Seeds for 12/13/2023 - Matthew 21:18-22

Scripture: Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Observation: Straightforwardly this passage is about two things. First, Jesus commanding a fig tree into unproductiveness, and second, the significance of believing in prayer.

First, regarding the fig tree... Jesus curses it because He was hungry and it had only leaves and no fruit to provide. The fig tree’s purpose was to produce fruit. We, too, are called to produce fruit in our lives. This reminds me of Jesus’ words about being salt and light in the Sermon on the Mount. He decries the uselessness of salt that has “lost its saltiness.” If this episode can serve as a parable for disciples, then it is a reminder that our purpose is to bear fruit and that we ought never lose sight of that purpose. If we’re “all leaves and no fruit” then we may be busy but we’re not fulfilling our purpose.

Second, regarding prayer… Jesus starts with what the disciples have seen Him in withering the fig tree with words. They have something of an “is this real?” moment. Jesus moves from cursing the fig tree to throwing mountains into the sea. Why this elevation? Jesus seems be using hyperbole to expand their vision for what is possible in believing prayer. To be honest, I’m not sure what to think about the word “whatever” when it comes to believing. I tend to remember the places where people pray with belief but also with a yielded spirit for how God will answer. Did Jesus lack belief in the Garden of Gethsemane? No, that was about yielding Himself to the Father even while praying for a certain outcome—that “this cup” would pass from Him. Did Paul lack belief when he prayed that the Lord would take away his “thorn in the flesh?” No, but he did not receive what he asked for in order that God might to a greater work in him.

So for now I’m living with this word from Jesus, not completely certain how to take it within the whole counsel of scripture, yet not willing to let it go either. That’s how scripture works sometimes. Like Jacob wrestling the angel of the Lord until he received a blessing, sometimes we keep on living with and wrestling with a scripture, believing that there is a word of blessing for us even if we do not yet comprehend it. What I do know is that there are horizons of prayer that God would like to unlock for me by increasing my belief in what He can and will do through prayer.

Application:

• What prayers might God be daring you to believe and pray?

• What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?

Prayer: Lord, increase my belief about what you can and will do through my prayers. Grow me in faithfulness and in fruitfulness for you. Amen.

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“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)

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