Gospel of Mark Study #37

“Dead Trees and Barren Religion”

Mark 11:20-33

Study #37 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

One of the signs of physical health is reproductivity. This is true of both plants and animals. For example, a healthy tree reproduces itself. Starting again every year in the spring it buds, flowers, and grows leaves. Later it develops fruit, drops its seeds, and starts a bunch of cute little new baby trees. That is the life cycle of trees. Years ago, at our house in Milwaukie, Oregon we had two Red Maple trees in our backyard that were heavily invested into this reproductive process. They were trying to grow a maple forest in our back yard, and I worked hard to keep that from happening. That meant going around and pulling up the little devils that tried to sprout all over the yard and in the flower beds.

Trees that are unhealthy, however, are usually barren or produce only a small harvest of sickly fruit. Oh, they may have leaves and they may still give shade, but if they do not produce fruit, you can bet that there is something wrong. However, the problems are not always easy to detect early on, unless you know what to look for. In our last study Jesus had a little run-in with a fig tree that was sporting lots of leaves but was barren of fruit. Mark 11:12-14 says: ¹² On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. ¹³ Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

I told you then that we would be back to visit this same fig tree and to try and figure out why Jesus cursed it. What was the point? Was He merely unhappy because it did not have any fruit on it, even though the text clearly says that it was not yet time to have ripe figs? Was He being petulant and mean spirited? Of course not! Jesus chose that tree and that occasion to teach His disciples yet another important life lesson, one that they would need in the future after He was gone.

TRANSITION:

You know that Jesus was an expert at putting His finger on problems. He could see into peoples’ souls and see what was lacking in them. He could look into a person’s eyes and know what they were thinking. He was not impressed with religiosity and phony piety. He was not taken in by religious people who had no genuine holiness. He could spot a fake from a mile away.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 20: As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 

• This was now Tuesday morning of what we call the Passion Week. On their way once again, walking from Bethany where they spent each night, the 2½ miles to Jerusalem, they passed by the same tree that Jesus had cursed the day before. But this time, instead of looking healthy and being covered with green leaves, it was dried up with the brown leaves falling off and the roots obviously dead. Wow! That all happened in just 24-hours and because of Jesus’ words! He struck that tree dead just by speaking to it. Now that is power!

Verse 21: Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 

• It certainly impressed Peter and the boys. They apparently were amazed that the Lord’s cursing was so effectual and so immediate. Peter, as so often happened, was the first one to make a comment. He pointed out to Jesus what had happened to the tree, as though Jesus did not know already. Of course, Jesus knew! The question is… WHY? What spiritual lesson did Jesus want to teach these guys (and us too)? 

Verses 22-23: And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.  ²³ Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.” 

• So, what was the spiritual lesson? Was it about dendrology? That’s the study of trees and woody plants for all of you who flunked science class. NO! Was it about placing hexes and curses on things or people we do not like or that do not give us what we want? Again, NO! Jesus used this whole barren tree thing to teach His disciples about faith, authority, and the power of prayer.
• To be honest, I struggle with these verses. I am embarrassed to admit that my faith does not often turn out to be of the mountain moving variety, although I have no doubt that what Jesus said is true. It is just that most of us find it so hard to have that unwavering, nothing-doubting, rock-solid kind of faith. No wonder my prayers do not always seem to get answered. They are anemic and faith starved.

Verse 24: “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” 

• This is an important verse. First, notice that the word, “believe” is a present tense imperative verb calling for persistent, continuing faith. The verb “received” is in the aorist tense meaning “you did receive, or you have already received.” In other words, Jesus is saying that we are to keep on believing that God has already given what we asked of Him.
• The promise follows: “…and they will be granted you.” He uses the same expression here that He used a moment before at the end of verse 23.

Verses 25-26: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in Heaven will also forgive you your transgression.”  ²⁶ [“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in Heaven forgive your transgressions.”] 

• There has been a lot of confusion down through the years over these verses. People often miss the point Jesus is making and try to turn this into a law or a rule. That misses the principle that Jesus is trying to put across.
• On the surface it sounds as though God’s forgiveness is dependent on our forgiveness. But it is important to observe that Christ is not addressing Himself here to the unsaved but to His disciples, who have already entered a saving relationship with Himself. The forgiveness He is talking about here is not the initial forensic act of forgiveness by God, which abolishes the guilt of our sin and saves us from Hell. Rather, it is the forgiveness of a father toward a son or daughter that restores the fellowship between them. Jesus’ point here is that a disciple cannot pray effectively if a spirit of unforgiveness has broken his fellowship with God. Note that verse 25 states this from the positive side, while verse 26 states it from the negative side, but they are saying the same thing.
• Notice: The only significance of the cursing of the fig tree stated in the Gospels is to be found in these verses. Any further symbolical meaning must be inferred from the context, which goes along with the comments I made at the very beginning about barren religion, having the appearance of godliness but lacking in substance. I have entitled this study “Dead Trees and Barren Religion” because of the account that follows. I believe that it is in part an illustration of what Jesus was teaching His disciples from the cursing of the fig tree—namely, that spiritual fruit-bearing is the only true indicator of spiritual health and vigor.

Verses 27-28: They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, ²⁸ and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 

• So, Jesus and the boys walk back to Jerusalem, and who do they meet but a bunch of religious dudes looking for trouble—the usual suspects, namely, the chief priests, scribes, and elders. These were the “top guns” of Judaism. They knew the Bible backwards and forwards. They were powerful. They were generally well respected by the people. They had both civil and religious authority. But most importantly of all, they were united by their mutual dislike of Jesus and their belief that He was a threat to them on many different levels.
• They recognized Jesus, of course. His face was etched in their minds from the day He showed up and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and drove the merchants out of the Temple courtyard. Now they came up to Him and posed a question—a question they hoped would stump Him, or that they could use to hang Him.
• It was a two-part question and it centered on AUTHORITY. The first part was, “What kind of authority do you have?” The second part was, “Who gave you this authority?” By “these things” the officials referred to Christ’s purging of the Temple. According to Jewish rabbinic teaching, the Temple could be cleansed only by the Sanhedrin, by a prophet, or by the Messiah. These guys were enraged that this little hayseed rabbi from Nazareth would show up and push them around. “Who gave you the right to show up here and tell us that we are wrong?” they said. “Who do you think you are, telling us, the religious experts, that we are robbers and thieves? Who sent you here to stir up trouble? What is your authority to do this?”

Verses 29-30: And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.  ³⁰ “Was the baptism of John from Heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 

• Jesus quickly turned the tables on them. Now He had them where He wanted them. Instead of answering their question, He made a deal with them— “You answer my question, then I will answer yours.” He said, “I will tell you where I got my authority just as soon as you tell me where John the Baptist got his authority.”
• Notice that the conversation was still all about AUTHORITY.
• Jesus said, “Was the baptism of John from Heaven, or from men?” Jews often used the term “Heaven” when referring to God to avoid using the Divine name.

Verse 31: They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From Heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’” 

• Those Jewish leaders recognized a bear trap when they saw one. Jesus’ question instantly put them on the defensive. Only a moment ago they thought they had Jesus cornered and could force Him to say something incriminating that they could use against Him. Now He had them backed into a corner.
• If they said that John was sent by God and that his authority came from God, then they could see the logical conclusion that any thinking person would draw— “Then why didn’t you listen to his message and repent of your sins like he said you should? Instead, you fought against him and rejoiced when Herod had him beheaded.”

Verse 32: “But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. 

• But if they said that John was just a religious nutcase who had fried his brains from spending too much time out in the Judean desert sun then they were going to tick off the thousands of common people who adored John and believed him to be a genuine prophet sent from God. Their predicament is what is commonly called “being caught between a rock and a hard place,” also known as a “Catch-22.”

Verse 33: Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 

• This would be funny if it were not so sad. After conferring together, they took the coward’s way out—they said, “We don’t know.” That weaselly, cowardly answer left Jesus under no obligation to answer the question that they had posed to Him.

CONCLUSION:

Do you know where your authority comes from as a Christian, as a servant of God? Do you know what is the power source from which you can draw to carry out the will of God? Do you know how to tap into the resources of Heaven to have the wisdom and power and strength to carry out the mission that God has given you to accomplish?

Jesus is the Fount of our authority and our power. In Matthew 28:18-20 He said: “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Jesus has all authority, and He has the authority to confer that authority to others, in the same way that the President has the authority to appoint diplomats, cabinet members, and other high government leaders. Jesus has given to us all the authority and power we need to lead godly, victorious lives and to complete the Great Commission.

FEEDBACK:

What is the take-away from this passage? What is the Spirit saying to you from these verses? What does this text teach us about spiritual fruitfulness and spiritual barrenness? How are we to apply the lesson to our lives?