Matt 21:18-22
2013/10/13
- Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.
- Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
- When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
- Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
- If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
The great controversy about whether Jesus Christ is humane or divine has been with the history of Christianity for the past two thousand years. No matter what kind of images of Jesus one brings to mind, he is depicted truly humane in the four Gospels, which touches me and consoles me deeply.
For instance, Jesus wept with grief when he heard about his friend Nazarus’ death (John 11:33, 38). He showed his anger when he saw people were buying and selling in the temple of Jerusalem, which was supposed to be ‘a house of prayer for all nations’ (Mark 11:17). Also, when he was passing through Samaria, he was tired from his journey and asked a woman for a drink. Yes, Jesus was tired too. Whenever I feel tired myself, I think about this story in John Ch. 4, and get consoled.
In other words, Jesus is not someone who exists in a transcendental world, and looks down over us from there. But rather, he is someone who stays with us and helps us in our everyday life. This is how we understand the trinity. When we are hungry, Jesus is hungry with us. When we weep, Jesus is in tears for us.
Today’s scripture reading shows us another humane aspect of Jesus. It also portrays his desperateness about his people as he knew that the time for his cross was approaching. As he went out of the city of Bethany and was on his way back to Jerusalem, he was hungry and went up to a fig tree by the road. But he found nothing on it except leaves and said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
This episode is the only miracle of Jesus that conveys a negative connotation. The leafy fig tree suddenly withered. Upon seeing this, his disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” Their sole interest was in “how”: How did this happen? They just witnessed a miracle, but never understood its true meaning. In fact, Jesus was prophesying that the Judaism that had no fruit like the fig tree would end very quickly. His prophesy was realized in 40 years when the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed and Israel was colonized by the Roman Empire.
• Receiving God’s spirit
Through the withered fig tree, Jesus was showing the reality of the then Judaism. The people of God retained their religious formality, but their hearts were so far away from God. Those who were proud to be faithful were actually intoxicated with their own religious acts. Therefore, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the law:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. (Matthew 23:23)
Jesus penetrated that they were praying, fasting and helping not for the glory of God, but for their own glory and contentment. They usually have certain traits: they don’t have peace in mind, are closed, judge other people with their own standards, and enthusiastically criticize others. Their religion is not love but judgment.
Brothers and sisters, what about you? What kind of fruits are you bearing? Believers are those who received the life, heart and essence of God. They are those who were moved by the spirit of God. In other words, believers are those who received the spirit of God. The word ‘to receive’ is translated to ‘empfangen’ in German, which also means ‘to be pregnant’. That is, when you received the spirit of God, you conceive something just as a woman conceives a new life.
The Bible teaches us that the heart of God comes into our mind and gets us to conceive the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul explains in Gal 5:22-23 that there are nine types of fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If you claim to believe in God, you should reflect whether or not you are bearing this fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life. You can judge it by putting yourself in a concrete situation. For instance, do you love those who you can’t love? It is easy to love someone who is kind and gentle to you, while it is really difficult to love someone who hates you. Also, are you happy in a situation where you can’t be hppy? Can you be happy just for the fact that you are a child of God even if you lose everything you cherished? Do you remain gentle in a situation where you deserve to be angry? Do you live a frugal and simple life even when you can have more? If you say yes, you can be said to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I truly hope that you can bear those precious fruits in your life.
• Prayers
When the disciples were amazed at the withered tree, Jesus began to talk about prayer. “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.” This is a hyperbolic and also an idiomatic expression that was used when something great happened at that time in Israel.
Then why did Jesus turn to the teaching of prayers while he was talking about the fig tree? We need to know the key lies in the word “fruit” in verse 21. Jesus was concerned that his disciples might be found fruitless after his death, and was emphasizing that they should pray in order to bear the fruit of faith. The expressions ‘I tell you the truth’ and ‘if you have faith and do not doubts’ show how important it is to learn about prayer. To pray is an act to conceive the fruit of the Holy Spirit!
Frankly, I was troubled by reading verse 21 because I have seen the verse causing so many instances of side effects. Not every prayer we pray before God is achieved. However, the Bible still says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”. How can we explain that seeming contradiction? While I pondered upon it long time, the Lord provided me with wisdom. I bought a lotto ticket for one euro and I prayed ardently, ‘Lord, you know my dream. If I win the jackpot for 1.7 million euros today, I will spend it without hesitating for a second on building a mission center in Europe. I’ll also found a scholarship foundation for children of pastors and missionaries.’ I prayed really seriously. Actually I have been praying for the mission center and scholarship foundation for years, and I have no doubt that God will make my dreams come true someday. But what do you think? Did I win the jackpot or not? Yes, you are right. I didn’t win the jackpot. Why? It’s because my prayers with the lotto ticket was not after God’s heart. That’s not how God works.
Even a fertile land can’t produce a tree from a dead seed. Likewise, our prayers must go through a phase of tuning our heart to God’s, in order for our prayers to be answered. We should keep asking God, ‘Lord, I have such and such plans for my life, and I would like to know whether they match with your plans for me.’ Then you will see whether your prayers are answered or not, as his answer is never ambiguous but very clear.
Jesus said, ‘Father, you are in me and I am in you’. That is the prerequisite for your prayer to be answered. When you tune our thoughts and will to the heart of God, He will understand your circumstances and conditions, and begin to solve your problems. Another important thing is to make efforts for your prayers. After you pray, you live for the prayer. If you pray ‘I want to lose weight’, you stop eating at night and reduce sweets.
While we pray for those small things, there are people who ‘live their prayers’, such as missionaries. Even though their dreams seem unrealistic, so many of them have gotten tuned to the heart of God and have come true. Missionary Shin who visited us back in June is one of those. He has been helping gypsies and homeless people for a long time. Usually people can’t bear gypsies even for a week, because they frequently lie, steal, and act ungratefully. Homeless people stink and act violently. But Missionary Shin thinks it his calling to help them, live with them, and pray for them.
Have you ever thought about the difficulties missionaries have? Many of their wives suffer from depression. Especially those who have children feel like giving up their calling to see their children have to go through the same difficulties that they have. Whenever they feel so, they pray in tears and rise again by tuning their shaking hearts to the will of God. They regain strength by thinking about Jesus who comforted and healed the poor, the sick, and the alienated.
Brothers and sisters, I think this is the faith that can move mountains. A prayer tuning up to God’s heart makes miracles. If your prayers remain unanswered, it’s probably because you have been praying that God’s heart gets tuned to your will, not the other way around.
Our deacon’s meeting last Sunday decided to celebrate the first Sunday of November this year as a Thanksgiving Sunday, and to have a service together with the Luxembourgish church that shares this building with us. We will also make a special offering for Thanksgiving, which will be used to help missionaries. I would like to ask each you to make your own offering, reflecting the past year and thinking about a list of gratitude to God. Some of you might be suffering from a financial problem, but still I’d like to ask you to make a little offering to be a miracle for someone who is seeking help from God. No sharing, no abundance.
Jesus wanted his disciples to bear fruit in their life, and said, No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. (John 15:4)
When we remain in the heart of the Lord, we will be able to bear fruit. Jesus who is hungry is seeking the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control within us. When we can provide him with those fruits of the Holy Spirit, we together with him will be filled with joy. I pray that you, your family, your work and our community will flourish with the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Jesus name. Amen.