“What the heart is full of”

Read Luke 6:43-49

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The sermon in Luke concludes in the same way as in Matthew, with Jesus emphasising that it must be put into action if it is to be of any value to us. In both Gospels he does this by speaking about two kinds of fruit and then two kinds of builders (Mt.7:18-20,24-27). Both are intended to challenge us to respond to his teaching: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I say?” (46).

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In nature the kind of fruit produced obviously depends on the tree it grows on (43-44). But in the spiritual realm the fruit we bear will correspond to the kind of “heart” we have (45). Good and bad words and behaviour are determined by what is “stored up in the heart”. Luke underlines this by adding a saying which comes later in Matthew: “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (45; Mt.12:34-35; Mk.7:20-23).

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So it’s our heart – our inner being – which is “the wellspring of life” and good fruit (Pr.4:23). This means that it’s our own choice whether or not to “make the heart good” (Mt.12:33). The parable of the two builders explains how (46-49). Putting Jesus’s teaching into practice shapes our hearts so that what overflows is “the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ” (Ph.1:11).