Have you ever felt the sting of an empty promise? Seen something with a magical outward gleam and a grandiose promise turn out to yield nothing of substance under the surface?
This morning as I was reading through Matthew 21, I saw tucked away in a few sentences preceding his oft quoted reply about mountain-moving faith, that in his human life, Jesus encountered the empty promises of this broken world too- and He has something to say about these deceptive appearances.
"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."
What exactly happened here? Let's recap. Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree that looked like it should provide figs to satisfy his hunger. He went up to the tree, but the tree had no figs to eat- only leaves. Jesus condemned the tree to never bear fruit again and immediately, the tree withered.
Okay, so that's the summary of the story, but what does this have to do with anything and why does it matter? Well, since the Bible is the Word of God, and nothing in it is accidental, I firmly believe that the Lord wants us to learn something from even the smallest sentences and paragraphs. In this case, as I prayed and re-read these passages, I was struck by Jesus' common disdain for all things- people, trees, temples- that appear to be a certain way and yet, once revealed, are actually false.
Jesus spoke with harsh correction to only a few people/groups of people in his ministry. The Pharisees/teachers of the law received the majority of this correction because, in Jesus' words, they were "like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean". In the same chapter (Matthew 23), Jesus also says these individuals/groups do not "practice what they preach." Over and over again, he calls them "hypocrites" who "clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside [they] are full of greed and self-indulgence." If we were to summarize Jesus' criticism, it is one thing: They were not as they appeared to be.
Now, let's go back to the tree. It was bearing leaves that made it look like it should satisfy the hunger of a weary traveler and yet, a weary traveler approached the tree seeking sustenance and found none. If the tree had already been obviously withered, Jesus would not have approached it seeking to find figs. It would have been obvious that the tree was dead and not bearing fruit. In essence, when Jesus 'cursed' the tree, he made the outward appearance of the tree true to its real non-fruit bearing state. No more travelers would come to this tree seeking sustenance from its deceptive foilage.
This passage serves as a warning to all those who are in the fellowship of believers.
Are we as we appear to be? Does our foilage match our fruit?
Man judges the external, but God sees the heart. We may speak Christian words, vote in a 'Christian' way, go to church, say that we will pray for people, blow trumpets as we give money to support various ministries and missionaries, or do a host of other things to give off the impression that we are holy, God-loving/fearing people. But, at the end of the day, when it is just us and God, what fruit are we bearing? Would Jesus come to the tree of our lives and find fruit that pleases Him or would he, like the fig tree, see through the leaves into the fruitlessness of our lives and as it says in John 15, cut off any branch that does not bear fruit?
Today, I'm pondering the fruit that my life is producing and the foilage that I am displaying. First of all, I need to be increasing more real so that if my walk with the Lord is struggling and fruit is hard to find, I am painfully honest with others about this and aggressively seeking people to prayerfully fight against my apathy and sinfulness. Just because the people around me don't separate the leaves to see the lack of fruit doesn't mean the Lord doesn't. When my life is nothing but leaves because I am not abiding in He who bears fruit, that is a spiritual emergency and by God's grace, I need to treat it as such.
In terms of fruit, Scripture is clear that a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. Thanks to a dear unnamed friend who always has the courage to go out and trust Jesus for crazy things (even with a home to care for, two small children and a husband to love), I have been convicted this week that my life has become much too safe and internally focused, and, as such, my fruit bearing has been, in many ways, slowed or halted.
First, I am a wife and a mom, and there is work to be done in discipling my children and serving my husband. By God's grace, I long to be more intentional in raising children who are Jesus lovers and supporting my husband in becoming more and more a man of integrity and intimacy with His Lord. This is a huge area that the Lord has called me to, but I have been encouraged and reminded this week that while fruit bearing starts at home, it doesn't stop there. There is a world to serve and love and die for- and that starts with my neighbors. There are lost people to be saved and found people to challenge and encourage. There are nations to be prayed for and pregnant teens to be loved on and immigrants to open our home to! Jesus, help me abide in you so that I might bear fruit in all ways- in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (Acts 1)!
So, Jesus, where shall I start in seeking to bear fruit that will satisfy those who come to this tree of yours? I'll take your advice in Matthew 23- "FIRST clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."
Lord Jesus, may your Spirit which longs for you fill us beyond measure so that our greatest longing might be more of you. Give us power to shut off the computer, set down the "to-do" list, tune out the distractions, and seek you with one pure and holy passion! Free us from the good things that we might live unto the best! Only in you do we bear fruit, so teach us to abide and to seek you with all of our being so that we might know you and in the knowing, bear fruit to the Father's glory. Amen and amen.
This morning as I was reading through Matthew 21, I saw tucked away in a few sentences preceding his oft quoted reply about mountain-moving faith, that in his human life, Jesus encountered the empty promises of this broken world too- and He has something to say about these deceptive appearances.
"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."
What exactly happened here? Let's recap. Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree that looked like it should provide figs to satisfy his hunger. He went up to the tree, but the tree had no figs to eat- only leaves. Jesus condemned the tree to never bear fruit again and immediately, the tree withered.
Okay, so that's the summary of the story, but what does this have to do with anything and why does it matter? Well, since the Bible is the Word of God, and nothing in it is accidental, I firmly believe that the Lord wants us to learn something from even the smallest sentences and paragraphs. In this case, as I prayed and re-read these passages, I was struck by Jesus' common disdain for all things- people, trees, temples- that appear to be a certain way and yet, once revealed, are actually false.
Jesus spoke with harsh correction to only a few people/groups of people in his ministry. The Pharisees/teachers of the law received the majority of this correction because, in Jesus' words, they were "like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean". In the same chapter (Matthew 23), Jesus also says these individuals/groups do not "practice what they preach." Over and over again, he calls them "hypocrites" who "clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside [they] are full of greed and self-indulgence." If we were to summarize Jesus' criticism, it is one thing: They were not as they appeared to be.
Now, let's go back to the tree. It was bearing leaves that made it look like it should satisfy the hunger of a weary traveler and yet, a weary traveler approached the tree seeking sustenance and found none. If the tree had already been obviously withered, Jesus would not have approached it seeking to find figs. It would have been obvious that the tree was dead and not bearing fruit. In essence, when Jesus 'cursed' the tree, he made the outward appearance of the tree true to its real non-fruit bearing state. No more travelers would come to this tree seeking sustenance from its deceptive foilage.
This passage serves as a warning to all those who are in the fellowship of believers.
Are we as we appear to be? Does our foilage match our fruit?
Man judges the external, but God sees the heart. We may speak Christian words, vote in a 'Christian' way, go to church, say that we will pray for people, blow trumpets as we give money to support various ministries and missionaries, or do a host of other things to give off the impression that we are holy, God-loving/fearing people. But, at the end of the day, when it is just us and God, what fruit are we bearing? Would Jesus come to the tree of our lives and find fruit that pleases Him or would he, like the fig tree, see through the leaves into the fruitlessness of our lives and as it says in John 15, cut off any branch that does not bear fruit?
Today, I'm pondering the fruit that my life is producing and the foilage that I am displaying. First of all, I need to be increasing more real so that if my walk with the Lord is struggling and fruit is hard to find, I am painfully honest with others about this and aggressively seeking people to prayerfully fight against my apathy and sinfulness. Just because the people around me don't separate the leaves to see the lack of fruit doesn't mean the Lord doesn't. When my life is nothing but leaves because I am not abiding in He who bears fruit, that is a spiritual emergency and by God's grace, I need to treat it as such.
In terms of fruit, Scripture is clear that a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit. Thanks to a dear unnamed friend who always has the courage to go out and trust Jesus for crazy things (even with a home to care for, two small children and a husband to love), I have been convicted this week that my life has become much too safe and internally focused, and, as such, my fruit bearing has been, in many ways, slowed or halted.
First, I am a wife and a mom, and there is work to be done in discipling my children and serving my husband. By God's grace, I long to be more intentional in raising children who are Jesus lovers and supporting my husband in becoming more and more a man of integrity and intimacy with His Lord. This is a huge area that the Lord has called me to, but I have been encouraged and reminded this week that while fruit bearing starts at home, it doesn't stop there. There is a world to serve and love and die for- and that starts with my neighbors. There are lost people to be saved and found people to challenge and encourage. There are nations to be prayed for and pregnant teens to be loved on and immigrants to open our home to! Jesus, help me abide in you so that I might bear fruit in all ways- in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (Acts 1)!
So, Jesus, where shall I start in seeking to bear fruit that will satisfy those who come to this tree of yours? I'll take your advice in Matthew 23- "FIRST clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean."
Lord Jesus, may your Spirit which longs for you fill us beyond measure so that our greatest longing might be more of you. Give us power to shut off the computer, set down the "to-do" list, tune out the distractions, and seek you with one pure and holy passion! Free us from the good things that we might live unto the best! Only in you do we bear fruit, so teach us to abide and to seek you with all of our being so that we might know you and in the knowing, bear fruit to the Father's glory. Amen and amen.
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