SHARING BREAD
18 Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the
city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing
a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.
Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”
Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, 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. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, 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. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matt
21:18-22 (NIV)
Every statement the Lord Jesus made carried with it richer and
deeper meanings to His hearer’s ears than at first blush they perhaps
realized. It remains the same presently
to the readers of His Truth. Indeed, each
Word Christ uttered was pregnant with power and purpose. The Word made flesh and dwelt among men both
spoke the Word freely and lived the Word accurately. I am reminded of the Scripture penned in
Hebrews regarding the Word of God:
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than
any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints
and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Heb 4:12 (NIV)
In our verses for today, the Lord Jesus was hungry. He spots a fig tree in the distance by the
roadside laden with leaves. Normally, figs
appear prior to the leaves or at least at the same time as the leaves but this
tree was barren of all fruit. Jesus
curses it – sentencing it to a perpetual barrenness - immediately withering its
leaves. Interestingly, up to this point
Christ had used His power to only bless and bestow grace for the good of men and
now we discover Him using His power on an inanimate object to show His wrath
and curse. To be sure, Jesus uses this as
a lesson on faith but it is also on the fruitlessness of hypocrites as well. I am reminded of Jesus Words recorded in the
Gospel of John:
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me
and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in
me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are
picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my
words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory,
that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:5-8 (NIV)
This
is why John the Baptist came proclaiming to the hypocritical Pharisees of his day
to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance”.
Every person who professes to be a disciple of Christ is not necessarily
a true follower of the Master. True
believers cannot help but produce fruit with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Who resides in every saint’s heart – prompting, convicting, empowering and
encouraging. Christ looks for the power
of faith from those who profess it. The
sin of barrenness is justly cursed by the plague of barrenness. A false and hypocritical profession commonly
withers in this world. They appear
profitable for a time but their professions come to nothing as the pretender is
powerless in and of himself to “walk as Jesus did”. I am reminded of Hebrews again:
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and
that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the
blessing of God. 8 But
land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being
cursed. In the end it will be burned. Heb
6:7-8 (NIV)
Lastly, Jesus addresses faith in the power and promises of
God. We are to be careful in what we
have faith in. It is not to be in our
fickle inept selves rather in the all-powerful never changing God whom we
serve. Our constant doubting spoils the efficacy
and success of faith in God’s revealed will and ways. He is good on His Word – you can take it to
the bank. I am reminded of Joshua’s
words to the Israelites as he was about to pass from this life to the next:
14 “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You
know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the
LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one
has failed.” Josh 23:14 (NIV)
God,
Who never changes, remains faithful today just as He did to Joshua and the Israelites. We can depend upon His faithfulness. Nothing is impossible with Him. The world tells us “seeing is believing” yet
God tells us believe in order to see.
“Faith
is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what
we believe.” Saint Augustine
“Strive
to be one of those-so few- who walk the earth with ever-present consciousness-all
mornings, middays, star-time-that the unknown which men call heaven is ‘close
behind the visible scene of things.’” Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see. Heb 11:1
(NIV)
What I glean from this:
· God’s Word
is living and active.
· I am to
bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
· Seeing is
the reward of faith.
