Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 12:33-35

"Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." — Matthew 12:33-35 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After His former answers, He again refutes them here in another way. He does this not to do away with the charges against Himself, but out of a desire to correct them, saying, Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt.¹

In other words, none of you has said that it is an evil thing for a person to be delivered from demons. But because they did not speak evil of the works, but said that it was the Devil who performed them, He shows that this charge is contrary to common sense and reason. To invent such charges can only proceed from limitless shamelessness.

St. Jerome: In this way, He traps them in a syllogism that the Greeks call Aphycton, the unavoidable, which corners the person questioned and presses him with both horns of a dilemma. If, He says, the Devil is evil, he cannot do good works. Therefore, if the works you see are good, it follows that the Devil was not their agent. For it cannot be that good should come from evil, or evil from good.

St. John Chrysostom: For a tree is discerned by its fruit, not the fruit by the tree. A tree is known by its fruits. For though the tree is the cause of the fruit, the fruit is the evidence of the tree. But you do the very opposite: having no fault to find with the works, you pronounce an evil sentence against the tree, saying that I have a demon.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: In this way, He refuted the Jews at that time, who, seeing that Christ's works had more than human power, would nevertheless not acknowledge the hand of God. At the same time, He convicts all future errors of the faith, such as those of people who, by stripping the Lord of His divinity and His communion in the Father's substance, have fallen into various heresies.

These people can neither take cover under the plea of ignorance, as the Gentiles do, nor do they stand within the knowledge of the truth. He presents Himself as a tree planted in the body, since through the inner fruitfulness of His power, an abundant richness of fruit sprang forth.

Therefore, one must either be a good tree with good fruit or a corrupt tree with corrupt fruit. This does not mean a good tree is to be made a bad one, or vice versa. Rather, we should understand from this metaphor that one must either abandon Christ to fruitlessness or hold fast to Him in the fruitfulness of His good works.

But to remain neutral—to attribute some things to Christ but deny Him His highest attributes, to worship Him as God and yet deny Him a common substance with the Father—is blasphemy against the Spirit.

In your admiration for His great works, you do not dare to take away the name of God, yet through the malice in your soul, you debase His exalted nature by denying His participation in the Father's substance.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Alternatively, this is an admonition for us to be good trees so that we may be able to produce good fruit. Make the tree good, and its fruit good is a precept for spiritual health to which obedience is necessary. But what He says, Make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt, is not a command to act but a warning to be heeded. It was spoken against those who, being evil, thought they could speak good things or have good works; the Lord declares this is impossible.

The person must be changed first, so that his works may be changed. For if a person remains in his evil state, he cannot have good works; if he remains in his good state, he cannot have evil works. Christ found us all to be corrupt trees, but He gave power to become sons of God to those who believe in His name.²

St. John Chrysostom: But since He was speaking not for Himself but for the Holy Spirit, He rebukes them accordingly, saying, Generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? This is both a rebuke and a proof, from their own character, of what He had said. It is as if He had said, “So you, being corrupt trees, cannot produce good fruit.” I do not wonder, then, that you speak this way, for you are poorly raised from a wicked heritage and have an evil mind.

And notice that He did not say, “How can you speak good things, seeing that you are a generation of vipers?” for these two things are not necessarily connected. Instead, He said, How can you, being evil, speak good things? He calls them a generation of vipers because they boasted of their forefathers; therefore, to cut off their pride, He excludes them from the lineage of Abraham, assigning them a parentage that corresponds to their character.

Rabanus Maurus: Alternatively, the words Generation of vipers can be understood to mean children or imitators of the Devil, because they had willfully spoken against good works, which is characteristic of the Devil. From this follows the saying, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

A person who is not ignorant of the intention behind his words is one who speaks from the abundance of the heart. To declare His meaning more openly, He adds, A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good things.

The treasure of the heart is the intention of one's thoughts, by which the Judge evaluates the resulting work. Thus, sometimes, even though the outward work that is shown may seem great, the person receives only a small reward from the Lord because of the carelessness of a cold heart.

St. John Chrysostom: In this, He also shows His divinity by knowing the hidden things of the heart, for people will receive punishment not only for their words but for their evil thoughts as well. It is the natural order of things that the store of wickedness that abounds within is poured out in words through the mouth. Thus, when you hear someone speaking evil, you must infer that their wickedness is greater than what their words express, for what is uttered outwardly is merely the overflow of what is within. This was a sharp rebuke to them.

For if what they spoke was so evil, consider how evil the root from which it sprang must be. This happens naturally, for often the hesitant tongue does not suddenly pour out all its evil, while the heart, of which no one else is aware, begets whatever evil it wishes, without fear, for it has little fear of God.

But when the multitude of evils within increases, the hidden things then burst forth through the mouth. This is what He means when He says, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

St. Jerome: What He says, The good man out of the good treasure of his heart..., is either directed against the Jews—for since they blasphemed God, what kind of treasure must be in their hearts for such blasphemy to proceed from it? Or, it is connected to what came before: that just as a good man cannot produce evil things, nor an evil man good things, so Christ cannot do evil works, nor can the Devil do good works.

1. Hom. xlii
2. Serm., 72, 1