Mark 11:12-25

You can read Mark 11:12-25 for yourself, but here is the gist of the passage. On the day after his triumphal entry, Jesus returns to Jerusalem from Bethany. He sees a fig tree that is full of leaves, but upon closer inspection it is found to be completely devoid of fruit. Christ curses the tree, that it would never bear fruit again. Once he reaches Jerusalem, he enters the temple and sets himself to the task of clearing out the money changers and those who were selling doves. He and his disciples again spent the night in Bethany. The following morning, as they were making their way back to Jerusalem, Peter notices that the tree Jesus had cursed had withered away, to its very roots. In a rather cryptic explanation, Jesus explains that a man who has faith can tell "this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea.'" If the man does not doubt, this will be done for him. However, he cautions that when they pray they must forgive anyone that they are holding anything against, "so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

That's the summary, but you would do well to read it for yourself before you go any further here. Having said that, if you're anything like me, you will be thoroughly confused about what fig trees, overturned tables, and flying mountains have to do with each other. We studied this passage for our Sunday night Bible study this week, and I was amazed to find, upon further investigation, what I believe God is saying through his Word here. The following is my understanding of this passage, and you are more than welcome to comment if you disagree, especially if you think I'm missing the point here.

At any rate, off we go…

One of the literary devices Mark uses frequently in his Gospel is sequencing or sandwiching the telling of certain events together to make a larger point. In this case, we see that the order is as follows.

1. Leafy fig tree, though devoid of fruit. Jesus passes judgment on it.
2. Jesus enters the temple and passes judgment on it.
3. Withered fig tree, having suffered the curse of Christ's judgment of it.
4. Christ's explanation (sort of!) of what this all means.

From this structure, we see that the judgment of the fig tree is about much, much more than just a tree that refused to produce figs. We can also see that Jesus' teachings on prayer are about much, much more than just giving us a name-it-and-claim-it blank check, as long as we believe really, really, super hard that Jesus will give us a new Mercedes Benz. Continue reading this post »