Not the Tree of Life

Scripture: 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. ... 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. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” Mark 11:13-14,20-23

Observation: What happened here?? In just a plain reading of the text, there are several possible explanations about what Jesus did to this fig tree. Here are three:

a) By his authority, Jesus cursed the tree to die, and it did. This is the explanation that seems to be the most popular, but is confusing to those trying to understand the nature of Jesus.

b) By his faith, Jesus cursed the tree to never bear fruit again, and God responded by killing the tree. This is the explanation that best aligns to the text and is the easiest to understand.

c) By his knowledge, Jesus saw the tree had a root disease and took advantage of the situation to impress the disciples. This is the explanation non-believers would point to as the case for Jesus being a con artist.

Application: This is one of those situations in the Bible I love, because there is one very simple story, but with so many layers of truth beneath it. As I said above, there are several ways to interpret what Jesus did, however in applying the lessons of Jesus to my life I must first determine why he did this.

Jesus did NOT curse the tree because it didn't have fruit at a time when it shouldn't have had fruit!! Instead, I would say Jesus cursed the tree because ... it didn't obey his will. Jesus wanted a fig, and the tree did not yield one, so he cut it off. This is consistent with other lessons of Jesus (such as cutting off and burning vines that do not yield grapes).

When Jesus wants me to do something, the answer needs to be "yes". If I say "no" or "later", that results in disease entering my soul - my innermost core - which will kill me 'from the roots up' so to speak.

Prayer: Jesus, I hope I am not saying 'no' to you right now. I would love to answer 'yes' to your work and your will. I look for your call and your calling.