Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2.pdf

<strong>Commentary</strong> on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 2
bringeth forth what is evil. 36. But I say to you, That men will give account, at the day of judgment,
for every idle word which they shall have spoken. 37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
33. Either make the tree good It might look like absurdity, that men should be allowed a choice
of being either good or bad; but if we consider what sort of persons Christ is addressing, the
difficulty will be speedily resolved. We know what opinion was generally entertained about the
Pharisees; for their pretended sanctity had so blinded the minds of the common people, that no one
ventured to pass sentence on their vices. 134 Wishing to remove this mask, Christ desires them to
be either good or bad; or, in other words, declares that nothing is more inconsistent with honesty
than hypocrisy, and that it is in vain for men to boast of pretensions to righteousness who are not
sincere and upright. 135 So then he puts nothing at their disposal, and withdraws no restraint from
them, but only reminds them that their empty professions will avail them nothing so long as they
are double, because they must be either good or bad
From the expression, make the tree, some foolishly infer, that it is in every man’s power to
regulate his own life and conduct. It is a rhetorical mode of speaking, by which Christ points out
the scribes, dispels—so to speak—the smoke of their hypocrisy, and recalls them to pure and
genuine uprightness. He afterwards explains the way and manner in which they may show that they
are good or bad trees; which is by yielding good or bad fruit: so that there is no ambiguity in the
meaning. The life of the scribes was not rendered infamous among men by gross vices. Pride,
ambition, and envy, displayed their venom in the slanders which they uttered; but as that venom
was not perceived by ignorant people, Christ brings the concealed evil from its lurking-place, and
drags it forth to light.
But perhaps it will be objected that, in consequence of the corruption of our nature, it is
impossible to find any man who is altogether upright, and free from every vice. The answer is
ready. Christ does not demand absolute and entire perfection, but only a sincere and unfeigned
disposition, which the Pharisees whom he addresses were far from possessing. As Scripture applies
the terms, bad and wicked, to those who are completely given up to Satan, so the sincere worshippers
of God, though they are encompassed by the infirmity of their flesh and by many sins, and groan
under the burden, are called good. This arises from the undeserved kindness of God, who bestows
so honorable a designation on those who aim at goodness.
34. Offspring of vipers. The similarity between the tree and the fruit is here applied by Christ
to nothing more than speech, because this afforded an opportunity of detecting the inward and
concealed malice of the scribes; and that is the reason why he dwells so much on this one kind of
134 “Que nul n’osoit parler de leurs vices, et les condamner;” — “that none dared to speak of their vices, or to condemn them.”
135 “Lesquels ne vont point rondement, et n’ont une affection droite;” — “who do not go straight forward, and have not an
upright disposition.”
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John Calvin