This was the story in today's vacation Bible School at WECC and it is my least favorite story in the New Testament:
From The Gospel of Mark:
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there… When evening came, they went out of the city.
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"
"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
*****
Okay, I love the message about the mountain throwing itself into the sea, but I have always been VERY CONCERNED for the poor fig tree. Even Mark says it wasn't the season for figs! Okay, okay I get it. It is always the season of God anything can happen with faith. I get it. But again, I feel for the fig tree. Clearly Jesus was worked up this day (which climaxed with the trashing of the temple).
My biggest personal problem with figs? They occasionally masquerade in cookies as chocolate chips. But that's just a Tim issue and I'm certainly not going to curse a tree over a disappointing cookie.
It's just a strange story that reminds me that Jesus was, among the divine things, oh so human.
My biggest personal problem with figs? They occasionally masquerade in cookies as chocolate chips. But that's just a Tim issue and I'm certainly not going to curse a tree over a disappointing cookie.
It's just a strange story that reminds me that Jesus was, among the divine things, oh so human.
1 comment:
hey man, i had a lot of trouble with this story too, and now it is my favorite. What would help is if you refer to Luke 13:6-9 when Jesus tells the parable of the barren fig tree. A farmer has a fig tree that does not produce figs, so he decides to chop it down. The gardener begs the farmer to give the tree one more year, saying he will fertilize it and nurture it in hopes of fruit. God is the farmer, Jesus is the gardener, and we are the tree. Our purpose is to live for God. If we (as individuals or a body of Christ) live for ourselves instead of God then we have no purpose. Jesus came to give us another chance before God's judgment. This is such an important point to teach that Jesus not only told the parable, but cursed the fig tree so that the twelve could fully understand.
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