The Fruitless Fig Tree, Part 3

FIG LEAVES EXCHANGED FOR ROBES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Here we are at the closing act of our fig tree theatrical drama. As mentioned previously, the temple cleansing narrative in Mark 11 is the meat and cheese of the sandwich, and the sandwich bread is Jesus’ interactions and teachings surrounding the fruitless fig tree. The first slice of bread, if you will, shows Jesus responding to what the tree was “saying.” From a distance or casual glance it looked like the tree was in fruit, however, upon proximal observation, the fig tree was full of leaves but no fruit was found. Here’s an interesting note: when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, they used fig leaves to cover up their nakedness. In other words, they used fig leaves to cover up the reality that they were not in alignment with what the Father said. What we fail to realized as believers is that our renewed lives come with a new set of clothes. In the Garden, the Father didn’t settle for the fig leaves but rather clothed those created in His image with animal skins (Genesis 3:21), meaning something had to die as a means of providing covering. Beloved, let me remind us today that Jesus died and now clothes us in His righteousness!! (Ephesians 4:24, Philippians 3:9, Psalm 132:9). Even the Parables of The Redeemed Heir found in Luke 15 shows a Father clothing His son who has found his way home in royal robes!

It’s easy to hide behind the self effort of our “doing” while trying to convince those from a distance that we are being fruitful. When the nearness of Christ is an ever-present reality, it is evident. An apple tree does not have to try and try to produce apples, it simply yields to its created design, its intended form and function. I am longing to see the Bride delivered from her works mentality and her fig-leaf ways and submit to the prescribed form and function (aka identity) that only the Father can give. My heart wells with excitement for this reality to become the norm in the Church — healthy leaders rejecting Saul’s armor and taking up their beloved identity as sons and daughters. Imagine with me the removal of the heavy yoke of “try harder” and being fitted with a yoke of kindness. Jesus, may it be so in Your Church! A really wonderful scripture reference for this is John 15. Fruit production comes as a secondary consequence of abiding (there are many more thoughts on that for another post, but I highly encourage you to read and ask Holy Spirit to speak to you through it). Now onto the second slice of bread.

IS IT A CURSE OR A MISALIGNMENT?

Verse 20 of Mark 11 picks up the narrative by informing us that it is morning of the next day. Looking back, verse 14 lets the reader know that the disciples saw Jesus’ interaction with the fig tree the day prior. It is no surprise, then, that they notice the scene has very much changed since the first act. I love that it is Peter who speaks up as he is often seen as one who is quick to speak. As they walked by, Peter speaks up and draws the attention of the group towards the now withered fig tree. He says to Jesus, addressing Him first as Rabbi (more on that in a second), “behold the fig tree you cursed (Greek word kataráomai) is now withered away to its roots.” Interestingly enough, the word Peter uses to describe what Jesus did to the tree does not coincide with the word previously used when Jesus first interacted with the tree in verse 14. Remember from Part 1, the Lord responds to the tree, or answers (KJV) what the tree is “saying.” Here Peter uses the word we commonly translate in English as curse. It could be said that what Jesus exposes and calls to account of the fig tree was interpreted by Peter as a curse. I think Peter’s understanding of what is happening here is slightly off, however, Peter does something really great at the start of His inquisition to Jesus. He addresses Him as Rabbi, meaning teacher. Don’t over look that too quickly. In fact, I’ll spell it out again. Peter acknowledges the Messiah as his teacher and is essentially saying to Jesus “correct me if I’ve gotten this wrong.”

I think this is key, not just to understand Jesus’ response, but for us today. Think back to verse 17 — during the cleansing scene, it says Jesus began “teaching them.” One heck of a way to get the attention of your listeners. But it was unto them being taught. The Lord does not bring calamity and even destruction to something without being willing to introduce to us the better way, His way. Peter postures his heart well toward Jesus, viewing Him rightly as the one who instructs and corrects. My question for those of us reading this today is: Are our hearts postured the same? The fig tree was out of alignment with the form and function of its Creator. I believe it was misalignment with the word of the Lord that caused the sin of Adam and Eve. It could be said, then, that a truer definition of sin is misalignment. The fruits of misalignment are the things we see and can easily point out, yet I am convinced it begins with misalignment to what He says.

THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION

As the passage goes, the chief priests and scribes were numbered among those who heard the teachings of the Rabbi. Of all the marvelous things that could have been said, especially after getting the attention of so many in such a dramatic fashion, Jesus teaches (illuminates the better way) that His house shall be a house of prayer. As the text moves on, it is clear that the chief priests and scribes did not view Christ as their teacher, so much so that they didn’t settle for differing opinions, but instead chose to “seek a way” to destroy Him. Verse 18 illuminates that there were many that marveled at the teachings of Jesus, and this unsettled the scribes and chief priests, or as verse 18 says they feared Him for His influence. The Greek word translates as “struck with amazement” at His teaching. I think we can all agree that these onlookers saw Him as Rabbi, and sadly, the religious crowd did not.

It is of no surprise that the spirit of religion stood as an opposer of The Anointed One and His message. What He was saying regarding His house then is what He has been saying and continues to say through His Word and through His Spirit today. The message has not changed. The descriptive nature of His House by Jesus Himself must be more than simply adding in prayer, but the very essence of its being, of all that His House does, must be prayer. Today, that same unteachable spirit, the spirit of religion, has become an obstacle for the Church walking in the fullness of her priestly calling. Even today, this unteachable spirit has made its way into our systems that have preoccupied themselves with the dutifulness by, like King Saul, giving in to the demands and wishes of the people; giving them whatever it takes to ensure their allegiance and attendance . What is the remedy for this ailment? How do we expel this leaven of the Pharisees? Jesus said prayer.

I’ve heard from revivalists of old that say an adequate measure for a churches success should have less to do with how many butts fill the seats or how much of the tithe gets counted, rather the demarcation of a faithful church is how much they prioritize prayer (knowing how Jesus teaches us to pray is super important, too, and will be the topic of future discussion). 1 Chronicles 7:14 says “if My people, will humble themselves, PRAY, seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways (shall we say misaligned ways), THEN I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” Here’s my paraphrase: acknowledging our exclusivity to the Father, followed by keeping our hearts teachable, while praying unto seeking His face causes one to come into proper alignment, resulting in all the promises mentioned by His word.

Religion will try and try again to snuff the fiery flame off devotion in prayer, yet Holy Spirit has shown Himself faithful to see the embers of zeal and devotion fanned through out the centuries, and as the hour of His glorious return inches closer and closer, do not be surprised to find more and more pockets of people returning to prayer. I have been so encouraged to witness, visit, and meet folks from all over the world who are catching this revelation and who returning to seeing His house as a house of prayer. Despite having been driven out by the religious spirit from a fellowship I was once pastoring, I am all the more convinced and encouraged to see places and spaces dedicated to ministering first to the Lord, and prioritizing prayer as a cultural normative. One of the promises mentioned in 1 Chronicles 7:14 is that there is healing for the land. What does that look like?? I am eager to find out.

THE BETTER WAY

Jesus’ response to Peter is wonderful. Verse 22 of chapter 11 says Jesus “answers” Peter. Guess what — “answers” is the same word where Jesus answers the fig tree in verse 14. <Insert mind blown emoji here.> The Wonderful Counselor answers Peter by saying “have faith in God.” Simple enough, yet way weightier than these four simple words suggest. Maybe you think of Fred Durst yelling at you as he did in the late 90’s “YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH” or perhaps you recall a time when you confided in someone about an unanswered prayer, only to have them tell you “YOU GOTTA HAVE MORE FAITH.” Whatever your experience with the word faith is, thankfully, Jesus takes the time and explains what that looks like. Remember, Peter says, in essence “the fruitless fig tree that was called out for its misalignment is dried up and withering away.” Postured as a learner, Jesus begins by giving a description of what faith looks like. He says “truly I say to you” emphasizing both to the listeners of that day and every reader since then that He is about to drop a bomb of revelation, so pay attention. Here’s His answer as written in the ESV:

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

He says having faith in God looks like being able to say to this mountain be cast to the sea. Now, I know what you’re thinking, and no I have not actually seen this in the way you might think. But don’t dismiss this glorious invitation simply because Jesus uses metaphors. What is He saying? He is inviting us into impossible realms and to live in the place of expectation to see them actualized before our eyes. This is coming from the guy who has been literally doing the impossible from town to town and place to place. It’s one thing to believe that He can do these things, but now the Messiah is inviting His followers to do the same. Alignment with this instruction from Jesus looks like something. He is calling them and us today to walk in this level of faith. Now let’s be clear about something in regard to faith: Ephesians 2:8 says that God is the giver of faith. Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus is both the author and perfecter of our faith. Faith has for too long been subjected to our ability and less His enablement. Do we have a role in believing? Absolutely. I might sound like a broken record here but it serves a purpose when I say I believe it’s our decision to come into alignment with what He says.

If He says it, we are then tasked with responding by submitting to His word. Remember when the disciples were instructed to cast their nets on the other side of the boat? I believe it was their participation with the instruction of Jesus that led to the breakthrough. Faith, then, is authored by the Author Himself, yet is actualized through us! This, my friends, is the better way. Go ahead, take a deep breath. The power to see faith actualized in our lives rests in Him who said it. After all, faith (or faithfulness) is a fruit of the Spirit. It is produced in and through us as we remain tethered and abiding in Him(John 15). King David remained tethered to His God and the identity that He spoke over David, allowing Him to reject Saul’s armor and, through faith in his God, saw Goliath fall. So, have faith in God. Trust Him. Take Him at His word. If He said it, trust in His timing, in His ways, and in His ability to fulfill it.

PRAYER AND FORGIVENESS

Lastly, Jesus brings up prayer again (big surprise, right?!) and provides a seemingly out of place instruction that packs a punch. From the place of having faith in God, aka alignment with His word, Jesus invites His followers to pray from the place of believing as though it has already happened. This is wild. Jesus just made a scene out of the Temple and with everyone’s attention on Him, He encouraged, exhorted, and emphasized prayer. Now, Jesus is saying “pray like this: Father, thank you for already… (fill in the blank).” I gotta say, this is hard to do, and certainly impossible to sustain outside of abiding (John 15 again). There is a beautiful grace upon the believer when, from the place of alignment and remaining tethered to the Vine (Jesus), we can ask for the impossible and watch it unfold before our eyes. Check this out — we have this testimony from years back where it was a near impossibility for our family to find housing upon following the word of the Lord for us to move. In that season, we were getting gripped by the goodness of the Father and began taking Him at His word in John 15, where He says to ask. So we threw out a big ask and even got specific. We prayed things like “we want a swing set, a place for a tire swing, seasonal creek” just to name a few. And let me tell you — He came through. It was wild, it was wonderful, and we caught something world-changing about prayer.

Additionally, Jesus says when you pray, make sure your heart is forgiving. You might be saying “woah woah woah, bring back the fun stuff! I want to hear more testimonies!” As much as I could fill pages where I have witnesses the faithfulness of God, I have also seen Him faithful to forgive me and to teach me how to forgive. I know, heavy stuff. Stay with me here for a second. Some of you reading this could very well be thinking “yeah, but you don’t know what (so and so) did!” You are right, I more than likely do not know, but might I remind you — we do have a Father who does know. In fact, He knows every intricate detail of it all. Unforgiveness has a way of staining the heart and getting in the way of our connection to Him. I’ll go out on a limb and say it like this; the Father is more concerned with our wholeness and connection to Him than in our answered prayers. If we are going to have faith in God, then that means He won’t settle for the fractured or unaligned parts of us; He wants us whole. That is why I believe this seemly off-topic verse is added here. Forgiveness does not always equate to re-allowing access to boundaries that were crossed, however, the hold that the offense has becomes powerless and true liberation from it is available. It’s interesting that verse 25 is seemingly added to this narrative but I will say — we may never physically see a mountain being cast into the sea, yet what we can see is the mountain of grief and offense that hinders us be thrown into the sea BY FAITH. Some of you reading might actually see this as a greater impossibility than a physicall hill of dirt being moved. I can empathize. But  I can also say that our Father is patient and His kindness leads to repentance (Romans 2:4) and there is freedom on the other side.

Like Jesus says in Mark 5:34 to the woman healed of her ailments: “your faith has made you well.” It could be said of the spirit of religion that it seeks to be right, just as it was of the religious rulers of Jesus’ day. Instead of aligning with our own definitions of right and wrong, or being entitled to being right in a matter, let us be a people who align to what the Lord says, and from that place, let us walk in the liberty and wholeness only He can provide. I pray that the Bride of Christ would align with THE Word (Jesus), return to the place of prayer, exchanging our fig leafs for His robe of righteousness, prioritizing His Presence in and through our midst, and bearing fruit that will be a blessing to generations to come. There is healing for us AND for the land. Let’s get excited and expectant to see it!