The Fig Tree

SOAP - The Fig Tree

Scripture
Mark 11:13-14 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again."

Observation
I've always had trouble with this scripture. I'm a wimp so I feel sorry for the fig tree. The scripture says that it wasn't the season for figs, and yet Jesus gets mad at the tree for not having any figs. That seems a bit harsh to me.

Application
Thankfully, William Barclay has an explanation of this scripture that allows me to feel at least a little better about it. I kinda think I might be getting distracted by feeling sorry for a fig tree, and missing the point. Anyway, Barclay says that this scripture shows us two important things. 1) It shows us that uselessness invites disaster. Jesus needed food. The fig tree didn't have any so it was useless to him and thus was doomed. That's still pretty harsh to me. I feel pretty useless a lot of the time. But I also know that if I truly give all of myself to the Lord, I will not be useless at all. 2) (I like this explanation better) It also shows us that profession of faith without practice is condemned. The tree had leaves; the leaves represent a claim to have figs, but there were no figs and thus it's claim was false. Barclay notes that the profession of faith without practice has been throughout the ages the curse of the church. He also quotes Gandhi: "The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious; they were not an assembly of devout souls, but appeared rather to be worldly-minded people going to church for recreation and in conformity to custom." This explanation gets through to me. I understand it. And it seems very applicable in life. I can't go around claiming to be a christian and then having my actions directly contradict that. I have to do my best to put my faith into practice. Of course I am not going to be perfect and neither is anyone else, but I can't just carelessly go about doing as I please.

Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for offering us the opportunity to serve you. I pray that you would give us courage and strength to do that even when it's so much easier to just go our own way. Give us a heart for you and a desire to go your way. Thank you. Amen.