Fig Trees, Temples, and Faith
Preached by Jason Abbott
March 23, 2014
This week we’re going to conclude this three part picture of the beginnings of Jesus’ confrontation with the temple and its authorities.
Recall that it’s a picture that began with an enacted parable or narrative—Jesus judged a deceptive, unfruitful tree. (We looked at that passage 2 weeks ago.) In part two, of the three part picture, we saw Jesus judge the temple and its leaders. (We looked at that passage last week.) He drove out money changers and animal vendors who had literally set up smelly and noisy shops in the Court of Gentiles—the place where non-Jews were supposed to be able to encounter Israel’s God.
Today we’re going to see (and foresee) the results of these first two pictures. We’re going to see the power of God in the person of Jesus distinctly displayed.
Yet, in order to dig into the meaning of this passage, we’ll want to answer some questions: (1) How does Jesus’ enacted parable conclude? (2) What does this conclusion communicate about the temple? (3) What do faith, prayer, and forgiveness have to do with this three part picture?
Well, let’s read this passage and, then, pray for God’s good and gracious guidance in this time of worship.
Mark 11:20-25
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
1. How does Jesus’ enacted parable conclude (vv. 20-21)?
The short answer to this question is that it concludes badly for the fig tree. So, Peter noted: “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered” (v. 21).
Peter and the disciples were amazed by the immediacy of the tree’s demise! Jesus’ curse of this tree has been quickly efficacious. When he said to the tree— “May no one ever eat fruit from you again”—it happened, and it happened fast. This was a show of unbelievable authority, unbelievable power!
Yet, this isn’t the first time Jesus had demonstrated such miraculous power. Remember that throughout Mark’s narrative people have been drawn to Jesus because of his amazing power and his startling authority.
Recall for example that:
In the beginning of Mark’s gospel, Jesus is off praying in a solitary place after miraculously healing many people—both the sick and demon possessed—when his disciples come to find him. And, what do they tell him when they eventually find him? They excitedly say:
Everyone is looking for you (Mark 1:37)!
Without a doubt, everyone was looking for this powerful miracle-worker. For them, Jesus meant prosperity, wellness, comfort, and a long, healthy life.
Jesus’ authority and his power attracted them.
Or, perhaps, think about Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44). These men, as we learned when we looked at the passage, were likely an army. They were probably zealots flocking to Jesus—because of his miraculous power—with hopes that Jesus would be their king and lead them to victory over Rome.
Therefore, John, in his gospel, tells us:
Perceiving then that [the 5,000 men] were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew (John 6:15).
Again, Jesus’ authority and his power attracted them.
Without question, these details (of the fig tree’s demise) are meant by Mark to highlight once more for us the authority and power of Jesus. His miraculous power has again and again attracted people to him who wish to use such power for their own gain. Even the disciples have attempted to do this: Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory (Mark 10:37).
Consequently, it’s fair for us to wonder at this miraculous display of power: Will the 12 fall into this trap again? How will following and representing such a powerful teacher affect them? We’ll come back to these questions in just a bit.
But, for now, let’s move on to our 2nd question:
2. What does this parable’s conclusion communicate about the temple?
Well, if Jesus’ interaction with the tree was a visual lesson about the temple, then, as with that fig tree, things aren’t likely to end well for the temple either. Since Jesus’ judgments are authoritative and powerful, the temple will fall.
When Jesus drove money changers and animal vendors out of the temple, the building was still under construction. It was the third temple or Herod’s temple. It would have been quite magnificent when finished in AD 64 with “beautifully cut cream stone” and “elaborately carved vaults.”1
However, it would’ve had a very short existence following its completion—just six years in fact. In AD 70, Roman soldiers would totally destroy the temple. In AD 70, Jesus’ prophetic words and predictive actions (in the Court of Gentiles) would be fulfilled!
One commentator put it like this:
Like the fig tree, [the temple’s] function is “withered from the roots” (v. 20). “Not one stone [of the temple] will be left on another,” says Jesus in his final temple discourse in Mark, “every one will be thrown down” (13:2).2
And, indeed, each stone was thrown down.
In this way, the authority and power of Jesus’ word, his prophetic judgment, would be demonstrated (as with the fig tree) as indelibly true in the Roman siege and conquest and destruction of the temple in AD 70!
Without a doubt, as Mark put the finishing touches on this three part picture, he was emphasizing the authority and power of Jesus. This is no normal rabbi—“such raw power was not looked for in most rabbi’s pronouncements.”3
No, Jesus is a different rabbi—he speaks with authority and acts in power. So, then, how will his disciples act in the wake of this miraculous show of power? Will they be tempted to try and manipulate such power for their benefit?
This brings us to our final question:
3. What do faith, prayer, and forgiveness have to do with this three part picture (vv. 22-25)?
When I was in college at MIZZOU, I played in an intermural soccer league. Basically, they had a league for all those guys who had been competitive soccer players in high school but, perhaps, weren’t quite good enough to play in college. That was me, I guess.
They were short-sided games—5 field players and a goalie on a small field. So obviously, a “ringer” (or an illegal star player) could make a big difference! Most teams had at least one ringer. Therefore, the question wasn’t if you had one; the question was how good was yours.
One year I met this graduate student named Jeff who had spent considerable time playing soccer in Spain while growing up and had then played ball in college. He was nasty good—welcome aboard ringer #1. The deal only got sweeter when he introduced me to his Turkish friend, Memet, who was even nastier good—welcome aboard ringer #2.
To give you a sense of how powerful these rather illegal players made us, we were once on the verge of forfeiting because we didn’t have enough players, but we convinced the other team to let us play with two players less than they had. On the opening kickoff, Jeff whispered for me to touch the ball so that he could have a shot from midfield. So, I did. He proceeded to launch an absolute rocket into the upper corner of the goal. We went on to win easily!
Now, what does this story have to do with today’s passage?
Well, it illustrates what real power can do to those who have it on their side. For, I have never been such a jerk in my entire life! I would talk trash constantly; I’d mock opposing players; I used this ringer-power to crush my soccer enemies!
Here, I believe, Jesus is concerned with his disciples’ attitude toward power. How will they view their alignment with Jesus and the ultimate power of God? How might the reality of such power—working through them—corrupt the disciples’ hearts?
I don’t ask these questions in the absence of any evidence that this might have been a real danger for them. After all, they had struggled with the desire to use divine power vindictively before. Hadn’t they?
In his gospel, Luke records an instance in which (on his way to Jerusalem) Jesus is rejected by an entire Samaritan village. What happens then is instructive. James and John are so upset with this village that they go to Jesus and ask:
Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them (Luke 9:54)?
Jesus, then, rebukes the two brothers, for their vindictive request, and the entourage moves on to the next village. But, do you see? There is good reason for Jesus to be concerned about how his followers will envision using divine power!
They need, therefore, some divine instruction about divine power!
And so, we have these verses—on faith and on prayer and on forgiveness—as each relates to a disciples’ access to the ultimate power of God.
The 12 see the withered fig tree and are amazed at Jesus’ effective power. Thus, Jesus wants to teach them about God’s power as it can work through them, and he wants to temper such teachings with essential gospel guidelines.
What does he teach them?
Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (vv. 22-25).
Here’s my attempt at paraphrasing Jesus’ teaching on a disciple’s access to divine power. Here’s my attempt at outlining these gospel guidelines:
Such power is only available through faith in God.
The power is always God’s. It’s God who works powerfully on and thru us. “Have faith in God” (v. 22). This faith in God is faith in God’s entire character, never just his power! It’s a faith in God’s judgments. It’s a faith in God’s plans. It’s a faith that prays: “Your kingdom come, your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). Such power is only available through faith in God!
Faith in God expressed in prayer is overwhelmingly powerful.
Through such faith in God we should expect great things through prayer. Jesus may here refer to a peak south of Jerusalem—“Herod had literally removed an adjacent hill, the base of which is still visible today” to build a personal refuge. “Herod’s architectural ambitions had changed the face of Judea, yet whoever believes in God, says Jesus, can move greater mountains….”4 Pray for great things. For, faith in God expressed in prayer is overwhelmingly powerful!
Faith in God expressed in prayer should progressively transform, into the image of God, the one who faithfully prays.
Jesus’ final instruction here about being forgivers, if we are to be receivers, “is the feature of faith that most perfectly epitomizes God’s nature.”5 In the end, we will never experience the power of God in order that our kingdoms may come! We will never experience such power in order that our wills may be done on earth! Rather, faith in God will ever transform us into God’s image as we pray!
Think about Jesus as we close! Isn’t he our perfect example in all of this? For, Jesus had at his disposal all the power of his Heavenly Father’s Kingdom—more than 12 legions of angels, but that kind of an exertion of power wouldn’t have fulfilled the Father’s will as revealed in the Scriptures (Matthew 26:53-54). No! Instead, the Father is patient with us, not wanting any to perish (2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, Jesus could and would pray—as he faced his own crucifixion—“not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). Indeed, he is our perfect example!
1R. J. McKelvey, New Bible Dictionary: Temple, 1158.
2James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, 346.
3R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, 447.
4Edwards, 347.
5Ibid., 348.
