NOTES for Лк 6:43-49
Knowing them by their fruits seems to us too simple a method of testing. Yet this is precisely how the Lord teaches us to recognize things and phenomena. Outwardly, much can seem pleasant and even useful; or conversely, outward appearance can repel us and convince us that something is useless. But it is not appearance that determines the essence, but the fruits. And this is our principal method of testing. On the other hand, it is very unpleasant to realize that we ourselves can also be tested “by our fruits.” But this judgmental and superficial gaze of ours needs restraints. In his epistle to Timothy, the Apostle Paul tells us that it was above all by His mercy that God chose a sinner to bear witness to the Resurrection. The fruits were terrible, but that is not what God looks at when He calls us into His marvelous light.