The Bible is so magnificent, but there are times when some of its contents are difficult to accept as truth. Yet that doesn’t negate the validity of its scriptures. Of the Bible’s many astonishing events, I recently remembered its fig tree story and how it relates to us.
In Mark 11, we find Jesus leaving Bethany, hungry. He sees a fig tree from a distance and decides to go check if it has any fruit. He finds nothing but fig leaves as it was not the season for figs. Then, within the disciples’ hearing, he speaks to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
Afterwards, Jesus and his disciples arrive in Jerusalem and encounter the buying and selling of various items in the temple courts. Jesus is displeased and lets all involved know just how much by overturning the moneychangers’ and sellers’ tables and benches, and not allowing anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. He reminds them of what was written, that his house would be called “a house of prayer for all nations,” but they had made it “a den of robbers.”
Jesus and his disciples leave the city that evening, and in the morning, they pass by the same fig tree they had seen the previous day. His disciples, no doubt, are surprised as they tell him the fig tree he cursed has withered. His response was, “Have faith in God.” “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Interestingly, He also adds, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” My first thoughts on reading this passage were, “Do we in any way really believe what he said?”
Since we’re dedicated followers of Jesus today, that would also make us his disciples, too. Hence, along with our prayer requests, Jesus emphasizes forgiving others when we’ve been offended, so that we are also forgiven. However, I’m awed by the fact that He specifically says that whatever we ask for in prayer, believing we’ve received it, will be ours. In addition, I can surmise that how and when we receive it may differ from our expectations. Nevertheless, I choose to accept what is clearly written. Whatever prerequisites we might find to apply, this is what I call the SUPERnatural of God available to us. Evidently, some things we may encounter in God cannot be logically explained. Yet it is truly a blessing to faithfully receive them.
Jesus even attributes this amazing, supernatural ability to having faith in God. This is where our faith should be directed. Then highlighting “Truly,” He wants us to really get that this is no joke, if one were to say to a mountain to throw itself into the sea and not doubt in their heart, but believe what they’ve said, it will be done for them. Now I don’t know about you, but I find this difficult to imagine, and yet when you study and meditate on who God is and how powerful He is, it becomes easier to receive. Further, if it were not so, Jesus would not have said it.
My guess is some of us will find ways to explain this passage as meaning something else, or there being some other necessary conditions. However, it appears quite clear in His teaching we should:
- put our faith in God (not in anything or anyone else);
- say what we desire or speak to the obstacle (don’t see this as a time for just thinking a prayer silently);
- believe it will happen and not doubt (this is where we’ve often missed it); and
- forgive people for any offenses committed against us (another place we may have fallen short).
Passages like this can be very controversial and said to be “name it and claim it” in nature. Nevertheless, one can’t argue that they are in the Bible and Jesus did say what we should say. Not to mention he stated, “If anyone says…” So I’d suppose this isn’t just a reference to church leadership. Wow!
Moreover, there are several other supernatural passages such as these in the Bible that I’m finding many teachers tend not to mention these days. I suppose it is to avoid having to answer to all the critics and their “what-ifs” that they’d be expected to explain. However, I figure what I don’t know, I don’t know, but whatever Jesus said, I can and should repeat it; even if it goes against my human logic.
Thankfully, I’m remembering, Jesus speaking to the centurion in Matthew 8:13: “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
As I continue on my reading journey through the Bible from 2023, I’m adding another study on faith in 2024. It’s crucially important. We can’t please God without it (Hebrews 11:6).
Ms. Rita's Minute 