The Fig Tree — The Striking and the Parable

So, last week, I was listening to scripture on the way to work and I ran across this moment…

Matthew 21:18-22 — In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

What’s always struck me about this passage is how Christ seemingly “punishes” the tree for not producing. Such seeming contempt seems out of character for Christ, as the tree didn’t have any choice over whether or not it would produce.

So that got me to thinking — not about producing results but about purpose. It’s easy to assume that the fig tree’s purpose is to produce figs, but maybe that’s a mistake, because it’s ULTIMATE purpose is to serve God’s Will. Sometimes that means producing figs, true, but in THIS case, I rather think that the fig tree’s purpose was to serve as an object lesson.

See, we’re told in scripture that we plant and we water, but it’s GOD to provides the increase. In this fig tree’s case, God WITHHELD the increase. So it wasn’t the fig tree’s fault that it didn’t produce, which means that Christ wouldn’t have been “punishing” it for not producing.

So why strike it?

I think there are a number of reasons that fit. The obvious one, of course, would be to demonstrate His power, and by proxy, the power of faith that those who follow after Him will exercise. And there’s also the fact that we meet our purpose not in how well we produce for God but in how available we are to Him. But neither of those explanations quite “fit” with me.

Then I came across this passage Wednesday morning — again, on the way to work…

Luke 13:6-9 — And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

I was still dwelling on the fig tree that Christ struck when I came across this parable… and I realized something. When Jesus struck the tree in Matthew 21, that would’ve been WELL AFTER Him giving this parable in Luke 13. In fact, Jesus struck the tree just shortly after the Triumphal Entry and the Cleansing of the Temple — mere days before Calvary.

In other words, when He struck the tree, He’d already been three years into His earthly ministry, spreading the Gospel and building up disciples to do the same — three years of searching for fruit that Israel, the People of God, was reluctant to give.

His disciples may well have remembered this parable from earlier, and so when Jesus struck the tree, they may have seen the withering of the tree NOT as a judgment against the tree but against Israel.

Driving Thoughts 8 of 8 — The Young Ruler

Matthew 19:16-22 — And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

In the Old Testament, we’re given the account of God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses. These commandments all stem from a single commandment – to recognize God as God in our every word and deed — and are divided into two parts. The first four commandments deal with how we interact with God Himself. The remaining six deal with how we interact with those that God loves, namely, all of us.

With this in mind, consider the young ruler. When he questions Jesus about what commandments he should keep, Jesus lists off the portion of the Ten Commandments that deals with how we deal with others. The young man realizes that he still lacks something, and asks Jesus what that something is. Jesus then tells him to sell everything that he has and give it to the poor.

See, the fact that Jesus starts by listing off the latter six commandments hints that now He’s pointing back to the first four commandments, so consider the response in that light.

The young man was good with following the letter of those latter commandments, but the though of following the spirit of them grieved him. This demonstrates where the young man’s heart actual lay — with himself. When he was questioning Jesus, he wasn’t looking for how to best serve the God that he claimed to serve. He was looking for how to get that God to serve him — to give him eternal life for his benefit, not for God’s glory.

Driving Thoughts 7 of 8 — The Hem Of His Garment

At the end of Matthew chapter 14, we see Jesus after the boat scene, going into the land of Gennesaret, also known as Galilee.

As He goes, people start crowding around Him, begging to Touch the Hem of His Garment. Here, Matthew tells us that all the people who touched the hem of His garment were healed.

Thing is, this is the second time we find people wanting to touch the hem of His garment. It happened at least once before, five chapters earlier in Matthew 9:20-22.

The “woman with the issue of blood” gets a lot of press because everybody knows how she got healed, but it seems that this passage in Matthew 14 gets overlooked, not unlike how there are at least two mass feedings in the New Testament — one of 5,000 men and one of 4,000 men. This bear is looking into a bit more, and I may come back and amend this post at a later date. I just thought the distinction between the two miracles involving Jesus’ hem was noteworthy.

Driving Thoughts 6 of 8 — The Unclean Spirit

Matthew 12:43-45 — When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.

This is another one that always gave me a little difficulty. Typically, people think this passage is talking about demon possession and whatnot, but I don’t think that it is.

See, it’s given in the same context as Jonah preaching to Nineveh and the queen of the South coming to Solomon. In both cases, the people receiving word from God are replacing their ignorance with knowledge and wisdom. And in both cases, they’re replacing their sin with righteousness before God, repenting and turning their lives around to something that better reflects what He wants of them.

Now, look at what Jesus says about the unclean spirit in that light. When the unclean spirit is cast out of a man and goes wandering around and he comes back, he finds the house swept and cleaned and empty. Empty. That’s what gives the unclean spirit and its seven buddies access.

Jonah and Solomon give this a particular spin. Had the man that had been freed from the unclean spirit filled the house with something else, the spirit wouldn’t have found a place to move into. There would be no room for it. I think that’s what Jesus is talking about here. Instead of our focus being on “don’t sin, don’t sin, don’t sin,” Jesus sweeping our houses for us ought to give us an incentive fill the house with HIM, leaving no room for sin to return and take root again. Unless we fill our house with Him, sin still has a place to come back to.

Driving Thoughts 5 of 8 — One Of These Little Ones

In Matthew 10, Jesus talks about discipleship, about how a student is no better than his teacher or a servant better than his master.

He talks about how when you receive a prophet in another prophet’s name, you receive a prophet’s reward. He also says that when you receive a righteous man in a righteous man’s name, you’ll receive a righteous man’s reward.

Then we get to “He who gives a cup of cold water in a disciple’s name,” and things change. In the previous two examples, Jesus tied the prophet with the prophet’s representative, and the righteous man to the righteous man’s representative. In this final example, though, He gives a general “he,” rather than following a disciple with a disciple’s representative.

One might not be able to identify with a prophet’s representative or with righteous man’s representative, but everybody can identify with the general “he.” That would open things up for the audience, suggesting that anybody, any general person, might be a disciple.

Driving Thoughts 4 of 8 — Which Is Easier To Say?

“Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven you, or rise and walk?”

This is something that Jesus asked the Pharisees and onlookers when He Healed the lame man.

Of course, anything is easy to say when you don’t have a burden of proof. Anybody can say anything they want. Doesn’t make it true.

When Jesus asked these questions, it was plain even to the Pharisees that “your sins are forgiven you” was the easiest thing to say. You can’t really prove it. Can’t back it up. So you don’t have any burden to back it up. You don’t have to, so there’s no expectation that you will.

But when you say “rise and walk”, now you’re on public display. Now you can fail, and people can see you fail. But this Healing was something that Jesus could do that the Pharisees could not.

This is huge. Because if Jesus could back up such a hard thing as telling the lame man that he was healed, how hard could it be for him to back up the claim that his sins are forgiven?

Driving Thoughts 3 of 8 — Jesus Marveled

In Matthew chapter 8, we’re given the account of the centurion that came to Jesus asking for healing for his servant. Jesus asks the centurion to lead him to the servant, but the centurion balks at this, instead saying that he knows that Jesus is capable of healing his servant without Him even being there.

At this, scripture tells us that Jesus marveled.

I’ve always wondered about that. Jesus, being God With Us, shouldn’t be surprised by anything, and yet He “marveled” at the centurion’s faith. Then I noted how Jesus contrasted the centurion’s faith with the faithlessness of Israel, and it struck me.

Israel was handcrafted by God to become a unique people with a unique worldview, one that would eventually allow for Jesus to enter the world and be recognized for Who He is. If anybody in all of history and all of creation should have understood what Jesus was trying to say, it should have been the people of Israel. If there was anyone who should have had genuine faith, it should have been a Jew.

And yet, when Jesus finds authentic faith in someone, one that recognizes the kind of authority that Jesus wields, it’s in a man whose job it was to oppress the people of Israel.

Jesus, of course, isn’t surprised by this, but it is still noteworthy, worthy of marveling, of shaking his head at the irony of it all.

Driving Thoughts 2 of 8 — The Sermon on the Mount as a Model for Christian Authenticity

Usually, when we consider the Beatitudes, we tend to break them down into distinct segments. We talk about how blessed this person and that person is. We talk about how we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We talk about how Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. But the thought occurred to me that all these separate segments carry the same theme.

Look particularly at how Jesus said that He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill. I find the placement of this admonition rather telling, as He drops this right RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of His Sermon — directly after the Beatitudes, the salt and light, and directly before His application of laws regarding murder and adultery.

Far from being a separate theme, it seems that “I come not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it” is the centerpiece of the Sermon. In South Alabama vernacular, it’s like He’s telling them, “None of this should be news to y’all. THIS IS THE POINT of the Law and the Prophets.”

Dropping that claim in the middle of His Sermon, He’s saying that in order to live according to the Law and the Prophets perfectly — which was the aim of the Jewish culture — requires meekness, mourning, purity of spirit. It requires the cleansing integrity that salt has, and the in-your-face witness that light has.

In order to live the way that God intends us to live, we have to live for Him with authenticity — openly and without compromise. We have to legit be children of God, with Him as our top priority rather than we ourselves.

A legit child of God doesn’t think that as long as he doesn’t murder, that it’s okay to entertain unjust anger. A legit child of God doesn’t think that as long as he doesn’t “do the deed” that it’s fine if he entertains lust.

Such a one doesn’t try to please God with a gift while still causing hurt to somebody else that God loves. He doesn’t let his brother stew on the wrong that he did to him, but seeks reconciliation — not tomorrow, not when he gets done with what he’s doing for God first, but immediately.

And to be clear, seeking that unity between the two of you doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to “endorse” what you think they might be wrong about. Unity is not about supporting error, but about showing God’s love to someone who might not be able to experience it as easily as you do.

Of all of God’s attributes, singleness of mind, internal consistency, and personal integrity are probably the most basic ways that we can faithfully follow him. It’s very telling then that Jesus should end The Sermon on the Mount by commanding people to “be perfect just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” Because every attribute that Jesus touched on in the Sermon is a perfect reflection of who God Himself is, which is why God wants us to be that way. The best way that we could show God that we love Him is by emulating him before those who might not be able to see Him.

Driving Thoughts 1 of 8 — It Is

I was listening to Matthew chapter 4 this morning, and a thought occurred to me. Now, I’m sure this has been preached on by a million different preachers, but this is the first time that it’s ever struck me quite this way.

Now, we’ve all heard the account of how, when Satan tempted Jesus, the Lord responded with scripture. Usually, it’s often argued that the point of this account is to show how scripture defeated Satan, but I’m not entirely sure that’s the case.

See, Jesus is Emmanuel — literally, God With Us. He has the authority, at any time, to simply “power up” and shut Satan down. But that’s not what Jesus does here. Instead, He did exactly what he did in the incarnation — He humbled Himself, limiting His response to the exact same tools that the most basic, immature Christian has at his disposal.

There’s a lot to unpack about that. I mean, not only does it give the usual credibility to scripture as being sufficient for us, but it also highlights the kind of confidence that Jesus Himself had in it. I mean, Jesus is literally the Word of God, made flesh to dwell among us, and here He is using the word of God to defeat Satan.

So WHY didn’t He power up? WHY did He let Satan try to tempt Him, when He could’ve shut him down immediately? I think it was to demonstrate that, however powerful Satan may seem to us, he’s already defeated. Jesus DIDN’T HAVE to power up, and in responding to Satan this way — in limiting Himself to the same tools that the most baby Christian has — He demonstrates that WE don’t have to power up either. Because Satan’s defeat is already written. Literally.

That’s the power of scripture in our lives. We’re variable, corruptible. We lie to ourselves whenever it’s convenient, and we believe our own lies. But scripture never changes. What is written is ALWAYS written, and we can use it as a landmark to reveal to us when we’ve shifted, and how far.

No matter where we are in life, no matter how the waves toss us back and forth, scripture is always there to draw us back like an anchor. Jesus, who could have commanded Satan to silence, instead choose to use this weapon to defeat him, a weapon crafted to be wielded by the least of us.

The Case For A Light Ariel

So, Ariel the Mermaid being played by a black actress has been a topic of discussion on the Interwebz lately, with opinions falling on all sides. Of course, I’ve been called out for my disappointment with Disney’s choice — because “racist” (*rolls eyes*) — but I want to be abundantly clear here. My opinion from the beginning has been dependent upon one factor and one factor alone: worldbuilding.

The standard objection to my objection, of course, has been “It doesn’t matter because mermaids are mythical creatures” or something along those lines. Thing is, in order for a mythical creature to be believable, there has to be a believable explanation for their attributes — in this case, for her coloration being dark.

Now, the coloration of aquatic creatures, from fish to sharks to starfish to octopi, plays into their ability (both as hunter and as prey) to use camouflage. As such, coloration is strongly related to environment. Aquatic creatures are often pale on their underbelly (to blend with the color of the lighted water above them, if seen from beneath) and grey/green/blue/etc on the top (to blend with the darker waters below them, if seen from above).

Using this metric, when you get into brown fish, the environs are usually muddy. If Ariel, Triton, and the rest of the kingdom exist in muddy waters, then sure — her brown complexion makes perfect sense. But given Disney’s commitment to beautiful and colorful backdrops, I find a muddy environment unlikely.

So again, that leaves us without an explanation as to why Ariel and Company would be brown. “Just because” works perfectly for children and social justice warriors who just want their agendas stroked, but it STINKS as far as quality, responsible storytelling is concerned.