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Writer's pictureJosh Reber

No Mere Illustrations

Thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount.


“Or which one of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matt 7:9). 


The devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread (Matt 4:3). Jesus instructed us to pray for bread (Matt 6:11). John the Baptist said that God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones (Matt 3:9), and it’s generally agreed upon that stones means unbelieving Gentiles. So could bread represent life-giving Jews? I think so. Read John 6. Ultimately it’s not about ethnicity; it’s about faith in Christ, a Jew that gave up His flesh as bread for the life of the world, that makes a true child of Abraham. Bread, ever since Genesis 3, has been hard work to make (by the sweat of your brow). By the bloody sweat of Jesus’ brow, He gives us bread. 


“Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?” (Matt 7:10). 


In verse 9, the son asks for bread, and now he asks for fish. Hello, feeding of the 5000? I’ve been trying to convince everyone and their mother that the fish is representative of the resurrection. Jesus tells us about Jonah in the belly of a fish (this is where correcting your whale error is actually important) to tell us about the sign of the resurrection (Matt 12). In Luke 24 after the resurrection, Jesus eats broiled fish. In John 21 after the resurrection, Jesus has fish (and bread) waiting for the disciples on the beach. 


If we understand the fish to be the resurrection, Matt 7:10 is fairly straightforward. “If he asks for the resurrection (fish), is the Father going to give him the devil, who brought death into the world (the serpent)?” 


For the record, being as wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt 10:16) means to be as wise as the devil and yet as innocent as the Holy Spirit. 


“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matt 7:16). 


Grapes go back to Pharaoh’s cupbearer’s dream (Gen 40), but Judah’s blessing from Israel is the most helpful. he has washed his garments in win and his vesture in the blood of grapes” (Gen 49:11b). Israel is described as a vine throughout the Old Testament, and God wants to drink wine (Isa 5). The problem is that He plants a vineyard, and gets sour grapes (thorns). Thorns and thistles are a result of the curse (Gen 3). Fig trees are always popping up in the vineyard, but the fig has an older reference - Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves. After His triumphant entry, Jesus curses a fig tree. Why? Because it had no fruit. All He found was thistles. Many have taken this to be a judgment on Israel for not producing fruit, which it very well might be. But I think the fig tree is bigger than that - it’s representative of our fall since Adam and Eve used its leaves (and not its fruit) to cover their sin. So Jesus is cursing sin. He’s cursing one unfruitful tree so that He could go produce the blood of grapes on a fruitful tree, the cross. 

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