ROTTEN FRUIT

Recently I bought a very nice-looking peach. It was slightly hard, so I decided to wait a couple of days before eating it. However, later when I went to slice it, it was moldy and I had to throw it away. I have had the same thing happen with mandarins and bananas. What a disappointment. What looked like good fruit had gone bad. It is like the Enemy had crept in and sowed mold, like the story where “One night, when everyone was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” (Matthew 13.25)

We do have an Enemy, who has various aliases: the devil, Satan, (a Hebrew word meaning “accuser”); Lucifer, (a Latin name meaning “morning star,”) or a (“fallen angel”); Beelzebub, meaning “Lord of Flies/Dung”; “the Serpent,” referring to the temptation of Eve; the “Father of Lies,” describing his nature; and the Prince of Darkness, describing his rule over sin and hell.

The Enemy, like the Holy Spirit, produces “fruit,” but unlike that of the Holy Spirit, his fruit spoils and is rotten. For example:

·      Instead of love, there is hatred

·      Instead of joy, there is sadness and misery

·      Instead of peace, there is fighting

·      Instead of patience, there is agitation and frustration

·      Instead of kindness, there is cruelty and hostility

·      Instead of goodness, there is evil and depravity

·      Instead of faithfulness, there is treachery and infidelity

·      Instead of humility, there is pride

·      Instead of self-control, there is unrestraint and self-indulgence

God made all kinds of beautiful trees, and they produced good fruit (Genesis 2.9) which was available for our first descendants to eat, except for the fruit from one tree (Genesis 2.17). It was not because the fruit from that tree was spoiled, rather it was because eating it would spoil whoever ate it. However, the Enemy convinced them to eat fruit from the forbidden tree, and they became damaged and infected with sin.

That is what the Enemy provides: his fruit results in moldiness, rottenness and degradation, even as he advertises beauty, knowledge, and eternal life. The “angel of light” alslo becomes the “Prince of darkness.”

During the summer in many parts of the U.S., there are fruit stands along the highways. The fruits are desirable and delicious, so fruit and its nature make excellent examples and metaphors:

·      The righteousness are like trees that bear fruit at the right time and whose leaves do not dry up (Psalm 1.3)

·      The righteous bear fruit in old age and are always green and strong (Psalm 92.14)

·      The tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire (Matthew 3.10)

·      A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. (Matthew 7.17)

·      The worries about this life and the love for riches choke the message, and they don't bear fruit. (Matthew 13.22)

·      He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. (John 15.2)

·      My Father's glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. (John 15.8)

·      To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life that grows in the Garden of God. (Revelation 2.7)

There are some things we call a vegetable that are fruits, such as jalapeños, cucumbers, pumpkins, eggplant, and even bell peppers. 

There is a program on TV called “Rotten Tomatoes,” which my grandchildren tell me rates movies according to their value. I read that it is the home of the Tomatometer and is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV.  The tomato is a vegetable, but this site will tell us if the movie has worthy fruit or is rotten.

We read in the Bible how people were to bring offerings to the Lord from their first grain and fruit crops (e.g. Nehemiah 13.31). It was to show thanksgiving to the Lord for the produce. The term “first fruits” is also used metaphorically to show first in place, order and rank, and demonstrates that everything belongs, first of all, to God.

When Paul called Jesus the "first fruits" (1 Corinthians 15:20) he means that his resurrection is the first part of a future harvest when God raises believers from the dead. 

Our bodies will not rot like spoiled fruit but, like the thief on the cross, we will be resurrected to be with Jesus. Fresh fruit supplied by the living God, and all the rottenness will be gone!

Karl Franklin