New Thoughts (12/20/10-12/21/10)
If I make any attempt at assessing this passage free of the assumptions that have accumulated due to prior study and prior teachings, I cannot help but wonder that it is even mentioned. It seems such a minor thing, particularly as Matthew relates it. In his accounting, it’s little more than an aside, serving no better purpose than to set up a message from Jesus. That, I should think, is reason enough, but it leaves one with a perhaps a bad taste. It is not like the Jesus we have seen throughout this Gospel journey to be so arbitrary, so petulant. He is Life, after all, and to see Him taking life, even from a tree, for no immediately apparent reason just seems so wrong.
Honestly, had I been authoring a record intended to show the world that this Jesus was not only different from all their other gods, but entirely Superior, I don’t think I would have chosen to include this. It feels too much like something one of those Greek imposters would have been said to do. They always show a certain penchant for being rather mentally unstable, don’t they? Given to fits of pique, or simply messing with the little people for their own amusement. But, that’s not the Jesus we have seen before, so what gives?
Why, Holy Spirit, would You decide that this should be recorded? Why, for that matter, would You do it in the first place, my Lord Jesus?
Admittedly, the question is somewhat unfair in that I have been building up a history with the Gospels, I have gained some understanding along the way so that no, in reality, I do not see this as a petulant display, but understand it to be entirely purposeful, intentional, and on point. I know Him too well, this God of mine, to suppose that He would ever have taken such action without very definite reasons, and those reasons good.
Let me start with a small trace of a clue in what Mark records. It’s there at the very end of this study’s passage. “His disciples were listening.” This was not some outburst from Jesus which was accidentally witnessed by His followers. Oh, no. This was instruction, but it would await the mind of one of His students catching what transpired before the lesson would be delivered. Yet, I tell you, it is not even that lesson on the power of faith (Mt 21:21-22, Mk 11:22-26) which gives the true importance to what is done here. No, the real point has far more to do with what’s about to transpire in the courts of the Temple (Mt 21:12-13, Mk 11:15, Lk 19:45-46).
So, then, as I came to this study, I found a note I had left myself from some time ago, a little over a year ago, if I am not mistaken as to what portion of the study I was in when I left it. It is likely to have been when I was studying a passage that shows up in the parallels to this, the parable relayed to us in Luke 13:6-9, wherein Jesus speaks of the vineyard owner who notes that after all this time, there is still no fruit to be found on his fig tree. He instructs the keeper of this vineyard to remove the tree and turn the land over to something more beneficial, but the vineyard-keeper argues for one more year, one more year of careful ministrations, and then, if the situation is unchanged, let it be removed.
Well, now that one last year has passed, and Jesus is nearing the point at which that tree is to be removed. The act He takes upon this fig tree is symbolic of what is to come upon His nation. The year has passed, there before Him stands a lone fig tree. That fig tree, as is noted in various places, is an established symbol of the nation of Israel. It had been so from the time of its inception. Under Solomon, we are told that every man sat beneath his own fig tree. It was the mark of the peace of the land, of undisturbed prosperity under God’s administration.
But, here’s the deal: As the ISBE kindly points out, though this was not the season for figs, as Mark notes, that did not mean there would undoubtedly be no fruit on the tree. That note I said I had left for myself: Part of what was in there was the fact that quite often, there would be such sprigs as would become fruit left upon the tree from last year’s growth, and these would begin to grow and ripen even as the first leaves of the next season began to grow. These would be smaller fruit, to be sure, but edible none the less. Then there is this point: “every fig-tree which is going to bear fruit at all will have some immature figs upon it.”
Link these things together. One more year to bear fruit, and that leafy tree was giving sign that if there was going to be any fruit whatsoever, the evidence was available now. If there was no fruit, not even that early fruit out of season that might be expected with the first leaves, then indeed, there was unlikely to be fruit ever again. Now, in that light I might state that what Jesus pronounces over this tree was already a foregone conclusion. The impact of His judgment on the tree was no less dramatic for all that, but I think it would do us well, particularly in avoiding any miss-estimation of His character, to realize that really, the tree had already delivered the verdict upon itself. Jesus was just reading that verdict.
Again, let me stress that this does not in any way account for the shocking decline in that tree between this day and the next (Mk 11:20). Indeed, so shocking is that decline that Matthew speaks of it as an immediate effect. I don’t suppose that this needs to be thought of as contradicting what Mark says, about them not noting it until the next day. Really, on the scale of organic decline, that’s pretty immediate, wouldn’t you say? Today, in full leaf and reaching for summer, tomorrow barren and brittle, that rather exceeds the normal cycle of things, doesn’t it?
However, the message in this tree and its treatment is for the house of Israel, most immediately. What was true of the tree was true of the nation it symbolized. They, too, put on a show of great faith. They, too, had all the trappings of the True Religion, and one seeing all of that should have had every reason in the world to expect the fruits of True Religion to be there in abundance. And yet, what had Jesus encountered over and over again? When such fruits were even displayed by others, the response of the official order was to take offense. They had repeatedly demonstrated that their appearance of belief in God was devoid of any real understanding of God. Indeed, for all they knew His Scriptures, they failed entirely at comprehending its implications. They put on a fine show of piety, but in reality, exercised nothing like real piety. The reception they were about to give their Messiah, their True King, was the final evidence, the fruit out of season whose absence made plain that there would be no further fruit from this tree.
Had there been something, anything, then Jesus, the Vineyard-keeper, would have found that the tree was not barren after all, and would bear fruit eventually. But, there was nothing. The tree of this nation had delivered the verdict upon itself and, as happened with the tree, the Judge would read the verdict delivered into His hands by the defendant. One more year had been given, but that year had passed, and nothing had changed. Patience, even God’s Patience, comes to an end eventually, and as much as He would prefer to demonstrate Mercy, He must instead provide Justice.
So, we come to this comment made in Fausset’s Encyclopedia. “The Jews’ sin was, they were singled out by God from all the nations, and had the power to bring forth the leaves of precocious profession, but not the will to bring forth the fruit of faith and love.” They had the power available, but would not avail themselves of it. As the tree which Jesus set as symbol for the nation, they were planted in rich soil, and they took nourishment from it. The leaves of the tree gave evidence thereof, and the religious practices of Israel provide the counterpoint. But, where was the fruit that the leaves advertised? Where was the reality of faith, the expression of godly love, that the rites and ceremonies would seem to have indicated? Over and over again, we have seen by contrast to the ways of the Son that the ways of that religious order were faithless, devoid of compassion, utterly failing to represent the God Whose name they claimed for themselves.
If there’s one thing that should be clear to even the most casual reader of the Gospels, it’s that Jesus despised nothing so much as the hypocrite. Now, I’m not speaking of those who appear hypocritical to observers because they profess a higher standard than they are able to maintain. That is pretty much the natural order of every believer. If we set our standards according to our ability alone, then we would quite frankly look no different than the world of darkness around us, whose standards are also nothing but a reflection of their own capacities. But, God calls us to aspire to a higher standard, the standard He sets. He calls us to continue in that aspiration however impossible it may be to us.
It will not surprise, I suppose, to learn that there is a Charlie Peacock song running through my thoughts of late. It’s not, after all, an unusual situation for me. But, there’s that song, “Aim a Little Higher”, wherein the line: “Aim a little higher, you’re shooting too low. Aim for the dirt and you’ll never know glorious redemption or heavenly hope.” I bring this up because this is the nature of our goals, our standards. Or, it ought to be. If our standards are solely a reflection of what we are capable of today, then they are nothing, and our capabilities will sag with time. But, if we maintain that upward goal, if we are forever setting our targets even a little bit beyond what we can handle, then we are instigating improvement. It may appear hypocritical to those who observe how often we fall short of those goals, but that’s as it may be. What Jesus condemned roundly was the practice of claiming achievements that were absolutely lacking, of showing the leaves that promised fruit and having no fruit whatsoever.
Think back on the occasions when Jesus was healing folks on the Sabbath and the reaction the Pharisees and religious officialdom had to such things. It meant nothing to them that a life under the curse had been brought out into blessing. People meant nothing to them. God’s love meant nothing to them. What mattered was their ritual, their rules, their practices. And these were the ones who proclaimed them righteous! What is the verdict delivered? “You are like bright white tombs: beautiful on the outside, but dead and utterly unclean on the inside” (Mt 23:27).
OK. Now it’s going to hurt just a little. Jesus didn’t stop with the Pharisees. Neither did He stop with the early church, when it wandered off course. “Because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you claim to be rich and in need of nothing when in reality you are utterly destitute – miserable, poor, blind and naked – and you don’t even realize it! Oh, take my advice! Buy gold refined by fire from Me, then you will be truly rich. Buy white garments from Me that you might clothe yourselves and hide the shame of your nakedness. Buy salve from Me to anoint your eyes so that you can actually see. Understand that I reprove and discipline those I love and knowing that, be zealous to repent” (Rev 3:16-19). Understand, folks, that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for our teaching, reproof, correction and training (2Ti 3:16). The things that happened to those whose stories Scripture recounts to us happened to them as an example, recorded for our benefit and instruction, as we live nearer the end of the ages. So, if you think yourself upright, take heed lest you fall (1Co 10:11-12)!
It wasn’t just that the church in Corinth needed to be brought up short for their practices. It wasn’t that the church in Laodicea was particularly noncommittal in its adherence to the Truth. These are messages for every church in every age. If we would bear the name of Christian, then we must necessarily take these warnings to heart. Let me make it particularly personal and you, if you should be reading this, can read what I say of myself as applying to yourself. I need to take every lesson of Scripture in the light of Paul’s admonition, as a warning to myself when I think I’m doing so much better than I truly am. Jeff! Take heed lest you fall. You have had far better warnings than those who went before, so your fall will have that much less excuse should it come. Forewarned is forearmed, but only if you will take up those arms the Lord has granted you use of and stand firm.
Jeff, if you are neither hot nor cold, God has no particular pleasure in you. You are like that leafy tree that bore no fruit, a waste of space. If there is just the coldness, at least there is hope of the fire being lit to warm you. If you are afire with the love of God then, glory! There is nothing to be concerned about in this moment. But, you know you. There is that vacillation. There is that propensity for bending to the winds of culture, for seeking to fit in with the crowd, but that’s not what you were called to. Aim a little higher! You praise God well enough in the silence, in the private places, and you’re getting there when it comes to being louder about it in times of corporate prayer. Yes, rejoice in that progress! It’s ok. But, recognize that even with that, there is a place for growth, there is that evangelistic attitude from which you’ve excused yourself forever. No doubt (since I know me so well) that will continue to be the case, at least for a season. But, the fruit! Jeff, bear fruit!
Listen! If there is no fruit, then the trappings of religion and the appearance of faith are of no value. They are of less than no value! They are the marks of a hypocrite, a false religion that will not only fail to secure life, but will secure instead the cursing and death. That’s the summary of this parable, and if it doesn’t pain you to consider it, then I dare say you’re not really considering it. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of this God we serve. Though we have laid hold of the full benefits of the Atoning work of the Christ of God, and stand counted amongst the Redeemed, this remains true. We fall short. We fall short daily. The question we must each answer for ourselves is: how do we respond to that fall? Do we lower our standards so that we won’t feel so embarrassed? Do we accept the Codex of Mediocrity and redefine right to match our current best efforts? Aim a little higher!
It has often been said that there is no standing still in the faith. We either progress or we are falling behind. What do our standards and practices say of us? Which direction are we traveling? Forward or backward? Tempting though it would be to slide off into a diatribe about the state of the Church in our day, that would be nothing but evasion. The state of the Church cannot hope to be better than the state of those individuals who comprise the Church.
It’s interesting. Table Talk is touching on the record of Nehemiah this week, and I today’s offering there is this statement made. “Righteous laws can be passed in our land, but there will be no lasting change unless and until the church gets its own house in order.” That is a valid statement, and worthy of reflection. But, it misses one further step which must precede that which it proposes. The church will never succeed in getting its own house in order unless and until we who are the members of this church, the stones from which the church is built – who are, in fact, the very temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit apart from which the church is a powerless hulk adrift in the void – get our own personal spiritual house in order.
That’s the call of this parable, and it’s a call issued in darkest fashion. You have the leaf of your weekly attendance record. You have the leaf of your tithing and giving. You have the leaf of being well versed in Scripture. You have the leaf of a lifestyle of habitual prayer. These are all good things, but unless they are bearing fruit, they are utterly valueless. Unless they are prompting you to a lifestyle of compassionate love first for the brethren, yes, but by no means stopping there, you are but a noisy gong, a stench in the nostrils of your alleged God, and by no means an acceptable sacrifice.
Jesus said that we would know the good and the evil by the fruits of their lives (Mt 7:16-20). And even John the Baptist, who preceded the Christ and announced Him to the world, advised his students to bring for fruit in keeping with repentance (Lk 3:8). Lineage, membership in the right church, none of that will matter if real repentance, with the fruit being an absolute and evident change of habit, is lacking. Oh, listen to James, you who suppose yourselves wise! If it is wisdom from above (which is, after all, the only sort that has value) it shall be ‘first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering and without hypocrisy’ that terrible poison (Jas 3:17)!
So, what manner of fruit ought to be found upon our lives? Well, there is the popular list in Galatians 5:22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Or we could simplify it to the statement of Ephesians 5:9 – the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. And, lest we become all stressed out about trying to work up such fruit of our own power, understand that the fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus the Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Php 1:11) or it comes not at all. We are called to bear fruit in every good work (Col 1:10), remembering that it is for this purpose that we were created.
Then, of course, there’s this: That discipline which may be visited upon us by our loving Father; it is not something we will find a joy to go through, indeed, will find cause for sorrow in it. Yet! Yet, as we are trained by it (if we will learn from it instead of just bucking against it), it afterwards yields ‘the peaceful fruit of righteousness’ (Heb 12:11). The fruit of righteousness is peaceful because the seed from which it grows is sown by the peaceful in order to make peace (Jas 3:18).
So, again I call you, I call myself to take heed to this. Examine yourself! Am I where I would be? Where I should be? Have I allowed my sights to gradually lower, so that I no longer strive toward the upward goal? Oy! I don’t need, necessarily, that extreme of ‘Crazy Love’, but I need to keep stretching onward toward the true goal, never allowing it to be replaced by some more achievable but utterly worthless for all that goal. Indeed, let us spur each other onward toward that every end: that we might abandon worthless goals that we have set to appease our egos, and return to the one race that matters, the race for Home.
