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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