In yesterday’s reading, Jesus was warmly welcomed into Jerusalem with people pulling palm branches off trees and shouting “Hosanna.” It was late in the day so Jesus returned to Bethany for the evening and the next morning as he and crew head back to Jerusalem, he is hungry and sees a fig tree with leaves but without fruit because it is not fruit season. Jesus curses the tree to never bare fruit. Mark reports that the followers saw this whole scene. At the end of the day the group leaves for the night and on returning the next morning see that the fig tree has withered. This certainly is a counter intuitive teaching moment as Jesus shares with the followers. What’s going on?
The prophets in the Old Testament often compare the fig tree to Israel as does Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus even tells a parable about the fig tree that does not bear fruit and the gardener asks for another years to work with it, fertilize and prune it. That tree was given more time but the one today was not. It does not make sense that Jesus is cursing Israel, his own people. Perhaps Jesus saw leaves and no buds meaning the tree was deeply diseased and not healthy for people to eat. The text does not indicate disease but we do believe that Jesus could see beyond the obvious.
Jesus uses this tree, though, to point to the power of prayer as he challenges the followers when he is questioned:
‘Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:22-24
Faith looks at seemingly impossible scenarios that appear beyond help and continues to pray and intercede for God’s help. I think of wayward children that parents plead for. I think of impossible financial challenges and then a check suddenly appears in the mail. I once promised to go to a conference with the committee promising to pay half if I would find the other half of the cost. I walked from the phone to the mail box and found a check for the exact amount from an anonymous source given for me to the church. The check arrived right at that moment. Not all our wants and needs are answered like that. It is easy to think God is playing favorites or not listening. On the surface this text seems to promise anything we want but I suspect there is a time clause and a need to recognize our wants are not always the best. It is a challenging passage. We are free to ask and approach the God of the universe and we must trust that he will work it out in the proper time.
Let’s pray for one of those situations that seems impossible in our lives. Wars, famine, human trafficking, elections, refugees are all in need of more than one prayer. Blessings.
On the Way to Wonder 