the bad or good tree? After all, all people, including us, sometimes bear good fruit and sometimes bad fruit. Here again there is a temptation to divide people, and ourselves, into good and bad. And sometimes it is even pleasant to say, "Oh, what a bad person I am!" as though that were useful for humility. But here we are judging again, and it is said: "Do not judge."

Here it is more about the inner, spiritual direction that stands behind our actions, and that direction depends on us. Therefore, in order not to be a bad tree, one must bear good fruit; and for the Lord's words to benefit us, they must be put into practice. This is the Christian's basic moral task: to do good, not to judge. Christ will judge.

The parable of the house built on the rock concludes the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. It also concludes the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus explains what He expects from His disciples and what it means to be "sons of the Most High." In this parable He once again draws our attention to how important it is not merely to listen to and accept the truths of the Gospel, but also to act in accordance with them.

If, after hearing the Beatitudes, we calmly say, "Yes, this is very wise and beautiful," but do not embody it in any way in our life, then we will not be His disciples. Our Christianity will remain only an ethical system, one that can break under the pressure of trials. But if we truly live by His commandments, look at the world with His eyes, and do His will, then this will be a foundation that nothing will be able to shake.

Christ calls His disciples to build a house on rock. But this image is not as simple as it seems, for this rock is not a set of “universal human” notions about life, nor firmly established commandments and laws. It is the word of Jesus, that is, the Good News, which always remains new to a person and never hardens into a mass of stone. Try building your life on love for your adversary, on conscious and honest forgiveness. One cannot grow accustomed to such things, just as one cannot love “out of habit.” The paradox of the Christian life is that it is built on a rock fixed not in the earth but in heaven, where there is no support other than God. But to be able to grasp hold of “thin air,” one needs a courageous desire, a readiness to find what is firmer than any earthly stone.

At first sight, this verse is just a concrete supplement to the “general golden rule of ethics ": " Don’t do to others what you will not like them to do to you ". But it is necessary to glance more deeply. We don’t want people to judge us, because we don’t trust their judgments: no matter, they can’t puzzle out anything. We do not accept their condemnations, because we consider that they are better not at all in ours. And that is why we proudly refuse their forgivenesses, what also allows us to forgive nobody. So, we judge, condemn, and do not forgive. But Jesus indeed speaks not only about human’s justice and forgiveness, but also about Divine’s. Everything is different here, God has absolutely the right to judge, and this judgment frightens us because the Judge sees us completely. Well here we begin "to dream" about forgiveness, about undeserved mercy. But we have then to recognize the superiority of mercy over justice and on the way we behave towards others. And this means- don’t judge, don’t condemn, forgive.

At first sight, this verse is just a concrete supplement to the “general golden rule of ethics ": " Don’t do to others what you will not like them to do to you ". But it is necessary to glance more deeply. We don’t want people to judge us, because we don’t trust their judgments: no matter, they can’t puzzle out anything. We do not accept their condemnations, because we consider that they are better not at all in ours. And that is why we proudly refuse their forgivenesses, what also allows us to forgive nobody. So, we judge, condemn, and do not forgive. But Jesus indeed speaks not only about human’s justice and forgiveness, but also about Divine’s. Everything is different here, God has absolutely the right to judge, and this judgment frightens us because the Judge sees us completely. Well here we begin "to dream" about forgiveness, about undeserved mercy. But we have then to recognize the superiority of mercy over justice and on the way we behave towards others. And this means- don’t judge, don’t condemn, forgive.

The speck and the log are images that reflect the essence of human sin, which keeps a person from seeing God and neighbor. Anyone who has experienced such an encounter with his own sins after paying close attention to another's imperfections knows that these are not hyperboles. Jesus calls us to watch ourselves and first remove the logs from our own eyes. Yet He does not want us to stop there, saying that this must be done in order to clear our brother's eye. The Lord is not proposing that we stop looking altogether at the problems of those close to us, focus on our own shortcomings, and turn away from a world full of sin. On the contrary, He expects that, once we have cleared our own eyes, we will be able to look at this world with His eyes, full of mercy and love, and so become His coworkers. In the same way, a few verses earlier He entrusted to His disciples the beatitudes, which make it possible to "be sons of the Most High."

Christ wants to lead us beyond our limitations and gives us a chance to see ourselves from the outside. Then we see that we are among other people and are like them in many ways, and our uniqueness is not at all in what we like about ourselves. Then comes the understanding that it is dishonest to judge those around us without judging ourselves for the same thing, or even for worse.

The saying about the speck and the log, which became proverbial even during the dominance of atheism, without any reference to its original source, reminded people of sobriety and sometimes helped them avoid being carried away by self-confident condemnation. And this is always hard; in reality we do not merely fail to see the log itself, but that invisible log keeps us from seeing much, first of all what we ourselves are like. And how frightening it can be to learn everything about ourselves!

Recently a psychologist said that if a person learned all the negative things hidden in his subconscious, he would die of a broken heart. Without Christ, perhaps that is possible. But we do not have to bring the hidden darkness to the surface; we can change without the painful mire of psychoanalysis. With God's help it is enough to see ourselves from the outside and courageously admit that I am not the person I want to appear to be to myself and to those around me, and then place myself at His disposal, turning away from my own impurity and trying not to sink into it. Then let us try, with His help, to begin bearing fruit.

We can have impression that these Jesus’ words deprive us of any hope. Conscience does not allow identifying oneself as good man. And if I am a evil man, then no matter what I do, it will always "be evil", and I have nowhere to go to.

It is indeed about another thing here. Jesus speaks about the judgment" by fruits” (and not about condemnation), He lets know that, we shouldn't believe that our bad behavior means nothing, that they {these behaviors} are only external - what we say, regularly I am white and downy. He warns us of self-exculpation, He wants that by seeing our wickedness, we turn away from the evil that is inside us, and wish to change. If such a desire appears, then God can answer it, more exactly our desire to change inside, in our heart - and this is what He proposes us in His New Alliance with us.

We can have impression that these Jesus’ words deprive us of any hope. Conscience does not allow identifying oneself as good man. And if I am a evil man, then no matter what I do, it will always "be evil", and I have nowhere to go to.

It is indeed about another thing here. Jesus speaks about the judgment" by fruits” (and not about condemnation), He lets know that, we shouldn't believe that our bad behavior means nothing, that they {these behaviors} are only external - what we say, regularly I am white and downy. He warns us of self-exculpation, He wants that by seeing our wickedness, we turn away from the evil that is inside us, and wish to change. If such a desire appears, then God can answer it, more exactly our desire to change inside, in our heart - and this is what He proposes us in His New Alliance with us.

For many centuries now the debate has died down and flared up again over what matters more: faith or works, theory or practice, which is primary and which secondary. Meanwhile, from the Gospel it is clear that formal religiosity has no meaning and will be rejected by God, and temples built for prayer that is not supported by deeds and by keeping the commandments of real, not verbal, love for God and neighbor will collapse. And not only temples, but we ourselves, praying in those temples, like the Pharisees, will prove bankrupt with all our knowledge of biblical interpretation and liturgics.

So let us hope not in our own education, but that our knowledge will become a launching pad for living deeds that we may not be able to imagine in advance. But the Lord sees us, and He knows at what moment and to what service to direct us.

If only we would recognize His will and not reject it.

Today the Lord tells us that it is not enough only to listen to Him and call on Him. The firm foundation of human life can consist only in doing His words. Doing the words of Christ proves to be the rock on which, relying, you are able to stand. But if you do not have this rock, you have no chance to stand. This matters because failing to do the word of God is sin in itself. Therefore, the less effort you make to do it, the less hope there is of breaking out of the sinful state. By contrast, even a small effort to do Christ's words gives you a support by using which you can oppose sin with ever increasing strength.

For an adequate understanding of the Savior's words, it is important to imagine how houses were built in Judea, and in all Palestine, in Gospel times. The soil in most of Palestine is rocky; the powerful foundations needed when building on clay or sandy soils are not necessary there. It was only necessary to clear away the upper alluvial layer (usually thin enough) in order to reach the stone. After that, the simplest strip foundation was laid, its basis being large corner stones (cornerstones). But removing the upper layer was absolutely necessary; otherwise, in winter, during the rainy season, when turbulent streams flow from the mountains down the slopes into the valleys, the house would almost certainly "float."

The Savior, as we can see, compares spiritual life with a house that makes sense to build only on rock, after first clearing it of everything that can get in the way of construction. Clearly, the image of a house built on rock was meant to remind the listeners that listening and hearing are not the same thing. The one who has heard will certainly move from words to action, applying what he has heard in practice. But, of course, there will also be those who, after listening to everything, will not want to change anything in their life.

And this is no surprise: in spiritual life the main role is played not by intellect and not by feeling, but by the will. It is precisely through acts of will that the spiritual "I" of a person, which constitutes the center of the human person, manifests itself. But often the person himself does not realize this, at least when it comes to practical life. And he lives without realizing either the true causes or the true significance of his decisions and actions.

Such unexamined spiritual life really resembles a house built on sand: the acts of will that determine a person's spiritual life remain for the most part unconsidered, and often entirely unnoticed, so that a person, in a spiritual sense (and sometimes not only in a spiritual sense), literally lives without knowing how.

Any thought that unexpectedly comes to mind and any feeling that seizes the heart can lead to decisions and actions completely unexpected even for the person himself, decisions and actions that he often can neither understand nor explain. And only full awareness of every choice made and every decision taken makes a person's spiritual life (as well as his life in general) inwardly whole and consistent. In that case every action of the person comes from the depth of his spiritual "I." And his spiritual life turns out to be founded not on the shifting sand of random thoughts and feelings, but on the rock of conscious choice.

Every person has moments when he realizes that he is sinful. Daniel speaks of common guilt (Dan. 9:5), without denying it and without excusing himself by saying that he was not the only one who sinned. And he contrasts these sins not with some "other fellow," but with the holiness and beauty of God Himself. Daniel looks at the Lord, being purified beneath His merciful gaze, which will be revealed to the world in Jesus.

Jesus also speaks of God's mercy, reminding the Jews of Old Testament truths. But He goes further: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful," calling them to action and imitation. Verse 38 appears contradictory, but this is what God's mercy, His law, looks like. In the second part of the verse we read about the eternal inequality of our relationship with God: He simply cannot give less, less than His Incarnation, Love, and Cross. By these gifts of His we test everything we do in the world.

Continuing His preaching of the Beatitudes, Christ speaks about exactly what must be done in order to "be sons of the Most High." If the Beatitudes spoke about a person's states, about the qualities and properties that belong to him, here Jesus lists a number of actions that a Christian must perform. "But I say to you who hear," He addresses those who have already heard and accepted the radical commandments of blessedness, which contradict the usual understanding of life.

It turns out that a Christian must not only accept life passively, but also actively carry Christ into the world. Bless those who curse, give away the last shirt, turn the cheek... The Lord, saying, "As you wish that people would do to you, do so to them," calls His disciples to perform actions that could move other people also to act in a Christian way.

By answering evil with good, trying to love where there is hatred, and showing true mercy to our neighbors, we are only giving others what we ourselves have received from God as His children.

Skeptics who rebel against Christianity and Christians often speak of self-interest. They say that, in doing good, Christians are concerned about a reward from above and do everything "for the promises of future blessings." How should we answer them, since we really do say, following the evangelist, "...and your reward will be great"?

Perhaps the first thing to understand is that the Lord calls us to absolute selflessness. And today's passage, in which the Lord calls us to give while receiving nothing in return, and even without hope of receiving anything, should also serve as a warning against this pseudo-Christian reliance on posthumous or some other recompense from the Lord.

It is another matter that the Lord is just. And His justice is above all. But it belongs only to Him; we have no right to judge either it or ourselves in its light. That is why the Lord says, "Vengeance is Mine, and I will repay." In these words there is not only the promise of the final triumph of good over evil, or more precisely, of evil being turned into good. In them there is also the condition of our selflessness before Him.