[Rev. Mathew K Muthalaly]
Mark 11:11-18 (and Luke)
Some of the doubts that crop up when you read this passage are
A fig tree full of leaves is an indication of it having fruit. If it doesn’t have fruit, it won’t have leaves. Mark says, “He was hungry”. This shows the human side of the Lord. He was fully divine and He was fully human. He was just like us, except that He was sinless.
In His hunger, Jesus saw the leaves on the fig tree and came close to eat something. The problem here was not that the fig tree was fruitless. The problem was with the pretention of having fruit.
God’s wish for us is to be fruitful. Everyone might appear good. God expects us to actually be good too. We pretend to be good and God doesn’t approve of this. Not being good is not God’s problem. It’s being bad and pretending to be good, that is, hypocrisy that God has a problem with. He expects total submission, not a false display.
Being useless causes only destruction. We are co-creators of God. You are the salt of the world. You are the light of the world. You are called to be of use to the world. God has called us to be useful to the world. Someone who does no good or no harm, is not the best of the people.
God reacted to the use of His temple as a trading place. So it means you need to react when you should. You shouldn’t keep quiet when you should actually be speaking up.
Example of faith – A mountaineer was lost and separated from his group, on a slow clad mountain. It was nightfall and he was yet to find his way back. In the darkness, he lost his footing and slipped down a gorge. But he hung on because of his harness. Hanging by his harness, he prayed to God asking to be saved. Then out of the darkness, he heard a voice asking him to cut the harness rope. He cursed God for not taking care of him and being so inconsiderate, because He asked him to cut the only reason why he was alive. The rescue team found him in the morning. He was found dead hanging 2 feet from the land surface.
We are born with a reason. It is God’s desire for us to fulfil this reason. Don’t be a useless person and spoil the reason for your birth in this world.
Mark 11:11-18 (and Luke)
Some of the doubts that crop up when you read this passage are
- Jesus is a loving God, blessing God. Such a God cursed. How was this possible?
- It wasn’t a season for figs. This being the case, why did God have a problem with this? Isn’t this equivalent to punishing an innocent person?
- v11-14 – The instance of Jesus and the fig tree.
- v15-18 – Jesus driving traders out of the temple.
- v20 onwards – You see that the fig tree was dried up. This reminded Peter of Jesus’ curse. Jesus replied, “Have faith in God”.
A fig tree full of leaves is an indication of it having fruit. If it doesn’t have fruit, it won’t have leaves. Mark says, “He was hungry”. This shows the human side of the Lord. He was fully divine and He was fully human. He was just like us, except that He was sinless.
In His hunger, Jesus saw the leaves on the fig tree and came close to eat something. The problem here was not that the fig tree was fruitless. The problem was with the pretention of having fruit.
God’s wish for us is to be fruitful. Everyone might appear good. God expects us to actually be good too. We pretend to be good and God doesn’t approve of this. Not being good is not God’s problem. It’s being bad and pretending to be good, that is, hypocrisy that God has a problem with. He expects total submission, not a false display.
Being useless causes only destruction. We are co-creators of God. You are the salt of the world. You are the light of the world. You are called to be of use to the world. God has called us to be useful to the world. Someone who does no good or no harm, is not the best of the people.
God reacted to the use of His temple as a trading place. So it means you need to react when you should. You shouldn’t keep quiet when you should actually be speaking up.
Example of faith – A mountaineer was lost and separated from his group, on a slow clad mountain. It was nightfall and he was yet to find his way back. In the darkness, he lost his footing and slipped down a gorge. But he hung on because of his harness. Hanging by his harness, he prayed to God asking to be saved. Then out of the darkness, he heard a voice asking him to cut the harness rope. He cursed God for not taking care of him and being so inconsiderate, because He asked him to cut the only reason why he was alive. The rescue team found him in the morning. He was found dead hanging 2 feet from the land surface.
We are born with a reason. It is God’s desire for us to fulfil this reason. Don’t be a useless person and spoil the reason for your birth in this world.
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