NOTES for Mat 7:15-21
There are always so many people around us, so many faces constantly flashing past... No one who lived in centuries gone by would envy such an intense life. We often have to deal with people whom we may never see again. Sometimes we also need to form an opinion of someone urgently, because, whether we like it or not, we will have to spend some time beside that person. And very rarely can we understand everything about someone at first sight—what kind of person they are, what concerns them, what they think about, what they live by, what is dear to them... We have to form an impression from outward signs. Moreover, in most cases this is not merely an opinion, but a judgement and even a condemnation. Those who practise physiognomy may, of course, be right about some things, but a person’s face cannot reveal everything! In today’s passages the Lord warns us against hasty conclusions and judgements based on appearances. He says that a person’s “skin” may bear no relation at all to what is “inside” (see Matt. 7:15). Even the “outward” attributes of faith are no guarantee that the soul will be saved. For, as we know, “even the demons believe—and shudder” (Jas. 2:19). Yes, outward observances are necessary, and those who keep them receive what “is not counted as a gift but as their due”; yet blessed is the person “to whom God counts righteousness apart from works” (see Rom. 4:4–6). What is in the heart matters far more to the Lord. That is why He speaks of fruits: our ability to love in practice is what serves as the criterion for Him. For the heart can pour out only what it contains (see Matt. 15:10–20). And when we look at another person, perhaps the only thing we should be quick to offer is mercy—or at least simply a smile.