Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
In this saying Jesus reveals, with a clear and severe image, the responsibility of spiritual life, showing that outward belonging or confession has no value in itself if it does not produce real fruit. The “tree” symbolizes the person, and the “fruit” the deeds of his life and the results that are born from the condition of the heart. If life does not reflect repentance, faith, and righteousness, then it remains fruitless, and that fruitlessness in turn has consequences of judgment. “Being cut down and thrown into the fire” is a figurative expression of judgment, by which Christ warns that before God a person is not assessed by words or formal piety, but by the true fruits of his life.