I'm not great at distinguishing trees from one another. They all look pretty similar to me, but if a tree is laden with oranges, I can usually figure out that it's an orange tree. I don't need to taste an apple from the tree to know that a tree filled with apples is an apple tree. It's evident.
When I hear Jesus talking about a tree being known by its fruit, I can't help but think of the most significant tree in the Bible, the one upon which Jesus was crucified. The cross is meant to be a symbol of death. It's the ultimate irony that God has taken a symbol of cruelty and turned it into a place where we find hope and gratitude, because that tree is known for the life that it has created for you and I. That tree is a place of life, despite being known for death.
It's the greatest of many reversals we find in Scripture. We who are hopeless due to sin find hope in Christ. We who commit acts of evil deserve condemnation, and yet because of the fruit of the tree of the cross, we receive life instead.
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