Study 31
Here comes the judge
Read Mark 11v11-26
Verse 12 shows us that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords has become a man. He knew hunger like ourselves.
Fruitless religion
Now there is an important parallel here between what he sees on the fig-tree and what he sees in the temple. He comes to the fig-tree and at first it looks as if it will have fruit because of its leaves - after all fig-trees produce figs - but this did not have any fruit on it.
He then goes to the temple and expects to see people worshipping His
Father but instead He sees crowds of people buying, selling and even
stealing. They were not concerned about God.
It is not wrong that Jesus shows anger here but remember that He does not lose his temper. He takes control of the situation. He drives out the people who are making a mockery of God by misusing His house for business purposes.
The barren fig tree is a picture of how futile religion without fruit is. We were made to live good lives before God just as a fig-tree is made to produce figs. The fig-tree deserves to be cursed and so do we.
Fruitful religion
But how can we produce good fruit? How can we live lives which please God? Verse 22 gives us the answer - by having faith in God. We need to ask God to change us and to make the impossible occur through us.
But there is one important condition. We must be honest about our sin and trust Christ who died on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven.
Time to think
- How can you tell whether faith is true or not?
- Are you a true worshipper of God?
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