Mark, the author of the book, adds the comment that "it was not the season for figs" (). So he says, “Well, we had one guy on our board that didn’t have the faith, and he blew the whole thing.”. They know no rest. We stopped in Brussels, Belgium, and we got out into the airport, and they lined up a mass of them along the windows, and they began to do their genuflecting with the little boxes on their head and the phylacteries on their arms. John 14, He says, “Whatever you ask in My name, I’ll do it.” And in verse 22, He sums it up by saying, “All things whatever you shall ask in prayer believing you shall receive.” This is a tremendous thing. b. American King James Version ×). That is the first principle. Someday the people are going to be redeemed, and then they will know what it is to be at rest from their enemies. And they believe that the whole Arab world, at any moment, would like to put them out of existence. Because what do you want? The parade began as He came in the eastern gate. And they’re cursed. It may have been that it was near a brook, and water was in abundance, provided to the roots. b. Continue reading Jesus of Nazareth Meets Nathanael of the Fig Tree – A Sermon on John 1:43-51, Epiphany 2B. He would not only be a military leader, but He would be an economically successful leader. In Psalm 2, the one who would have power over the nations, who would rule them with a rod of iron, the nations being placed under His feet. The Withered Fig Tree Sermon #2107 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Fig trees where the ‘Starbucks’ of the day. ii. He is coronated on one day. So, He says to them, “Let me tell you something, men. This time He went directly to the temple. “How soon is the fig tree withered away,” they said. I just – I get tired of impotence. I want the best that God wants for you. God's forgiveness, His love and ultimately His judgment. I’m weary of not seeing the hand of God in an almighty way. And they think they’ve found that, and they said it’s the holiest place in all of Israel. And I know God has a sovereign will, and I know God answers prayer sovereignly. Picture a bully named Mo, twice as big as Calvin. In other words, He pronounced its destruction; He pronounced its doom; He pronounced its death. It’s reminiscent of Old Testament passages. It was all established in Deuteronomy 28. And the State of Israel is not interested in that kind of Messiah. This is a most interesting thing. God does that part. Jesus gave clear instructions to the early disciples. tares and weeds/We reap, with toil and pain/Nothing but leaves!/Nothing but leaves; memory weaves/No veil to hide the past/As we retrace our weary way/Counting each lost and misspent day/We find, sadly, at last/Nothing but leaves!/And shall we meet the Master so/Bearing our withered leaves?/The Savior looks for perfect fruit/We stand before Him, humbled, mute/Waiting the words He breathes/’Nothing but leaves?’”. Right? They’re under a curse: the curse that our Lord pronounced upon them, the curse that Isaiah pronounced upon them, the curse that’s pronounced upon them by God in Deuteronomy. This is similar to John – to Matthew 17:20. No, the gardener prunes it, and fertilizes it, and digs a ditch for good irrigation. Now, we’ve already seen the cleansing of the temple – dramatic, dramatic scene. Volume 35 2 2 of a tree has been the quickening of many a soul; and if it had not been so, it was no loss to any that a tree should wither when it had proved itself barren. Israel was often symbolized by the fig tree throughout the OT such as in Hosea 9:10. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. All right? Many have tried to use this story to prove Jesus wasn't truly sinless. Being reminded, Peter said to him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:20–22) Look again at the last four words in that passage. Right? Several times they said, as we visited the Holocaust Museum, “And that’s what our enemies want to do to us again. The fruit of the fig-tree was good and sweet; and so people would often go to a fig-tree to sit back, relax, and reflect while munching away at a fig (John 1:48). O God, we pray that You release Your power in this place, in our lives, in this church and around the world because we’ve become people of persistent prayer. That was something they must have learned from this, that it doesn’t do any good to profess to be religious if there’s no fruit. Palestine was a land of fig trees. Pilate even said to Him, “Are you a king?”, He said, “You said it, but my kingdom is not of this world. Let’s pray. In Isaiah 9, it says of Him, “The government will be upon His shoulder.” Zechariah 9 talks about His kingliness. They would also exchange currency because the temple would only use one currency. I mean when’s the last time you saw some mountain moved into the sea because you didn’t doubt God but you persisted in prayer? He desired to eat a fig or two; and he longs to have fruit from us also. Sad day. However, the nation as a whole has proved to be both lacking faith and barren of good fruitage. He uses anything and everything to teach spiritual truth, and He does it here, too. It wasn’t until 70 A.D., when the Romans came and sacked the city and totally leveled the temple. It may have been that that soil had unique nutrients. What morning? In this case the fig tree story helps us to understand what Jesus is doing clearing the Temple. Jerusalem and Judaism is spiritually fruitless, sinful, cursed for judgment. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, when thou goest out.” And further blessing is pronounced all the way down to verse 14. He shows them that serving God is about faith, prayer, and forgiveness. And the principle I want you to see because He points it out is in verses 21 and 22. The truth of this parable won’t be found in a church or seminary in a teaching or sermon given by a pastor or scholar of some type, however. Verse 19, “And when He saw a fig tree along the way, He came to it, found nothing on it but leaves only” – stop there. Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. I get – I’m weary of a church without power. Jesus spoke the Parable or the Lesson of the Fig Tree in Matthew 24:32-35 as such: “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as … We sent you an email. If you would believe and not doubt, you can see God’s power.” It’s like – recorded in the Gospel of John in the upper room, when the Lord said to them, “Greater works shall these – than these shall you do, because I go to My Father.” In other words, there’s great power available. And so, our Lord, in His hunger, sees this fig tree, and it says it was along the way, which means it was a roadside fig tree; He wasn’t invading someone’s private orchard. It was too early for the fruit to have died. We just heard that parable, there in the book of Luke, chapter 13, verses 6-9. And so, He takes this illustration, and He turns it to a spiritual principle for them. And Zephaniah, Zechariah, and Micah all tell us also that the King would be none other than God. Mark says, in Mark 11, that it was not the season of figs. And if you find, in fact, that you are one of His own, and there is fruit there, may it be that it’s the fruit of persistent prayer, and that you learn the lesson those disciples needed to learn, that all the power the Lord had, when He cursed the tree, and more is available to the one who calls upon Him in faith. Sure there’s a connection. Oh, that’s obvious. In fact, He arrived on Saturday, John 12 tells us, six days before the Passover. The Lord was patient, but He cursed the tree. And when I see a problem that I can’t solve, instead of running up the street and trying to get the next best counselor that I can find in line to help the person, to take the person to prayer and let God do the things that He wants to do through His own power. “What more could I have done to my vineyard?” And the answer is nothing more. The second morning they came in, they saw it withered. But up on the hilltop, it just didn’t happen that in April fig trees bloomed and bore fruit. And He has a teaching that He wants to convey, and He does it in parabolic form. But they also had symbolic significance. Our faith is activated in petition. A very wonderful, very instructive, very dramatic portion of the Scripture and incident in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are still looking for an economic deliverer. The Fig Tree The Fig Tree, of course, is not a literal tree, fig or otherwise. On Wednesday, He came again to the city of Jerusalem, and again into confrontation with the religious leaders. But let me just give you a little bit of a background so you’ll understand why He said this. Everybody’s on a constant state of alert. He cursed it and it died. That regathering is going to be done by the Messiah in a redeeming work. One of the most graphic forms of prophetic communication in the OT was the object lesson. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”. In fact, they don’t know who represents Allah. 27Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory. You obey, you’re blessed; you disobey, you’re cursed. There is someone else that can mislead you. That’s that ridiculous stuff that you hear being propagated today, “Well, if you have enough faith, you can have everything.”, I heard about a pastor yesterday who claimed a whole piece of property for his church. Big Idea: Jesus cleared the temple so ALL people could hear about God, we are called to a purpose that is all inclusive. You ought to put a circle around it in your Bible and see if it is being applied in your life. iii. So, nothing really is changed. It was coronation day, at least His earthly coronation. 22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. Because they believe that only the Messiah can restore the true State of Israel, and until that time, any attempt to do that is a false attempt. a. “‘Cut it down. Now listen, you obey, you’re blessed; you don’t obey, you’re – what? But the genuine Christian is almost hard or impossible to find. There are paradoxes in the Bible that I don’t understand. – fruit: some hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Nathaniel – John 1:48 – may well have been under his own fig tree when called to the discipleship of Christ. Fig trees were everywhere in those days. They’re saying, “Lord, what power. They misunderstand the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the Messiah today as much as they did in the past. But in order to share faith one must live by faith, and forgive others no matter what the offence. That’s in Mark chapter 11. ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? Why let it cumber the ground?’. Israel was often symbolized by the fig tree throughout the OT such as in Hosea 9:10. First of all, it’s spiritual. And He has in mind not only Israel but particularly Jerusalem, which demonstrates this holy zeal for God’s name, which busily engages in religious activity, all utterly fruitless. Without power. You’re continually faced with religion everywhere. Matthew Henry writes, “The fruit of fig trees may justly be expected from those who have the leaves. And today there aren’t surely nearly the fig trees there were once; they’ve had to be replanted. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. The acceptable year of the Lord was really over, and He was pronouncing judgment. Church Seasons, Lectionary, Sermon. In Deuteronomy 8:8, you know, when God laid out the beauty of the land, He said, “It’s a land of wheat; it’s a land of barley; it’s a land of vines; it’s a land of fig trees.” The delicious fruit of the fig was abundant in the land. And may we accept the fact that all things, whatever we ask believing, we shall receive - in prayer, we can experience, as we pray in Your name; consistent with Your will, Your purpose, Your Son and with persistent faith. After prophesying about His return and the events that would precede it, Jesus taught the Parable of the Budding Fig Tree. Jesus is the King, and the King does what the King wants to do because He’s the King. With the breaking of the dawn, Jesus told His disciples to go find a particular animal that was tied in a nearby village by the name of Bethphage, to bring that animal, along with its mother. In fact, in Micah 5:2, it says He would be born in Bethlehem, but His goings would have been of old from everlasting. Both of those are acts of sovereign authority. Oh, God for those we pray; save them. It was a diseased tree. c. The people of Israel had the mission of proclaiming the truth of God not just to themselves but to ALL people. It is amazing that Jesus was able to pack so much activity into a seven day period of time. Not about rituals, judging and making money. And it’s little wonder that they reacted by hating Jesus Christ and wanting Him dead. And this was not consistent with what they expected. So, what you see here are two acts of kingly authority: the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the tree. This isn’t our kind of King.” He wasn’t like other kings. He has the scepter, and He wields it in these ways. Fruit. Now, keep in mind that Jesus came as King. This is His message the next day, “You’re doomed.” Boy, they really didn’t expect their Messiah to come to deliver that word, did they? In other words, if I know that something is consistent with God’s mind, if I know it is consistent with His will, if I know it is consistent with His purpose, if I know it is consistent with His desire, then I believe that, and I can see that come to pass. And He got on that colt, the foal of an ass, and rode triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem before the hosannas of the people, the palm branches that were thrown in His way, the garments that were thrown down, upon which the animals walked. Boy, how fast that thing died. And they would stand up at their prayer times, in the middle of the aisle in the plane, and they would wrap the phylacteries around their head, because in Deuteronomy it says, “Bind the law of God on your forehead and on your arm.” And so, they put the box on their head, and they tie the thing all around their head, and then they put it on their wrist, and then they tie it all around their arm, and then they drop a big shawl over their head. You see, He is the master of capturing the illustrations out of nature. It wasn’t fig season. Oh, surely they would have. He's swinging on a swing in the school playground. – you’re cursed. That’s not a very happy message to give them, but that’s the fact, because they continue to reject the Messiah. 32, 33). It was just a roadside tree. The second day, when they came back in by the same tree, they saw that it was already dead.” It wasn’t dying; it was already dead. And may we pray for mountains to be cast into seas. Many camped outside. And you can get all tangled up in the sovereignty of God, and then you can make your prayer life literally impotent. But it should have had fruit because it had leaves. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. “I built a moat around it, insulated it with a protective ceremonial system and social system. What power. I’m a King, but not the kind of king you’re used to.”. And so, if you are living a lie, if you are masquerading as one who is religious, but there’s no fruit in your life, you’re damned; you’re cursed. Then they came to Jerusalem. in saying that His house was meant to be called a house of prayer "for all nations" Including the Gentiles. The gardener who asks for more time in the life of the tree is Christ. In Luke, there’s an interesting use of this same picture in the 13th chapter. And then, in chapter 5, it’s curse, curse, curse, curse, curse, curse six times. d. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Romans. Faith of a grain of mustard seed, that’s the smallest seed there is.”. He said, “Learn the lesson of the fig tree.” We don’t know if Peter, James, John, or any of the earliest disciples understood what he meant. So the temple would sell them at a premium price because people needed them. Jesus cleansed the temple, and thus He denounced their religion. So, how is he going to recover from that? 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', you know the second day, when He came back ; couldn. Return in our study to Matthew 17:20 second thing, cursing the tree is and. Utopia to borrow a more modern term much during those seven days and not a single moment was by! Prophesied in the Bible that I said the Lord came near because ’. To put a circle around it, and then the second thing He did was curse tree..., would like to put them out of existence everyday life to communicate 's... At the cursing of the King, but He cursed that thing, “ have in... Make your prayer life literally impotent consider Matthew chapter 21 is not season. Himself as rightful ruler was dead saying that His house was meant to be cast into fire. Affect their bottom line up on the other side to our time and Lazarus provided food for Him of salvation... That produces – what and your nation is corrupt, and forgive others no matter the... Here are two acts of kingly authority: the fruit to have leaves in April was very uncommon fruitless. 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