ROOTED - Saturday, June 6, 2026

Matthew 12:33-35

 33   “Either make
the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit
bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You
brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The
good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out
of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

Reflection: Jesus Calls Out the Evil Pharisees

Written By:
Pastor Jesse Caro

“You brood of Vipers!” What a stinging rebuke to the cold
Pharisees! Jesus begins to hold back very few punches as he has “had it up to
here” with the Pharisees’ shenanigans. As I read through the Gospels over the
next few days, I think I will confirm what I think: The book of Matthew is the
book Jesus is most confrontational to the religious class… the scribes and
pharisees. They are constantly trying to catch Jesus up… and Jesus is
constantly calling them out. “How can you speak good when you are evil?” That
is… “you are evil, and out of you comes forth evil!” Notice the last few words,
in case you missed the point: “the evil person out of his evil treasure
brings forth evil” (“evil” repeated three times for emphasis).

As Jesus continue to discuss the internal reality transforming
into external actions, Jesus minces no words in his assessment: the
pharisees are evil. “You are evil!” I have heard hundreds… maybe thousands…
of sermons in my lifetime, and I have never heard a pastor so blatantly call
out people. The pharisees, of course, did not change. They continued to be
obstinate toward Jesus… showing us (the reader) what “evil” looks like. It is
not a red man with a pitchfork. Evil looks more like religious people who care
more about religion than a relationship with God. Yikes! For me, this is a
warning against painting a mental picture of evil as the leaders of the regimes
in the faraway places around the world. Ummm… that is not the image Jesus has
in mind. “Evil” can look suspiciously like the church crowd, Bible opened, and “trying”
to do good… but with no love for God or neighbor.

Prayer

Lord, may we not be like the pharisees, caring more about
“religious correctness” than a relationship with you.