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15 Beware false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are ravenous wolves. 16 By their fruit you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thornbushes, or figs from briars? 17 Every good tree produces good fruit, and every bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down thrown into the fire. 20 By their fruit you will know them. 21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in Heaven. 22. Many will come to me on that day saying, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 And then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you evildoers.’

24 For whoever hears my words and does them can be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell and the floods came and the wind blew and buffeted that house, but it did not fall, for it had been established on rock. 26 Whoever hears my words but does not do them can be likened to a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell and the floods came and the wind blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was its ruin.”

28 Then Jesus finished speaking, and the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them on his own authority, and not like the Scribes.

Comments

In 7.1-2, Jesus forbids judging others, in the sense of smugly and self-righteously condemning others for their failures. However, this is not the same thing as assessing others, which will always be necessary in a fallen world full of bad actors who would take advantage of people, often using religion as a cover (“false prophets”). Jesus warns his disciples to observe their “fruit” - that is, to ignore their words and how they present themselves, and to focus on their actions. This is the most reliable way to know whether a person is trustworthy. Jesus also warns his disciples that there will be many who claim to act in his name, but really have nothing to do with him. In the end, what matters is not whether we talk about Jesus, or study Jesus, but that we act like Jesus. Mt ends the Sermon on the Mount by observing that the people were amazed that Jesus taught on his own authority, unlike the Scribes, who would only teach in reference to the Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish tradition.