Fruit, Words, and Hearts
Matthew 12:33-37
The Bible has much to say about our words. The book of Proverbs repeatedly warns us about the dangers of our tongues. For instance, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” (Pro. 10:19). One man said, “As you go through life you are going to have many opportunities to keep your mouth shut. Take advantage of all of them.”[1] Proverbs 12:19 says, “The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment.” Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue Keeps his soul from troubles.” And Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”
In the New Testament, James also warns of the destructive power of the tongue, calling it “a fire, a world of iniquity” (James 3:6). He says, “… no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8).
Yet, the real problem lies not in our words or the tongue that speaks them. The real problem is the evil heart that lies beneath the evil words because everything that springs forth from our mouths comes from what is in our hearts. Our words indicate the condition of our hearts. Jesus will teach His disciples in Matthew 15,
18 “… those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man …” (Mat 15:18-20 NKJV)
If you want to check the oil in your car, you pull the dip-stick, because that is the gauge that reveals how much oil your engine has. If you want to check the spiritual condition of your heart, where do you look? Your mouth. When a man opens his mouth and sinful things come out, this reveals him to be a sinner from the heart.
James writes, “11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3:11-12). The mouth is the bucket that draws from the well of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life.”
The context of Matthew 12 demonstrates this principle for us today. The Pharisees had just thrown a blasphemous accusation at Jesus. The Lord had mercifully cast a demon out of a blind and mute man so that he was healed and could now see and speak (Matt. 12:22). Those who saw it were astonished; and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Matt. 12:23). But the Pharisees said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons” (Matt. 12:24). In other words, they saw the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated through Jesus doing the works of the Messiah. And yet, their hearts were so hardened against Him that they attributed His power to cast out demons to the devil himself.
As we saw last time, it wasn’t that the Pharisees merely misunderstood Him. It was because they hated Him and resisted the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Him. When they made this blasphemous accusation against Him, they revealed the profoundly hardened, evil condition of their hearts. Jesus warned them that they were in danger of committing an unpardonable sin—blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Words matter because they have a source. The source is the heart.
That brings us to our text today in Matthew 12:33-37 where we see a threefold progression: 1) Your fruit displays the character of your life (Matt. 12:33); 2) Your words display the condition of your heart (Matt. 12:34-35); and 3) Your heart determines the verdict of your soul (Matt. 12:36-37).
First, Jesus teaches …
1. Your fruit displays the character of your life (Matt. 12:33)
In Matthew 12:33, Jesus says, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.” Jesus used this same metaphor of a tree and its fruit in Matthew 7 to refer to the works of false prophets who were wolves in sheep’s clothing. Now Jesus applies this principle in proverbial style to words. This brief parable has a very simple message. If a tree is good, the fruit is good. If a tree is bad, the fruit is bad.
How does this principle apply in the context of Matthew 12? First, it applies to what the Pharisees were saying about Jesus. Everyone, including the Pharisees, saw Jesus do good. He healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, set demoniacs free, and preached righteousness. No one would say that fruit was evil. Not even the Pharisees could deny the good works and words of Jesus.
The Pharisees were saying that Jesus’ fruit was good but the tree is bad. They were making Jesus out to be evil at the root, but good in the fruit. They knew sickness, disease, demonic possession, and sin came from Satan. They knew healing, casting out demons, and forgiveness came from God. So, if good trees produce good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit, then how can you conclude that Jesus is an emissary of Satan?
So Jesus tells them to drop the double standard. If they make the tree out to be bad, then they would have to say the fruit is bad also. If they look at the fruit and say it’s good, then they have to admit that the tree is good also.
Jesus is calling them to a decision. “Either say that, in casting out demons, I do evil and am evil at the root; or say that, in casting out demons, I do the work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, and I am of God!”
Jesus is calling all of us to make a decision about Him as well. Will we receive Jesus for who the Spirit shows Him to be? Or will we try to ride the fence and say that Jesus did good, but He was not who the Spirit was showing Him to be. If Jesus’ fruit is good, He must be good. He must be the Christ, the Son of God.
A second application of this verse is that it our fruit also reveals the good or evil in our hearts. Jesus goes on to reveal what sort of tree the Pharisees were proving themselves to be by their words.
So we see first, your fruit displays the character of your life and …
2. Your words display the condition of your heart (Matt. 12:34-35)
The Pharisees were making an evaluation. They were seeing the good things that our Lord did, and they were saying something evil about it. They refused to say that Jesus was the Christ from God. Even though it was obvious, they still wouldn’t admit it. So in Matthew 12:34 Jesus reveals why. They have an evil heart. He says, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt. 12:34).
He calls them “Brood of vipers!” or, “O generation of vipers . . .” (KJV). A viper is a particularly deadly and venomous snake. When Jesus calls them “vipers”, He highlights their deadly and dangerous character.
Think about the dangerous words that came out of their mouths at that time. Jesus performed good works—miracles done in the power of the Holy Spirit—and many of the people were beginning to believe on Him. But the Pharisees—who were jealous of Him and had already committed themselves to killing Him (Matt. 12:14)—they dared to attribute His miracles to the devil in an effort to dissuade people from believing on Jesus. The Pharisees had the outward appearance of being holy and pious, like poisonous snakes that look beautiful to the eye, but are deceivingly deadly.
The word translated as “brood” or “generation” means “offspring”, speaking both of their evil character and their evil source. They are “offspring of vipers”—vipers who come from a family of vipers! It’s the same description that John the Baptist used, saying, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt. 3:7). Jesus would later say to them in Matthew 23,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt” (Matt. 23:29-32).
They were the sons of those who killed the prophets. And now they were plotting to kill the One those prophets prophesied about! They truly were a “brood of vipers”. The Pharisees wouldn’t confess Christ because they had a wicked carnal heart that was not capable of doing so.
The Pharisees said what they said about Jesus because they were evil at heart. What came out of their mouths was simply drawn up from the well sin that was in them. Thus, Jesus says, “How can you, being evil, speak good things?” (Matt. 12:34). They could not speak anything else but evil. It was impossible for them to do otherwise, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” The mouth overflows with what is in the heart.
Jesus then illustrates this principle in Matthew 12:35, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” A mouth that speaks cursing and bitterness is from a heart that is bitter and full of cursing. A mouth that speaks hatred or gossip is from a heart that is full of hatred and gossip. A lying tongue is from a deceptive heart. If your mind and heart are full of murder, sooner or later, that will come out of your mouth in hateful murderous words.
But words that bless and love and encourage come from a loving heart. Hopeful words come from a hopeful heart. Kind words come from a kind heart. If your mind and heart are full of grace, sooner or later, gracious words will come from your mouth.
It’s wise to ask yourself; “When I get rattled and shaken deep within, what is it that comes spilling out? When I’m in a time of trial and testing and pressure deep in my inner being, what comes out of my mouth? When good things happen to others instead of me, what do I say?” If someone walked along behind you and listened to your words, what kind of tree would you prove to be? What kind of heart does your mouth reveal to be within you? What kind of treasure is deep within?
This is why the Pharisees said what they did. They had a heart problem. And this is still the main problem of humanity. Man’s problem is not bad influences, bad parents, or ignorance. Man’s problem is an evil heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
The only possible way for anyone to confess Christ is to have his or her heart redeemed. If the heart isn’t right, the confession won’t be either. Listen to what Paul writes about salvation:
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Rom. 10:9-10).
A person first believes in their heart, and then the confession comes out of their mouth. The point is that the heart must change. And only God can do that. It is a work of His Holy Spirit when He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). It is the work of the Holy Spirit causing you to repent of sin and turn to the Savior. It is the work of Father drawing you to Christ when you hear the gospel that Jesus died for your sins and was raised for your justification.
The Pharisees needed to acknowledge that their hearts were sinful and to turn in repentance and faith to the Savior, Jesus Christ. They needed a new heart.
And that is important for us today because …
3. Your heart determines the verdict of your soul (Matt. 12:36-37)
Jesus says, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37).
The word translated “idle” means “lazy, useless, or unprofitable”. Some translations (NASB and ESV for example) translate it “every careless word”. This is a careless or thoughtless utterance that we might excuse by saying, “Oh; I didn’t mean what I said. I was just kidding anyway. Don’t take things so seriously.”
Jesus warns us that He takes such “careless” or “idle” words very seriously. And there’s a good reason why. Such words tend to indicate what’s in our hearts more truthfully than a carefully thought-out and prepared set of words ever could.
You see, we can control our mouths at least part of the time, but eventually what is in the heart will come out of the mouth. And when it does, we can’t claim that it was just “careless” words, just idle talk. For even the careless words have weight and will be judged. If even careless words will be brought forward for judgment, how much more the deliberate, wrongful, hurtful words we have spoken.
Our words prove what is in our hearts. Based upon that truth, the Pharisees stood condemned. Their words were wicked because their heart was wicked. And Jesus lets them know that based upon their words, their judgment is both certain and just.
This is why Jesus then says, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned”. He who will judge our words will also prove to be the One who knows the true condition of our hearts. And it will be our words that will, on judgment day, stand as the evidence of the true nature of our hearts.
Let’s be brutally honest with ourselves and with God about this. If the pattern my speech is evil, then it reveals an evil heart. The mouth pulls up nothing from the well except what’s truly there.
So first, let’s be very sure we have trusted Jesus as our Savior and have been washed of our sins. The point of this passage is not merely that we try to clean up our dirty mouths. That should happen, but that’s not what needs to happen first. If the well itself is dirty, it doesn’t do any good to clean the bucket that draws out the water. And if the heart itself is still evil, it doesn’t do any good to try to merely clean up the mouth.
If we come to Christ—confessing that we are sinners who need to be saved, repenting, and placing our trust in the cleansing power of His blood—then He is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Let’s be sure that we have first trusted in Him; and then, our heart—the wellspring of our words—will be clean.
This is where it starts, with God giving us a new heart. Even with a renewed heart, we can, at times, sin with our words. We have habits of the flesh, the allurement of the world, and the temptations of the devil to contend with. We constantly need the Holy Spirit to be producing in us the fruit of righteousness in our lives. He does this as we yield in submission to His will. And we know and love His will by the renewing of our minds with the word of God. The more of the truth of God’s holy word we put into our minds and obey in our hearts, the more our words will reflect the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will begin to sound more like Jesus. Give yourself to Jesus Christ. Present your whole body as a living sacrifice to Him. Dedicate all that you are—including your lips—to His service.
Your fruit displays the character of your life. Your words display the condition of your heart. And your heart determines the verdict of your soul. By the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in Christ, may we prove that He has placed a good treasure in our hearts by bringing forth what is good from our lips.
——————————————————————————————————
[1] Steven Cole, https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-12-taming-terrible-tongue-james-31-12 accessed 4/13/2024. (Cole’s source is quoted by James Dent, Reader’s Digest [12/82]).
