Mark 11:12-14

Passage

The next day, Jesus and His disciples came from Bethany and were hungry.  Jesus saw a fig tree in the distance.  It had leaves on it, so Jesus went and saw as to whether it was bearing any fruit.  When he got to the fig tree, Jesus found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for bearing fruit.  Jesus cursed the fig tree and told it that no one would ever eat fruit from it again.  The disciples heard what Jesus said.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We’ll get to the full revelation of this story in a few days (Mark 11:20-25).  But for today we’ll simply look at the story that we have before us in these verses.  First of all, notice that Jesus and His disciples came from Bethany.  Specifically, during the travel Jesus became hungry.  We don’t have many places in scripture where Jesus’ physical needs are set before us.  But this is one of them.  This is important, because it is the few passages of scripture like this where we get a clear reminder that Jesus dealt with typical human problems.  So often we think of Him only as the Son of God who obviously could do no wrong.  Yes, He did no wrong.  But it wasn’t because He lacked a human element.

What do you think about when you think of Jesus?  Do you consider very often that He had the full human experience?  What do you think it was like for God to experience human frustration, anger, or even hunger?

Second Thought:

Jesus went to look at the tree.  This doesn’t necessarily mean Jesus didn’t know what was going on.  Instead, it means that Jesus was setting up a future teaching.  Jesus goes to investigate to make a point to His disciples.  For today, what we can learn is that sometimes you have to look deeply to see fruit.  Just because a tree is green and leafy and looking healthy doesn’t mean it is doing what it should be doing.

Why do you think we occasionally have to look deeply into people’s lives to see fruit?  Have you ever been fooled by someone from whom you expected to see fruit but saw nothing?

Third Thought:

Jesus cursed the fig tree.  This story and the earlier story where the herd of pigs is destroyed are the only two stories where Jesus is actually destructive in relationship to nature.  Note that in both cases, Jesus is doing it to teach a spiritual truth.  Jesus doesn’t frivolously destroy nature.  Jesus uses creation to teach and only when necessary does Jesus leave nature worse than when He arrived.

What is your attitude towards creation?  Do you see creation as something to be revered, something to be worked, as a partner, or as something to be dominated?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 11:15-19