I wonder whyYou cursed a fig tree
for not bearing fruit
out of season
when You were hungry.
You could have made the fruit appear --received the gift of God
because You are He
who can move mountains
and cast them into the sea.
You proved positive your power --
but in the negative. Why?
Why a miracle of death?
How does the curse of the Christ
demonstrate that faith in God
will grant us the gifts of our hearts?
Open my eyes;
I cannot see.
Are there any passages of scripture you've been puzzling over lately?
Hey my name is Jessica, to get the answer for why God cursed the fig tree you have to look at the bible in whole as to what fig tree represent and as to what fruit represents. here are some more passages to clear this up~
ReplyDeleteok the first scripture is talking about bad fruit~
Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
now here is the fruit Christians are supposed to bare~
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
here is another part were it talk about un fruitfulness ~
Eph 5:11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them].
Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
And now here is one really important part of the bible that really breaks it down for us, it will fully explain why God cursed the fruitless tree and why we should produce fruit, its a long chapter but if you read it you will have your answer~
Jhn 15:1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Jhn 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Jhn 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Jhn 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Jhn 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Jhn 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.
Jhn 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Jhn 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Jhn 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Jhn 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
(there is so many more verses with the "symbol" of the fig tree and fruit)
But basically it was representing what well happen to us if we do not bare fruit, which we can easily do if we are connected to Jesus...
Wow, Jessica -- thank you for taking the time to share all those verses!!!! I totally understand the whole theme of fruitfulness and being connected to the Vine for abundant life. I still have a hard time seeing, though, how the passage I wrote about relates to it. Jesus was hungry. He went to a fig tree that should NOT have been bearing fruit because it was NOT the season for fruit bearing. He cursed the tree for not bearing fruit. The point He was making in the passage was that if we have faith, we can move mountains. I don't understand why He did not just cause the tree to bear fruit so His hunger could be abated and He could illustrate His point. But, as I stay connected to Him and allow His fruit to be borne in my life, perhaps I will understand :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking the time to comment! :)
You must forgive me if I am long winded lol, but I love talking about the bible,
ReplyDeleteok so you cassued me to reaserch it a bit more to confirm what i said earlier ;)
see your asuming that what puts it in context is the verse after but perhaps its the verse before that puts it in context
[[[[Mat 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
Mat 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Mat 21:14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
Mat 21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
Mat 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
Mat 21:17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Mat 21:18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
Mat 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
in the versus before he was dealing with the temple and the pharasees, cause we know that God came for his people but they rejected Him, and now the gospel is open to the gentiles, but you see the pharess were not purdusing fruit,
and in this verse Jesus is talking to the people and he says
Luk 3:7 ¶ Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luk 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Luk 3:9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
I understand what you're saying, Jessica, in terms of the theme of fruitfulness throughout the bible. But in the chapter I was reading, Mark 11, Peter points out the withered fig tree from the day before, and Jesus's response was an instruction to have faith in God:
ReplyDelete20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
It just puzzles me that Jesus would use a curse to illustrate this rather than a miracle of provision. If he wanted figs from the tree (which was not in season), why not just put some figs on the tree and satisfy His hunger while demonstrating the power of faith in God? But I suspect it's one of those questions I'll have to wait and ask in heaven ;)
I do appreciate your thoughtful responses, though! And no apologies necessary for long-winded comments :)
I think he was showing the seriousness of not bearing fruit and when Peter marvels at this Jesus is basically saying oh that thats nothing, with faith the size of a mustard seed you can do many things,
ReplyDeletebecause we know Jesus very well could have just made a burger appear in his hand seeing as how he was hungry, but he was using it as an important illustration cause remember he says people that don't bear fruit he well cut them down and they will go to hell, I think its his way of showing how serious it it, =)
Could be :) Thanks for exploring this with me, Jessica :)
ReplyDelete