“The need of fruitfulness”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Mark 11:12-26 (Forward, p. 16) CEV p. 1042
Certain Bible teachers and scholars have had grave difficulties with today’s passage. Firstly, they have issues with its seemingly disjointed and unrelated pieces, the cursing of the fig tree, the so-called ‘cleansing’ of the Temple, and the efficiency or power of prayer and faith and their supposed relationship with forgiveness. But perhaps what raises their ire even more is Jesus’ apparent pettiness and petulance. The account clearly tells us that it was not yet the season for figs, and yet Jesus is most definitely disappointed in not finding any, and so curses the tree. That action most definitely sounds quite childish and unreasonable. So, what are we to make of this?
Something that I did not know—which I had not seen in any commentaries—was that fig trees develop two kinds of fruit each year. There is the full, mature fruit that comes along later on, but then a kind of anticipatory fruit that develops earlier in the season. And so, while this later fruit could not have been expected yet, for it was not yet its season, the earlier fruit should have been. In a sense, it was an indication, a measure, of the tree’s eventual harvest. And so, Jesus had good reason to be disappointed in its absence.
And, in a sense, this connects up with Jesus’ disappointment upon entering the Temple Mount. The Temple, especially the Court of the Gentiles, was meant, as Jesus put it, as ‘a place of worship for all nations’, but on account of the marketplace being allowed to usurp its place, they had been displaced. So, not only was it ‘ripping off’ pilgrims with their inflated prices and discriminatory business prices, it also depriving needful people of their legitimate and rightful place of prayer. In a sense then, it had become ‘like’ an unfruitful fig tree. However, there is one more piece to this puzzle: the fig tree had long been a symbol for the nation of Israel, so in a way Jesus was suggesting that the whole country, and not just its hierarchy—those that controlled the Temple and its operations—were like the unfruitful fig tree that Jesus cursed. That does not sound very pleasant at all!
However, there is one thing more. Peter, and presumably the others as well, were astounded in discovering, just one day later, that the fig tree had suddenly died. For a tree that might well be expected to live for 30-50 years this was quite unexpected. Jesus then picks up on this surprising turn of affairs to segue into a bit of exposition into the power of prayer. Prayer will indeed be answered, even as this one was, but needs to be accompanied by two things, faith and forgiveness.
So, for me, that begs two questions. Firstly, could that fruitlessness be turned around if only those who noticed it had faith? (I ask this particularly in terms of today’s church which often seems to be quite fruitless). And then, secondly, can this fruitless be forgiven, and indeed, is forgiveness necessary if a prayer for change is uttered? To me, all of this is quite important, and pertinent, as I do not feel that the church of today is quite measuring up to the fruitfulness that God expects of it. Amen.
Forward notes: “He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it” (verse 14).
“My favourite Bible stories are when we see the people doing normal human things. I like when they lose their tempers. I love when they show their imperfect sides. Jesus was the son of God, and he died to save us all. He told parable after parable and taught us by word and example how to treat each other. But in this passage, we also see a 33-year-old man who is hungry and finds nothing to eat. He loses his temper on a tree in front of his friends.
“Have you ever seen someone who you thought was perfect lose it? Did the scene make you feel a little bit better about your own moments of humanity?
“We must forgive ourselves when we make mistakes or snap at loved ones because we are hungry, tired, or something happened at work and we brought it home to our family. Breathe. Walk. Pray. Or even pack a snack or go look for another tree.”
Moving Forward: “What are some of your favourite stories of Bible characters showing their human frailties? Do these stories strengthen or weaken your faith? Why?”
A concluding note: the author of today’s meditation assumes, as have so many others, that Jesus had no reason to be angry or frustrated, and so just loses His temper in front of His friends. But that, as I have suggested, is not the only way to see the passage.
