The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it. The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. Mark 11:12-14, 20;24-25
In this one act, Jesus made three powerful statements and we will look at two of them today. When we read Mark 11:12-25 we usually focus on these verses as a lesson on the power of believing prayer and we will see that in tomorrow’s devotion. But when we jump directly to the prayer in faith lesson we miss a powerful lesson found in the cursing of the fig tree. So what exactly is that lesson?
Well, as Jesus and His disciples were walking along and they saw a fig tree and being hungry they went over to eat some figs. But when they got to it, they found it had not fruit. Jesus decided to teach a lesson to His friends. He talked to the tree and said “May you never bear fruit again.” He wasn’t acting out in anger because He was still hungry, He was showing them the tree was a phony and it could not sustain itself! See, when a fig tree has leaves, it means it is bearing fruit. It looked good from a distance, it showed all the outward appearances of having fruit, but it didn’t. Because of what Jesus said to it the fig tree withered and died from the roots. Which the disciples witnessed the next day as they passed it by.
What was the significance of the fig tree? Think back to the beginning of the Bible, when Adam and Eve were living in the garden. After they were deceived by Satan and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, they realized they were naked. And what did they do to hide not only their nakedness, but their sin? They covered themselves with fig leaves. And when God questioned them about why they were hiding behind fig leaves the accusations and excuses began to fly. But in the end, the fig leaves could not hide the truth of their sin. So to cover them blood had to be shed and an innocent animal had to give it’s life to cover their sin. The fig leaf then became a symbol of self-righteousness. They tried to make it look good, but the leaves just weren’t working.
Jesus was telling the disciples that there were people, specifically the Religious Leaders, who were making it look good with all their religious rules and regulations, but it was all self-righteous acts. Everything was about them and what they did for God, rather than trusting and relying on all that He had done for them. It was a form of godliness but denying the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5) and therefore could not bear any spiritual fruit, they were phony’s. And because their roots were not in God, they would wither and die spiritually as well as eternally. Now today, not knowing the Jewish oral teaching of the fig tree and leaves, we might totally miss that. But I guarantee the Jewish disciples didn’t. And they knew the religious leaders pride and superior attitudes all too well. He wanted the disciples to consider if they truly were His disciples (students) or if they were no different than the religious leaders of the day.
Just as back then on their walk with Jesus, the point He was making still stands today and asks the question, what about you? Are you a true follower of Jesus Christ, or do you only go through the religious movements to make it look like you are? Just like with His disciples, He wants you to have a deep relationship with Him so that when times of testing come, you will be able to hold fast to His teachings and they will keep you grounded in Him.
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