Jesus and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

May 23, 2023

Mark 11:12-26 | Jeremiah 7:8-11

He was human!

(To be clear, he is human even now.)

But Jesus’ humanity really comes through in this passage. On first glance, you might think he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Cursing a fig tree for not producing figs when it’s not even fig-producing season is…something.

Entering the temple and throwing everyone out is also…something. He could have asked people to leave first. But he just threw ‘em all out.

And while Jesus’ conclusive words about doing powerful things out of faith is not out of the ordinary from what we might expect from him, that cursing a fig tree was his example is…something.

The thing about faith in Christ’s teaching is that it’s not simply about believing something hard enough. Biblical faith is not simply will power of the heart and mind. For Jesus, faith encapsulates both the belief and faithfulness to the belief. That is, if we’re going to strive to have faith to see something done or accomplished, we will have to have the effort to follow up the accomplishment with faithfulness to its completion.

Just like Jesus always did.

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Mark 11:12-26

The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn’t the season for figs. So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” His disciples heard this.

They came into Jerusalem. After entering the temple, he threw out those who were selling and buying there. He pushed over the tables used for currency exchange and the chairs of those who sold doves. He didn’t allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He taught them, “Hasn’t it been written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you’ve turned it into a hideout for crooks.” The chief priests and legal experts heard this and tried to find a way to destroy him. They regarded him as dangerous because the whole crowd was enthralled at his teaching. When it was evening, Jesus and his disciples went outside the city.

Early in the morning, as Jesus and his disciples were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered from the root up. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look how the fig tree you cursed has dried up.”

Jesus responded to them, “Have faith in God! I assure you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea’—and doesn’t waver but believes that what is said will really happen—it will happen. Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. And whenever you stand up to pray, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings.”

Jeremiah 7:8-11

And yet you trust in lies that will only hurt you. Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, sacrifice to Baal and go after other gods that you don’t know, and then come and stand before me in this temple that bears my name, and say, “We are safe,” only to keep on doing all these detestable things? Do you regard this temple, which bears my name, as a hiding place for criminals? I can see what’s going on here, declares the Lord.

Prayer

God,

Am I allowed to do what Jesus did to the fig tree? I don’t mean I want to curse a fig tree, I mean sometimes I want to react in such a way at something that doesn’t give me what I want. Just like Jesus.

Some will say he was making a larger point. Maybe so. But he still caused a fig tree to wither.

I do get frustrated sometimes, Lord. But you know this. You’ve seen me in action. There’s just so much to be frustrated about. Don’t you get frustrated or are you perpetually calm?

I guess Jesus’ example might say a little bit about that.

Lord, as I go about this day, help me to be like Jesus, who more often was patient and collected than anything else.

By your spirit & in Christ,

Amen.