Mark 11:12-14
12 The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. 14 Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.
Why? Why curse the fig tree? What are we missing? A lot, as it turns out. Unless you are a fig producer or you’ve been around fig trees you wouldn’t know. Fig trees produce a ‘pre’ crop of sorts. The short answer: The Master expected to find … fruit.
Taqsh (Aramic): or Breba - a fig of the first crop ripening on the old wood.
Fig trees produce a substandard fig called ‘taqsh’ around the time of Passover every year. My grandmother had a fig tree. When those first figs showed up, we didn’t bother them. They weren’t that good. It was as if they could not fully ripen that time of year. In Jesus’ day, the ‘taqsh’ could be picked from any fig tree by the poor or impoverished without fear of retribution from the farmers, as it was not the ‘sweet’ fig that would be produced later in the summer.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was hungry. When he saw leaves from afar on the fig tree, Jesus reasonably expected to find taqsh. When there was none to be found, Jesus simply declared the fig tree barren. In that, it withered almost immediately speaks to the power of Jesus’ spoken words, but his statement was more descriptive than commanding. What has this to do with today’s lesson?
James 2:14-16
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can [n]that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, [o]be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is [p]dead, being by itself.
As it turns out, James, in the tradition of any good husbandman, is also looking for fruit. He understands that, like the fig tree in late spring, maybe he can’t expect fully ripened fruit or works from his readers, he fully expects to find something! The believers James is writing to have been dispersed into Asia and are undergoing the stress that comes with such trauma. It seems that the enemy (the devil) has used this trauma to create division among them. Rather than finding unity in the face of adversity, they have turned on one another. This ought not to be.
2 Timothy 4:2
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Beloved, if we find ourselves waiting for a time to be our best selves, we will see opportunity after opportunity for the furthering of the Gospel slipping from our fingers. Tests and trials don’t determine our availability to kingdom work. Our willingness to obey God’s Word and our sensitivity to leading the Holy Spirit will determine our path and our influence on that path.
James 2: 25
25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
2Thessalonians 1:11
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power,
What did Rahab do to earn her place in posterity? Beloved, she simply showed kindness to strangers that showed up on her doorstep. Her actions preached then, and they still preach today. What about you? Do your actions live up to your confession?
Selah
wb
Isaiah 58:10-11
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your [f]darkness shall be as the noonday.
(((Addendum: Note to self for future reference: A new beginning)
John 3:3-6
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [a]again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.))
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