This is the Week when Jesus, hungry, damned a Fig Tree because there wasn’t any fruit on it. Oh it had lots of leaves; an abundance of leaves. Still it had no fruit.
Doesn’t this seem like a bit of an over-reaction? An almost childish indulgence of a frustrated desire to eat?
There are a couple of things we need to know about Jesus to understand what’s going on here.
First of all we must remember that this is the same man who insisted, in talking with Satan after not eating for 40 days, that “Man must not live by bread alone.” Obviously He’s got His hunger under control. Long before this Week began He’d put hunger in its place and served it only when it needed to be heeded. To conclude that Jesus was in a snit ‘cause He hadn’t gotten His morning fix is simply not true to what we know of Him.
The second factor we must pay attention to is that Jesus had a great deal on His mind. This was the most crucial Week in His life. He was concluding 3 years of a public life of cosmic proportions. His followers, who would be given His mantle in the end, were not “getting it” when it came to the ultimate purpose He’d come to achieve. More importantly His people, the Family of Abraham and Israel, those through whom God promised Abraham “all the families of the world would receive a Divine level of wellbeing,” were rejecting Him and would by the end of the Week demand that He be crucified. Later in the Week He’d tell their Leaders, to their faces, that they were “Hypocrites.” Pretenders; “all leaves and no fruit.”
His damnation of the Fig Tree was a reaction to the rejection and “fruitlessness” of the Nation of Israel; His – God’s – people. In His name they had built a religious dynasty wealthy, influential but every bit as oppressive as the Rome they despised. And later in the Week He would lament their rejection and decree that “their house,” would be “left desolate.” No longer would they have the benefit of His presence or attention. Their only hope would be to say of Him, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”
The third thing we must remember about Jesus is that He was constantly teaching. He’d find, in virtually every situation, a “teachable moment.” This instance was no exception! In condemning the fruitless Fig Tree He not only denounced His Nation. He demonstrated the high cost of rejecting Him as their True Messiah – The Christ. Matthew tells us that His followers reacted with amazement when they saw the tree wither at His words. "When the disciples saw this, they were amazed." Perplexed they asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” His reply is packed with information about the nature and quality of life He came to introduce. “I tell you the truth,” He said, “If you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” The True Christ – the Son of Man – is a living prototype of recreated humanity. The New Birth His Resurrection makes possible creates people all over again; still in the Image of God; still endowed with the power of Almighty God; still in intimate partnership with Him; but now possessing a new Spirit; the Spirit of one Man who, because He is also Divine, insures all whom He remakes will share in the “Divine Nature.” The Kingdom He spoke of so often – the Rule of God – will come alive and be vital in them. Consequently they, knowing God and His purposes intimately, have “faith” like that of their Christ. They know when mountains need to be moved and exercise their Divinely provided power to move them. Believing that they are God’s favorite Children they instinctively ask for whatever they believe He wants in every situation.
“Faith,” such as He describes here is precisely the quality of life He referred to when He said “I came so you would have life in abundance; lavish, excessive life.” Life the Children of Abraham were rejecting this Week and would never experience until they accepted Him as coming “in the Name of the Lord.” Life that was poured into the hearts of over 3000 new Christ-followers, from virtually every nation, roughly 50 days later during the Feast of Pentecost. Life He offers to us and all with whom we have influence today.
This Week the stage would be set for that world altering event. It is a Week unlike any other!
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