Sunday 27th October 2013
Bible Reading: Mark 11:12-27
Jesus and the disciples
were on their way to Jerusalem from Bethany where they had spent the night.
Jesus was hungry. In the distance Jesus sees a fig tree in leaf but when he
reached it he found no figs on the tree but that was understandable because
Mark says it was not the season for them. This raises the question that if it
wasn’t the season for figs why Jesus cursed the tree and the next day it was
dead. Mark’s statement is puzzling until we understand the growth and
reproductive cycles of fig trees.
Fig trees are unusual in
that they can produce as many as three crops in a single year. The first crop
is produced on the old wood. Early in the year, green knobs or buds appear at
the end of the branches. They are called paggim and will appear before the
leaves. They do not taste very good, nor do people eat them. They do not ripen
until June. Jesus knows there will be no
edible fruit but it seems that this tree didn’t even have paggim, there was
nothing but leaves.
A fig tree in full leaf in
April should have been covered with early fruit. Since this tree had no early
fruit, it was a sign that there would be no sweet fruit when the time for
harvest arrived. This tree had nothing to offer and it was therefore useless!
This tree was fit for nothing but to be cut down and fed to the fire.
Jesus didn’t do things
without purpose. His action in cursing
the fig tree is prophetic. He used it to speak to his disciples and to make a
declaration to the people of God about what is expected and what is possible
with God. 1. God has reasonable expectations of us.
As Jesus expected that fig tree to produce early figs so he also expects his followers to produce something positive in their lives.
All of humanity has been given so much and it is reasonable that God should expect us to use well what he has given.
The fact that we so often waste what we have and fail to share those resources fairly is a terrible indictment on the h
It is also reasonable that
God should also expect our gratitude.
Yet so often we take much for granted and instead of gratitude we make
petulant demands for more.
It is reasonable that as
God is the author of creation that we should seek his wisdom and follow his
guidelines for living. It would be supposed that the creator who has given us
the ability to love and with a desire to be loved would receive some of that
love returned.
The opposite is true and
rather than do all those things mankind acts like he were god and rejects God’s
right to rule. The Bible calls such unreasonable attitudes and resulting
behaviour sin.
God didn’t give up on us
but gave men laws to live by, sent messengers to remind men of their very
reasonable obligation to God but they are forgotten or rejected. Then he sent
his only Son but he too does not receive the perfectly reasonable honour and
respect. Instead he was not even
recognised. He was despised, tortured and killed.
Yet though he was dead the
Son rose to new life and promises that if we trust in him we can start again. Today
many of us here are thankful not only for the creation around us but the work
of new creation that God worked in us.
What does God have a right
to expect now? What figs should he be seeing on our tree? Surely it is our gratitude, our love and our
obedience. As followers of Christ we
accept that God is within his rights to ask for fruit in season.
2 God has unreasonable Expectations?
Just as Jesus expected a
fig tree to produce edible figs when it wasn't the season to produce them he
expects us to produce fruit in our lives when humanly speaking it is
impossible.
A fig tree is expected to
produce fruit, in season and it will only do that when the conditions are
right. There is a season for figs and there are the right conditions for figs.
Israel is a good place to grow figs. Great Britain is not particularly.
But Jesus expected a fig
tree to produce edible figs even when it wasn't the season for figs.
Many people look at what
they see as the demands of Christian living and say they can’t become a
disciple of Jesus because they could never live up to its ideals. It is
“impossible and out of the question!” They say I am only human I cannot be
expected to produce the qualities of the Christian life. You might as well ask
a fig tree to produce fruit the main crop all year round as to except me to be
constantly producing Christ-like qualities in my life.
Humanly speaking it is
impossible for us to live the kind of life our Christianity demands. The standards are too high for us to achieve
When Peter observed that
the fig tree has died, in v 22 Jesus said, "Have faith in God I tell you
the truth if anyone says to this mountain "Go throw yourself into the sea
and does not doubt in heart but believes that what he says will happen it will
be done for him,"
Mountains in the Bible
often signify something strong and immovable, a problem that stands in the
way. Well, when it comes to living as we
ought to our human weakness stands in the way.
But Jesus says to Peter, if
you live in an attitude of dependence upon him, mountains can be
conquered.
Jesus had used this image
with Peter before. When the disciples had tried to drive out an evil spirit and
failed Jesus said that it was their lack of faith that had been the
problem. “Truly I tell you, if you have
faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here
to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’
By faith in God the
impossible becomes possible. It is not natural for a mountain to throw itself
into the sea. For it to do so would be supernatural. For a person to live the
kind of life Jesus commands as often as a fig tree produces fruit is not
natural for us it is supernatural.
We are not all that
comfortable with a supernatural God. We would prefer him to be much more in our
control.
By faith in a supernatural
God means the impossible becomes possible. It is not natural for a fig tree to
produce edible figs all year round. For it to do so would be supernatural. It
is not natural for a mountain to throw itself into the sea. For it to do so
would be supernatural. For a person to live the kind of life Jesus commands and
Paul describes in his letters all year round regardless of circumstances and
environment is not natural it’s supernatural.
3 Raising our Expectation to God's
Sandwiched between the
first visit to the fig tree and passing it again the next day is the story of
Jesus turning over the money changers tables in the Temple.
Mark means us to make a
connection between Jesus’ actions with the fig tree and his actions in
confronting the practices in the Temple.
Just as the fig tree looked like it was healthy in reality it was
barren.
The Temple was a busy
place full of religion and activity. It looked healthy but the reality was that
it was corrupt and it was not producing a people who walked in fellowship with
him or who live in obedience to him.
There was no faith and there was no true prayer. It was like a tree that was all leaves and no
fruit. Yet they were proud of their
achievements and were outraged when Jesus failed to be impressed and challenged
their lack of fruit.
The fig tree produced no
fruit but it did produce leaves. Even if it produced no fruit the fig tree might have been of use for shade. What is the use providing cover and
respectability for spiritually hungry people if we do not save them from
starvation?
Many Christians get to a
place where they are frustrated with the lack of fruit in their lives. They go
through patches of enthusiasm but mostly they have lowered their expectation.
They resort to justifying the fact that they produce leaves not fruit. We can be in danger of adjusting our purpose
to our condition rather than change our condition to meet our purpose.
It
is by faith that we are fruitful. If we
forget that, the Christian life becomes a feverish burdensome thing, which
makes us feel guilty. We take on board the responsibility for fruit production
but we cannot do it and we become angry and resentful. We carry on trying but
secretly we think that God expects too much and is thoroughly unreasonable.
But God never meant us to do
it through natural means.
Jesus said, “No branch can
bear fruit but itself it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
unless you remain in me. "If a man remains in me and I in him he will bear
much fruit apart from me you can do nothing
The promise of Jesus that
fruitfulness is possible by grace through faith for all of us and for this
Corps.
God bless
Carol
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