Matthew 7:16

ModernConservative.com ^ | Christopher Cook

[connell]

A bit of exegesis from Christopher CookA little preamble for context purposes: I LOVE discussing theology, but I don't get to do it often, because I am so steeped in politics all the time. I don't represent a denomination or an agenda, and I'm certainly not a scholar. This is just a bit of exploration, the kind I really enjoy but rarely get to do.

Let's see...maybe I can come up with a little accidental percipience on the subject of Matthew 7:16.


"You will know them by their fruits."

It seems to me that the production of fruit is, in large measure, the main purpose of a plant's life.

Plants grow; they consume water and photosynthesize sunlight.

They produce oxygen, and they're often very pretty, and thus they do serve other purposes in the context of the whole world system.

When you focus on just the plant, however, it really seems like its purpose is to bear fruit---that's what all of its activities seem ultimately focused on. If it doesn't bear fruit, it does not create the next generation. No next generation and the plant has no continuance. This seems to be a failure of the plant's main goal...