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Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Victory over death part 4


April 7, 2020

This is Tuesday on our trip through the Holy Week. What I want to cover is a follow up on what happened on Monday.

Mark 11:12 – 14 records this happening on Monday. “The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn’t the season for figs. So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” His disciples heard this.” [CEB]

On Tuesday, this is noted, “Early in the morning, as Jesus and his disciples were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered from the root up. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look how the fig tree you cursed has dried up.”” [Mark 11:20 – 21 CEB]

Jesus cursing (pronouncement of judgement) the fig tree does not seem “fair.” Mark 11:13 clearly states it was not the season for figs. It seems unreasonable to expect figs out of season. What Jesus was looking for is called a “breba.” This is fruit that grows early (out of season) off the previous year’s shoot growth. In essence this is a bonus crop and is not unusual. Considering the tree had leaves, it was reasonable to expect it to have fruit.

But why would Jesus pronounce judgement on the fig tree? I’m glad you asked!!!

Let me hit the delete button on one poisons idea that is commonly circulated.  Some think the fig tree represents Israel. There is no possible explanation for this idea other than unholy imagination. On top of that it is bad “hermeneutics” (the science of interpretation). The idea that one thing represents another, unrelated and not in the context, should be discarded, dismissed, and dissed.

In Mark, Jesus explains to Peter the interaction between faith and prayer. On faith, “Jesus responded to them, “Have faith in God! I assure you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea’—and doesn’t waver but believes that what is said will really happen—it will happen.” [Mark 11:22 – 23 CEB] Wow, I have yet to see a mountain be thrown into the sea. But I think Jesus teaches us, this is the power of faith.

On prayer Jesus continues to teach us, “Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. And whenever you stand up to pray, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings.” [Mark 11:24 – 25 CEB]  Wait, how did we go from a cursed tree, to faith, to prayer, to forgiving someone else?

Jesus' typical story telling method was to use an attention getting device, teach on it, then in a surprising twist give a “moral of the story.” In this case Jesus does something seemingly out of character to get the disciple’s attention. It’s about faith, faith is activated and realized in prayer. Yet there is a deep problem Jesus addresses. It is literally a “got ya” moment. It’s a sudden twist that seems to be unconnected.

What is about to happen on Friday, might plant a very deep seed of unforgiveness into the souls of the followers of Jesus. The unwillingness to forgive is at the core of bitterness. Bitterness kills relationships. Bitterness robs us of peace. Bitterness destroys joy. We become unfruitful and die from the roots, like the fig tree, because we disconnect from the love of God. Just as prayer is the conduit for faith to work; forgiveness is the road to being forgiven, to being free, to faithfully walking with God.

Forgiving others is necessary to be forgiven by God. People who have been forgiven by God will forgive others.

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