Saturday, January 21, 2012

In Mark 11:12-19 12-19 what are all the possibilities of the meaning of the fruitless leaved fig tree?

Jesus is returning home from Bethany to Jerusalem and passes this fig tree only to discover there is no fruit just deceiving leaves. He curses the tree and says it shall never supply fruit to anyone again. He returns to Jerusalem to find a "market scene" going on in the temple area and becomes enraged with the people there. What are all the possibilities of the fig tree's meaning?

In Mark 11:12-19 12-19 what are all the possibilities of the meaning of the fruitless leaved fig tree?
Christians who do not produce spiritually.
Reply:Pretty much everything that annoyed Him about Judaism at the time. Too much show, not enough substance. The people were looking for spiritual nourishment but only got superficial rules from their rabbis (who were only concerned about how "good" they looked).
Reply:The fig tree represents a human who doesn't follow God. God is water and light, and the tree refuses to prosper and live through God. God made the tree healthy, and the roots strong, but the fig tree decided death.
Reply:Why did Jesus curse that tree since, as Mark explains, “it was not the season of figs”? Well, when a fig tree bears leaves, normally it also produces early figs. It was unusual for a fig tree to have leaves at that time of year. But since it had leaves, Jesus rightly expected to find figs on it. The fact that the tree had borne only leaves meant that it would be unproductive. Its appearance was deceptive. Since fruit trees were taxed, an unfruitful tree was an economic burden and needed to be cut down.



Jesus used that unfruitful fig tree to illustrate a vital lesson regarding faith. The following day, his disciples were surprised to see that the tree had already withered. Jesus explained: “Have faith in God, All the things you pray and ask for have faith that you have practically received, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:22-24) In addition to illustrating the need to pray in faith, the withered fig tree graphically showed what would happen to a nation lacking faith.



Some months earlier Jesus had compared the Jewish nation to a fig tree that had been unfruitful for three years and would be cut down if it remained unproductive. By cursing the fig tree just four days before his death, Jesus showed how the Jewish nation had not produced fruits befitting repentance and thus was in line for destruction. Though that nation, like the fig tree, superficially appeared healthy, a closer look revealed a lack of faith that culminated in the rejection of the Messiah, Jesus..



Like the unproductive fig tree that looked healthy, the Jewish nation had a deceptive outward appearance. But it had not produced godly fruitage, and it finally rejected Jehovah’s own Son. Jesus cursed the sterile fig tree, and on the following day, the disciples noticed that it had already withered. That dried-up tree aptly signified God’s forthcoming rejection of the Jews as his chosen people. Mark 11:20, 21.


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