Mark 11:20-24
Last week we looked at three verses [John 11:23-26] in which Jesus emphasizes what being a follower of His involves…Jesus is not talking about how to obtain eternal life. He has already made countless statements on how that is accomplished.
After His entry into Jerusalem Jesus explains in those 3 verses what is expected of anyone claiming to be His disciple.
First Jesus says: that trusting in Him as Lord and Savior is like being a seed… unless we’re planted, we won’t bear fruit…unless we’re willing to accept the God given purpose He has for our lives…our Christian commitment will remain weak.
Secondly, He makes a comparison between love and hate…that our love for Him…our devotion to him when compared with anything else will seem as hate…not that we are to hate but that is how intense our love for Him should be.
Our love for Jesus by comparison should be so great that our love for anything else will appear as hate.
Thirdly in [v 26] He stresses the importance of following His teachings and examples on how we should conduct ourselves during our time on this earth in a manner that glorifies God.
Jesus is saying whoever serves me must follow me …this verse in the Greek is in the imperative voice…it’s a command from Jesus Himself.
The Lord is headed in one direction, and our flesh and the world are headed in the other…this is where the conflict comes in…we can only be obedient to one.
In these three verses Jesus is telling us about what a life of faith as His disciple looks like…anyone who has tried to live by those standards knows how hard it is.
Everything in this world is opposed to that…in fact we have three enemies and the world is one of them…the flesh and the devil are the other two…all three tempt us to do the opposite of what Jesus has just taught.
As Jesus begins His last week in His earthly body…each one of the gospel writers gives information that is not found in one single account…in fact after Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem the next event John mentions is four days later at the Last Supper.
So what happens between Sunday and Thursday…well frankly…a lot…John just doesn’t mention any of it.
It’s like what happened during the six weeks between Jesus’ time in Ephraim [John 11:54, 55] and before His arrival in Bethany [12:1] …the events that happened during His stay between Ephraim to Bethany are not even mentioned by John.
John completely leaves these events out of his gospel.
Jesus healed ten lepers (Luke 17:11-37).
He gave two parables on prayers, (Luke 18:1-14).
He gave his teaching on divorce (Mark 10:1-12; Matthew 19:1-12).
He received the little children (Mark 10:13-16, etc.).
He gave the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Mark 10:17-31).
He gave the third prophecy of his death and resurrection (Mark 10:32)
He healed Bartimaeus and a companion at Jericho (Mark 10:46-52).
As I have previously said…in John’s account of Jesus’ life he focuses on just seven miracles…So if we are to see what occurred during the final week of Jesus’ life on earth…the time between Sunday’s entry into Jerusalem and Thursday’s event at the last Supper…we need to look at the other three Gospels…and what there was about those events that made them significant.
Because of Bethany’s close location to Jerusalem…only 2 miles away…every night Jesus returns to the home of Lazarus then goes back into Jerusalem the next morning.
On Holy Monday – after spending Sunday night in Bethany…Jesus returned to Jerusalem…Mark records an event that John doesn’t mention that occurred on that Holy Monday that is significant because it reflects the spiritual condition of Israel.
Jesus is drawing attention to Israel’s continued callused approach to worshiping God…it’s really nothing new…for thousands of years Israel has been abusive to God’s direction for them as a people.
Go back into the Old Testament and it’s one deliberate rejection of God after another…throughout the Scripture the prophets tell the people the consequences of their actions with little change in their attitudes.
Thousands of years later…God in human form…is still lecturing them on their inappropriate worship of Him…Jesus was effectively denouncing Israel’s worship of God…and He illustrates it in an unusual way.
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus comes upon a fig tree and uses it to illustrate Israel’s spiritual condition.
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.
14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” [Mark 11:12-14] [Matt. 21:18-22]
At this point it’s late spring, most fig trees hadn’t developed mature fruit [Mark 11:13] …but this particular tree draws Jesus’s attention because although it “was not the season for figs,” it already had a full covering of leaves.
It was common knowledge in Jesus’ time that if you saw leaves on a fig tree, you could expect fruit…with leaves already on the tree that was a sign that figs should have been on it…there weren’t any…Jesus curses the tree and it withers.
On the surface this seems like a case of Jesus mis-using His miraculous power in an ill-tempered moment of frustration…we’re taken back at this out of character display by Jesus who, seeing that the tree lacks figs…curses it and it dies…never to yield fruit again.
When we read or hear about this story the immediate response is…what has this to do with me? …what is the meaning? …what is the application to me sitting here 2000 years later?
This event presents a challenge to interpretation since as it is the only miracle of destruction…this miracle seems out of step with the profoundly constructive nature of Jesus’ ministry…probably the reason this sticks in the memory of his disciples.
Not only does the tree die…but there’s something else amazing about this miracle …it immediately withers away…knowing only what I read about fig wood…it’s a wood that takes an especially long time to dry out making the act even more impressive…this tree completely dries out in less than one day.
Seeing the tree withered the next day Peter questions Jesus about it…Jesus is completely silent and doesn’t even comment regarding His power and ability to kill the tree…or its intended message…instead He uses it as a teaching moment to direct Peter to the importance of the power of faith…and prayer.
Initially Jesus responds to Peter with four words…four words that goes against everything the world would have us to believe regarding faith and prayer…if we look at the world, it tells us to believe WE can do it—to have faith in ourselves.
This is contrary to what the Bible teaches…there are people in the world who have faith in their own abilities…they’re self-confident…self-reliant…there are people who have faith in men (religious leaders, dead and alive) …there are people with faith in various religious systems…or human creeds…that’s generic faith… Jesus gives the qualifier in where we are to put our faith [22].
So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘have faith in God’
There is much confusion today over the nature of faith…I’m convinced that if we fail to fully understand these four simple words the next two verses will only result in confusion…disappointment and a lack of trust in what God says regarding prayer.
If we don’t have faith in God everything Jesus says after this is meaningless…but I do want to comment on one thing real quick…I hope you don’t take [23] as a promise that we can change the terrain…mountains don’t jump into the sea…no record in the New Testament of Jesus…an apostle…or for that matter any believer ever changing the landscape.
There are limitations on what God will do and can do…indicated by context …by other Scripture…as well as by the laws of God’s own nature and the universe.
First of all, there are some things that are actually impossible for God to do because they do not go along with His perfect character…God cannot change [Heb. 6:18] … God cannot lie [Titus 1:2]…God cannot be tempted by evil and He tempts no one [Jas 1:13] so in the same sense God cannot and will not literally give us everything.
The language is designed to create a visual picture…in this case the point Jesus is making is that Peter and the other disciples will need the kind of faith it takes to move mountains…if that were possible…illustrating their need to have the unlimited power of God when fulfilling their mission as evangelists.
I want to spend the remainder of my time on one specific verse regarding what Jesus says about prayer…a verse that creates confusion in the lives of Christians and non-Christians alike because people want to spin this verse into a blank check to get anything they want…and that was not Jesus’ intention.
Here’s the difficulty in taking [24] at face value.
All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
To take this verse with the attitude of: ‘the Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it’ is quite honestly a simple-minded approach to understanding the Bible.
To accept this verse as an open-ended promise is a failure to interpret Scripture in its proper context…it’s important to ‘have faith in God’ [22] but you cannot have ‘all things for which you pray and ask.’
Here’s the thing about interpreting Scripture…if a verse is unclear about a particular issue, interpret it in light of clearer verses…examine difficult verses in light of the general teaching of all of Scripture, and what has been revealed about the nature and character of God.
In other words, it’s important that we read Scripture through God’s eyes and not through the lens of our own contemporary culture.
This is what I want us to focus on this morning…not the withering of the tree but why did Jesus respond using prayer as an answer? …Jesus’ side-track response into faith seems random and out of context…how does this relate to a tree being killed?
Jesus’ response to Peter…and His confusing statement regarding this miracle is still causing problems today.
whatever things you pray for, believe you have received them, and they shall be granted you
I put the confusion this verse brings right along with:
–God causes all things to work for good (all things work together for good).
The good is not to make us necessarily healthy…or happy…or prosperous…but to make us holy…to make us like Jesus…to be conformed to the image of God’s Son.
–I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.
Hebrews 11 highlights believers who were tortured, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, destitute, mistreated and homeless…does that sound like the abundant life? Is that prosperity? …the abundant life is not about what we have…it’s not about what we get…the abundant life is about what we receive as a gift from the Lord and to live knowing we are stewards of the blessings of God.
— I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
the primary application of that verse has nothing to do with any person living today. This verse applied only to the Jews who were in exile in Babylon during the sixth century BC
People become disgruntled with Christianity because they don’t see these verses becoming a reality in their lives…because they have not been told that these verses have nothing to do with your everyday well-being.
This is one such instance…clearly Jesus has said ‘whatever’ things you pray to illustrate the potential of what can be accomplished by the power of prayer… BUT …here’s the reality…for many the frustration is ‘I’m not seeing those results.’
Two Things:
FIRST…what does ‘Whatever you ask’ mean…does that mean we can ask for absolutely anything? Are there no restrictions? Is there no limit to what we can ask of God…does God give us anything if we just simply ask?
SECONDLY …when Jesus says that we must not doubt but believe…is that all that’s needed for what I want to come to pass…does He mean that in order to have our prayers answered all we need is faith?
This seems like such a wide-open promise…pray and your prayers will be answered …so why can’t we simply ask and expect to receive positive answers.
If it seems like I’m going into great detail on this verse…I am…there’s a reason… because Jesus makes this statement for a reason…and we need to see how that applies to us so we’re not ignorant of what God requires regarding answered prayer.
This verse is just like 99% of all promises in the Bible…it’s conditional.
That means there are expectations attached… [24] is no exception…being unaware of the conditions attached to this verse is to go through life believing God is less than faithful…He’s not…BUT unless we put this verse in its proper context with other related Scripture, we think God is being unfaithful.
It’s not God who’s unfaithful…it’s our misunderstanding of God’s Word resulting in unrealistic expectations.
Here’s some of the conditions God is insistent upon.
1) We must seek what God’s will is in our request (1 John 5:14–15)
2) We must abide in Christ in order to know what God’s will is (John 15:7).
3) We must ask with the right motives (James 4:1–3).
4) We must ‘abide in Him’ and let His Word ‘abide in us’ (John 15:7).
5) We cannot ‘ask amiss’ out of our own selfish desires (James 4:3).
6) We know that God does not listen to sinners (John 9:31)
On the surface you’re saying… ‘that’s pretty involved’ and you’re right it is…but it is God’s expectations of us…far too often we take God at His Word…and that’s OK…but to assume: ‘ask and you shall receive’ without fully keeping these expectations is not realizing that only when our desires match what God wants… when our faith is in harmony with God’s will…it is then that God hears our prayers.
Using prayer to get anything I want is not in harmony with knowing what God’s will is.
Let me just say something about that…is anything more confusing than understanding what is God’s will…without going into a long theological discussion let me just say…in this universe there are three wills: God’s divine will…there’s Satan’s satanic will…and our human will.
On the earth today you have three prevailing wills…one is God’s divine will which is opposed by Satan’s satanic will…then there’s the third will…that’s us…our human will that is also prevailing on the earth today…it stands between the divine will of God and the satanic will of Satan.
I want you to see how critical prayer is and how important our will is…it’s God’s intention to accomplish His will…but here’s the kicker…it’s in union with us…we’re the ones that tip the scales…it’s our will…when we work together with God through our prayers in union with Him then we’re one with the Lord whereby His will becomes our will.
Isn’t it amazing to realize that the almighty God, who can do anything He wants and who creates things just by His speaking them into existence, so does God need our help? No. He is all powerful and in control of everything in His creation so why has God limited Himself to man’s cooperation?
God wants our will to be joined with His will…and be one with Him…here’s the importance of prayer…because prayer is the means God has ordained for some things to happen.
It’s not that God can’t work without our prayers, it’s that He has established prayer as part of His plan for accomplishing His will in this world.
There’s three ways the Bible speaks about the will of God:
Category #1: God’s Sovereign Will God has ordained all that has or ever will take place (Ephesians 1:11; Acts 4:28).
Category #2: God’s Moral Will God has standards for right and wrong based upon his holy and righteous character (Exodus 20:1-17).
Category #3: God’s Permissive Will God allows certain things to take place in this world that he would not allow in a sinless world (Acts 14:16) using it all to further his ultimate purposes.
Prayer doesn’t change what God has ordained; rather, prayer accomplishes what God has already ordained!
Prayer allows us to participate in God’s Works…we don’t change God’s mind through our prayers…goes back to God’s Sovereign will…it will happen…BUT … prayer will cause God to delay what He has ordained…or…the absence of prayer will cause delays in God carrying out His will.
When God’s people don’t work together with God, He will allow the things ordained by Him to be delayed.
When our human will is aligned with God’s divine will then it is opposed to Satan’s satanic will…but when the human will is not aligned with God’s divine will because often times we let our desires blind us from knowing God’s will…our will then automatically is aligned with the satanic will…we’re the ones tipping the scales… we can’t be neutral…He who is not for me is against me.
Do you see the complexity of this verse…on the surface it seems like ask and you get it…but to accomplish God’s will requires that we understand first the conditions for prayer to be answered…and how important our cooperation is with God so He can carry out His Will.
Prayers that originate from the self are useless prayers…prayers that originate from God and uttered through us…through the church are meaningful prayers, prayers that will get an answer from the Lord…the importance of Tuesday night prayer.
Prayer is not a means by which we get our will done…it is the means by which God gets His will done on earth.
There has to be a movement on earth before there’s a movement in heaven…God’s eternal will is wanting to accomplish many things – even more than we can possibly imagine on earth…however, nothing can move until there’s a move on the earth.
Once there’s a move on earth, once we on earth pray out God’s will, there can be a move in heaven…the prayer that is most pleasing to God is the prayer that asks for the accomplishment of God’s will. ‘Your will on earth be done as it is in heaven’.
The cursing of the fig tree is important because it represented the spiritual deadness of Israel…the whole nation had become spiritually barren before the Lord and like the fig tree…Israel gave all the appearance of having fruit on it…it was actually barren.
Jesus was pronouncing His coming judgment on Israel and demonstrating His power to carry it out…but…cursing the fig tree is not just about historical Israel, it’s also about us. It’s about all the people of God throughout time.
It’s teaching the principle that religious observances are not enough to guarantee salvation unless there is the evidence of fruit…our personal lives can look like we’re ‘in leaf.’ …our leaves may look like those of a super Christian but the root may be withered…here’s what’s worse—our leaves may even fool us.
If there’s not fruit we’re just like that withered fig tree…we’re useless…genuine salvation is evidenced in the life of the person by how they conduct themselves.
What will the Lord find upon close inspection of us? Will he find only leaves? Or will he find figs, too?