Love Revealed By Jesus Christ | Christian Art | Christian Treasure Of Our Hearts
Luke 6: 43-49 – Week 23 Ordinary Time, Saturday (King James Audio Bible KJV, Spoken Word)
Overlapping with Sunday Week 8 Ordinary Time, Year C
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
46 ¶ And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
It is as if to say: nothing that we hold in our heart of hearts is secret; nothing that we think is invisible; all that we are exists and is active in our relationships with others. Just as God sees through to the core of our being, so we inevitably share all we are with all other people in our lives, influencing their lives because they are in communion with us.
This is not something to frighten ourselves with. It is not a cause for fear that God knows every bit of us. Rather, it is a cause for rejoicing. We know that we are exposed utterly to God, and that there is no need for evil. God loves us for who we are. God loves us for who He created us to be.
Of course, this does not mean we are permitted to sin. Far from it. What it means is that we do not need to feel a compulsion to sin, because God loves us just exactly as we are. We can take all our human weaknesses to God and ask for healing and forgiveness, rather that try to hide ourselves from God, as Adam did after the Fall, and so descend into a life of sin upon sin. There is no need further to sin – to hide from God. God loves us just the way we are.
These are our true foundations, and this is truly to discover ourselves in relationship with God. This is digging deep. Insofar as our roots lie in our true knowledge of God, our relationship with God, our absolute honesty with God, then we will be bringing forth good fruit and we live on solid ground.
There is no faking this. It is not about putting on an empty show. This is about prayer in secret, in our heart of hearts, as we orient ourselves to God. This free, honest and prayerful response to God is a treasure bequeathed to us. It is from this treasure that our actions, our Christian lives, flow. From our conversion, our surrender of our lives to Jesus, all the good in our lives proceeds. We may then hope to be shining examples, calling others to God’s Word.
Concluding Prayer | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
Lord God,
source and origin of our salvation,
make our lives here on earth so proclaim your glory,
that we may praise you without ceasing in heaven.
We make our prayer through our Lord.
King James Audio Bible | Endnotes
Treasure Of Our Hearts
Luke 6:43-49 contains a powerful message about the importance of what we treasure in our hearts. Jesus explains that just as a tree is known by its fruit, a person is known by the treasures they hold in their heart. This passage also emphasizes the need to build our lives on a solid foundation, and not just on the shifting sands of temporal desires.
In verse 45, Jesus says: ‘A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.’ This verse reminds us that what we hold in our hearts will eventually come out in our words and actions. If we have good treasures in our heart, such as love, kindness, and faith, then we will naturally bring forth good things. Conversely, if our hearts are filled with evil treasures, such as envy, greed, and hate, then we will bring forth evil.
The importance of what we treasure in our hearts is also emphasized in Proverbs 4:23, which says: ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’ This verse reminds us that our heart is the wellspring of our life, and what we hold in it will ultimately shape our thoughts, words, and actions.
Throughout the Bible, we see examples of people who had good treasures in their hearts, such as King David, who was known as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). David’s heart was filled with a love for God, and this love overflowed into his life and actions. Conversely, we see examples of people who had evil treasures in their hearts, such as King Saul, who was filled with jealousy and hatred towards David (1 Samuel 18:8-9).
In the New Testament, we see how the treasures of the heart are connected to salvation. In Romans 10:9-10, Saint Paul teaches: ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ This passage reminds us that true belief in Jesus must come from the heart, and that confession of faith is a natural outpouring of what we hold in our hearts.
The importance of building our lives on a solid foundation is also emphasized in Luke 6:47-49, where Jesus tells the parable of the wise and foolish builders. The wise builder builds his house on a rock, while the foolish builder builds his house on sand. When the storms come, the wise builder’s house stands firm, while the foolish builder’s house falls apart. This parable reminds us that we need to build our lives on a foundation that is strong and solid, which is the truth of God’s word.
Christians through the ages have emphasized the importance of the treasures of the heart. Saint Augustine wrote: ‘For it is not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.’
John Calvin, a Protestant theologian and reformer, wrote: ‘The human heart is a factory of idols, and every man is, from his mother’s womb, an expert in inventing them.’
Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer, wrote: ‘Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.’
The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 11 | Jesus Wept | Death And Resurrection Of Lazarus | KJV The account of Lazarus’s death and resurrection in John 11:1-45 is profound and moving. Central to the story is the shortest verse in the Bible: ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35). At first glance, ‘Jesus wept’ appears to be a simple statement of human emotion. It shows Jesus expressing sorrow and empathy, sharing in the grief of Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, and the mourning community. The moment reveals profound humanity of Jesus. Despite Jesus’ divine knowledge that he would raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus yet experiences fully human emotions. Jesus is not distant or detached but is intimately connected with the suffering of those he loves. The verse also underscores the reality of death’s impact, even for the Son of God. Although Jesus knows that death is not the final word and that he has power over it, Jesus still mourns. This weeping is not only for Lazarus but for the brokenness of the world that death represents. It reflects sorrow that God feels over the pain and suffering that humanity endures as a result of sin and death. The verse ‘Jesus wept’ highlights compassion of Jesus. Jesus’ tears are an expression of his deep love for Lazarus and Lazarus’ family. In the act of weeping, Jesus demonstrates that God’s response to human suffering is not indifference or cold logic, but rather profound empathy and compassion. The God of the universe is not immune to our pain but enters into it with us. Theologically, this moment is also significant because it foreshadows the passion of Christ. Just as Jesus wept over Lazarus, Jesus would later weep in Gethsemane over the soon-to-be agony of the Cross. Jesus’ tears in John 11 anticipate the suffering he will endure to conquer death once and for all. In weeping for Lazarus, Jesus reveals such depth of his commitment to overcome death and bring life. See also: Daily Bible Verses | Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem | That Jesus Wept Means He Prayed For The Loss And The Futility | King James Audio Bible KJV
‘Death,’ says His Grace, ‘throws it all apart. For we are not as we should be. Faith requires our adjustment to God’s truth. God’s triumph in a very real sense requires in us the loss of our everything. Which, as with Mary at the other end of Jesus’s life, is God’s truth.’ The Gospel reading is of John 11: 1-45, which is a long passage, and His Grace’s homiletic theme commences in textual wilderness. Our brokenness – in this place – a family home. Our faith, our doubt, our death… The irruption – death, doubt, fear – within our precious scenes and our most intimate places. Our domesticity. His Grace speaks from the chair, as is a bishop’s prerogative, and says: ‘So much is obscure in the Gospels. We’re always reaching through them. We’re never there. Really, we never are. Our knowledge, our understanding, of the Gospels is never complete, and with each reading comes a new revelation. There are always new riches there. Just as there are between all of us, between myself and you. The Gospels are living texts. This is a part of the conversation we have with our own Christianity. It is a part of who we are in our relationship with Jesus. We are in this sense always on the brink. ‘So yes, there is plenty that doesn’t seem to make sense. As one of the order of bishops, we would be lying if we said that weren’t the case. They are not easy texts to encounter, if by that word we may signify something more than a superficial glancing off against, but rather a profound search for the word of God. The Gospels are written by people who had their own ideas, and often didn’t know what had really happened. Luke is quite explicit on this point. His is an investigation, from the explicitly claimed point of view of an historian, rather than that of a first-hand witness, who attempts, so he says, to set out an orderly account, out of the chaos, the sheer muddle, that has been handed down to him. It is possible to imagine Luke researching and composing his account after many years, when there has arisen a desire to know what exactly happened, and this implies a certain call to faith and certain demands of historicity, to historical exactitude. So in these different ways, the people of the first years of Christian faith are in the dark. There is also a decisive need to define the life of Jesus. And people didn’t get Jesus. The whole meaning of Christianity is only now beginning to take root throughout the composition. So much needs to be evangelized. The light shines almost in tentative fashion like that first star, which drew the wise men from the east to our Lord’s cradle. ‘John’s is widely held to be a very late Gospel. There are others who say that John’s Gospel might have been the first to acquire its true shape, because it most fully expresses Jesus, as we know him to be, as members of the Catholic Church. We don’t really know when any of this is being written, but we get a feel in John of a Gospel refined over many years, through a community. So there’s a lot going on there that I’d like you to think about. ‘What I would like to suggest to you is that, while within the Gospels we are often confronted with clues, guesswork, stories that have been handed down through so many people, and so in this sense we might find ourselves to be in the wilderness, this is the very desolate space itself to which we must give ourselves in order to experience Christ’s full redemption in our lives. I suggest it is for God’s glory that we do so. ‘As we become aware of ourselves, in this seminary, we find ourselves in a very secure, comfortable setting, and there are signs of Easter everywhere. Within the very fabric of these buildings, our Lord is risen; our Lord lives. But now this is our Lenten journey, where death enters, where death breaks us. We are to ride into Jerusalem in triumph, and then we are to be utterly broken, all hope gone, our hope extinguished. And really, I suggest to you, it is only by inhabiting this thought, as if we don’t know Easter is there, that our new life can follow, just when we have given up all hope, when every promise that Jesus made to us seems to have been cancelled. ‘And here now we have the story of Lazarus. I should like to suggest to you that we have a very powerful call now. In our very comfortable space, our domesticity, with all this comfort, where so very little might seem to happen each day, so it might seem to you, there is a disturbance within all of this comfort, and that is a disturbance within ourselves, and that is our call to Jesus. I think it is correct to say that our most comfortable places break in the light of Jesus from the inside, in order that we may take the necessary steps to be with Jesus. ‘Faith is not comfortable. I think that we can all receive the message of the rolling away of the rock from the tomb of Lazarus to say something of vital importance to ourselves concerning our openness to God’s love. The rock we roll away can come in all sorts of guises, but we know when we are blocked, and I firmly believe if we are truthful then we know where those blocks might be. ‘Next Sunday, which will be Palm Sunday, we process as it were to Jerusalem, to begin our Holy Week. Now as I speak to you we are on the brink. Even now, I suggest it might be very good for all of us to lay aside what we think we know, to fall apart a little, and so […]
The message of this Sunday’s Gospel is so clear and so perfect. John has come to prepare the way of the Lord. He is not the Lord; he is come to prepare his way, the way of Christ. The opening of John’s Gospel may be heard this week as a beautiful restatement from a new point of view of the message of the coming of the Lord and the beginning of Christ’s ministry [ … ]
