Matthew 21:18-22

Matthew 21:18-22

And early in the morning while returning into the city He became hungry.  And after seeing a single fig tree upon the road He went upon it and found nothing in it except only leaves.  And He says to it, “Fruit should no longer come out of you into this age.”  And immediately the fig tree was becoming withered out.  And after the disciples saw they were amazed while saying, “How did the fig tree immediately become dried up?”  And after answering Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you all, if you all should have faith and not judge based on rational thought, you all will not only do the thing of the fig tree but you all should even say to this mountain, ‘Be carried away and be thrown into the sea,’ and it will become.  And all that you all should ask for in prayer while believing, you all will receive.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

There is an interesting horticultural note in this story.  We know the time of the year that this passage occurs.  Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Passover, which means that this story happens somewhere in late March or April.  We know that fig trees in the land of Israel bear two crops, and they often are in leaf and fig at the same time.  One crop is born on old wood and called the paggim.  This crop buds in April, but doesn’t come in leaf and fruit until June.  After this crop the tree puts forth new wood and bears a second crop on the new wood sometime around September.  Thus, we have two things going on here.  First of all, Jesus doesn’t find any of these paggim – buds of new fruit – when he looks for them.  So He doesn’t find what He should find for a tree in leaf.  It is alive but bearing no fruit.  Jesus curses the tree, reminding us that the spiritual follower of Jesus is always concerned about the process of bearing spiritual fruit in our lives.  However, there is a deeper meaning.  Notice that the tree is in full leaf in April.  The tree shouldn’t be in full leaf in April.  It should be in full leaf in June and in April it should be just starting the leaf/fruit process.  In other words, it is disobedient to the order of creation.  It is disobedient to being alive according to God’s creative process.  The tree is cursed because it is “doing its own thing its own way.”  Note that this disobedience is also likely why it does not bear any fruit.  All of the tree’s energy has gone into making it leafy and beautiful.  Thus it doesn’t have any left with which to actually produce any fruit.

Do you ever to desire to do things your own way rather than listening to God and His ways?  How does this usually work out for you?  Are you ever concerned about the fruit of your life?  What does your fruit look like?

Second Thought:

The disciples are amazed.  Again Jesus does something that gets their attention.  Notice that Jesus teaches them.  Jesus takes advantage of the opportunity and gives them a lesson in faith.  It is okay that we don’t always understand God’s work.  It is okay that we even express amazement at God’s work.  It is often in those moments that we find ourselves open to the teaching of God.

When are you most amazed at God’s work?  When are you most willing to be taught by God?  Are there any overlapping elements of these times in your life?

Third Thought:

I think this is my favorite way in all of the Gospels for Jesus’ expression in verse 22.  So often we hear this passage and others like this preached to us in such a way that “if you just believe hard enough God will grant your desires.”  Speakers and readers of this verse often try and make this into a mantra for getting their own way in a self-fulfilling prophecy sense of the word.  However, this isn’t at all what Jesus means.  In this verse, we have a participle form of the verb pisteuo (πιστεύω), which is associated with the noun pistis (πίστις).  Both the noun and the verb form of this word carry a dual meaning.  They can be translated as both “belief/faith” as well as “faithful.”  These words carry a sense of not just belief but also a response of obedience.  These are the words from which Dietrich Bonheoffer helped derive his great saying, “Only those who believe obey and only those who obey believe.”  Jesus says in verse 22 that we will receive anything for which we bray while believing (pisteuo).  In other words, if we are living an obedient life to God and desiring that which He has called us to believe then we will receive that which is in our heart.  And this really makes sense.  If God places a desire within us, why wouldn’t He grant us that desire?  Therefore, this is not a mantra for us to get whatever we desire.  This is a call to get our hearts right with God and then discern what God desires us to be about in our life.

How good are you at humbling yourself obediently before God before figuring out the desires of your heart?  Why is it better to submit to God before determining what I want in life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 21:23-27