OCTOBER 21, 2026 – TREE AND BUILDER

READ: Luke 6:43-49: … every tree is known by its own fruit … a man building a house … founded … and it could not be shaken … without a foundation … and the ruin of that house was great.

Verse 43 shows how a hypocrite is exposed by his works. Just as in vs 44, vs 43 connects with what precedes by the word ‘for.’ As a tree produces good or bad fruit so a person’s works can be either good or bad.

A bad soul produces rotten or inedible fruits of wickedness; a good inner condition, on the other hand, produces nourishing fruits of peace and goodness. As it is with trees, so it is with people.

Yet people can be changed inwardly through the work of the Holy Spirit. Thus Heb. 12:11 says: ‘Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.’

Jesus now points out what hearing His words can bring about. He wants His hearers to listen carefully to what He says about this in a parable of two different builders, so that they may understand and apply the message.

If Christ is earnestly sought, His wordsare thoroughly studied, and then wholeheartedly accepted and followed. This leads to tremendous assurance and an unshakable confidence in Jesus Christ as Savior. For He Himself is then the rock upon which you may build (cf. Isa. 28:16; 1 Pet. 2:6; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 3:10,11).

In this way you will be able to withstand all the trials that come upon you in the strength of Christ and His Spirit. By grace you will continue to overcome, so that ultimately you may  receive acquittal at God’s judgment.

But if you merely hear the Gospel without living according to it, you do not accept Jesus as the rock. Then no foundation is laid beneath your faith. You may still deceive yourself, but you willmiss communion with Christ, which leads to your final destruction on the day of judgment.

How do you assess yourself in the light of this parable?

Sing: Ps. 92:6