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Praying about Jesus’s miracles: Jesus withers a fig tree

Lynne Baab • Thursday July 18 2024

Praying about Jesus’s miracles: Jesus withers a fig tree

One interesting way to study the Gospels is to note the sequencing of stories. Looking at the events in Mark 11 helps me find meaning in an otherwise baffling miracle. Why would Jesus cause a fig tree to wither? I love trees! I assume Jesus loves them, too, because he made them. 

Mark 11 opens with the events of Palm Sunday: the colt never before ridden, the leafy branches strewn on the road, and the songs of “Hosannah.” Jesus visits the temple and returns to Bethany with the twelve (Mark 11:1-11). The next day, Jesus and the disciples again walk the two miles into Jerusalem. Jesus feels hungry and sees a fig tree with leaves, but he finds no fruit. Mark describes his next action: “He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it” (Mark 11:12-14). 

Jesus and the disciples again enter the temple. Jesus sees the money lenders and others who buy and sell things. He overturns their tables, drives them from the temple, and quotes Isaiah 56:7: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers” (Mark 11:15-19).

On the way back to Bethany that evening, Peter sees the tree Jesus cursed. He notices that it is withered away to its roots. In response, Jesus gives the disciples instructions about the power of prayer (Mark 11:20-25). Jesus has just thrown vendors out of the temple using words that refer to the temple as a house of prayer.

To understand this sequence of events, we must first consider fruit as a metaphor. Several prophets use “fruit” to refer to the good deeds that come from faith. God gives Amos a vision of a basket of summer fruit to represent what God was looking for in the people of Israel: honesty in trading and care for the poor (Amos 8:1-7). God also gives Jeremiah a vision of fruit: two baskets, one filled with good figs and another filled with bad figs (Jeremiah 24:1-10). The bad figs represent bad leaders. God speaks through Jeremiah: “I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings” (Jeremiah 21:14).

John the Baptist picks up on this fruit imagery when he speaks to the crowds who have come to him for baptism for the forgiveness of sins. John tells the people, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance . . . every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:8, 10).

According to the prophets and John the Baptist, good fruit must involve generosity to people in need and scrupulous honesty in the marketplace. Perhaps most of all, good fruit involves understanding that our everyday behavior — everything we do — flows out of our faith in God. Jesus adds an additional component of good fruit through this strange miracle and his words about prayer in Mark 11. Good fruit also includes putting a priority on prayer and praying boldly.

Through his actions and words in Mark 11, Jesus is saying, “You welcomed me with hosannas and palms, but you aren’t yet welcoming me into your whole lives. You aren’t yet bearing good fruit. Look at the money lenders and other sellers in the temple. I don’t see good fruit there. This withered tree is a symbol and example of what your lives will look like if you worship me superficially and don’t let me transform you so that you can bear good fruit. The fruit I desire is generosity, justice, kindness, and deep, passionate prayer.”

The apostle Paul will give us additional language to describe the fruit God desires. The fruit of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes, is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

God of the just wage and the fair measure, we want to bear the fruit you desire. God of generosity and kindness, we want to show your love to the people around us. God of joy and peace, we want to be filled with your Spirit so that we can experience the joy and peace you want to give us. God who calls us to prayer, continue to teach us how to draw near to you with our whole selves. Help us bear good fruit.

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Next week: the first post in a new series about the flow of time. Illustration by Dave Baab: figs (painted for this post!).

This is the last post in the series Praying about Jesus’s Miracles. If you missed any earlier posts, here’s the complete list:

I’ve been using an online list of Jesus’s miracles if you’d like to ponder additional miracles.



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