Known by the Fruits

 ONLINE REFLECTION, ST. PAUL’S, FOLEY

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

 

LESSON:       Luke 7:18-35

 

We are to assume that John the Baptist and Jesus went separate ways once Jesus had been baptized.  Jesus, of course, had gone into the wilderness afterwards.  John, it is believed, continued his ministry of preaching and baptizing in the Jordan River.

 

John the Baptist had offended Herod Antipas – the son of Herod the Great, and king of the region of Israel where John preached.  John had criticized Antipas for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife. So, Antipas had him imprisoned and would ultimately have him beheaded.

 

But at the point of this lesson, John is in prison. Prison, I suppose, does strange things to a person’s mind.  That was certainly true of John.  He is wondering whether Jesus is “the one who is to come” – a point he had emphatically proclaimed at the baptism. Imprisonment and knowledge of impending death have caused him to doubt.

 

So, John sends two of his disciples to see Jesus.  “Are you the one who is to come?  Or should we wait for another?”

 

Jesus response is telling: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.”

 

Jesus is basically saying, I am known by the fruits I produce. These are my fruits…

 

We know and recognize plants by their fruits.  An apple comes from an apple tree. Pecans come from a pecan tree.  Lemons come from a lemon tree.  And so forth.

 

Analogously, we produce the fruits of our true beliefs.  Jesus’ works are more dramatic.  But scripture describes the other fruits that the followers of Jesus are to produce and live the characteristics of the children of God:  Blessed are the pure in heart; blessed are the peacemakers; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are the meek, among others.  We feed the hungry, we clothe the naked, we welcome the stranger, we comfort the grieving.

 

The popular hymn has the refrain, They will know we are Christians by our love. Our faith produces attitudes and fruits that serve to identify us.  Those attitudes and fruits will bear witness to others who wonder.