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Now the next day, when they had come from
Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar A fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When he came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season For figs. In response Jesus said to it “Let no one eat Fruit from you ever again.” Mk11:12-14 This incident in the life of Jesus is really a story of temptation. When the flesh rises up we will look in the wrong place to satisfy our hunger. Jesus knew it was not the time for figs. Christ was hungry and if there was fruit on the fig tree he could have satisfied self and the flesh and fallen into sin. That there was no fruit on the tree was a witness to the mercy of the Father and Jesus recognizing it as a temptation, cursed the tree and it withered and died. (Remember the Lord’s temptation in the desert when the devil comes to him after fasting when he was hungry.) On another level the fig tree represented Israel and Israel represented self-realization. If Jesus allowed himself to be esteemed in the eyes of the religious age in which he lived, he could not fulfill his destiny to offer himself as a sacrifice for sin. Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to
Come and take him by force and make him king, He Departed again in a mountain by himself alone. Jn6:15 The temptation that Adam and Eve succumbed to was the temptation for self-realization over and above the word and will of God. The fruit that was to make them wise was the fruit that brought fear, alienation, sickness, and death. In the ministry of Christ, Israel represented by the fig tree, was the temptation Christ had to overcome. Israel represented self-realization. Obedience to the will of the Father represented the Cross. Christ overcame the temptation to eat the fruit of Israel, the fruit of success and esteem, where Adam and Eve failed. His Temptation and Ours
It is the temptation of the church to make eyes at spiritual success, to follow the pattern of the religious age in which we live, to use God and the church to realize self at the expense of following the will of God. It is the temptation of the religious to look to the church to satisfy the hunger for self-realization, to look to the fig tree for success where God is calling us to serve him in lowliness and poverty of spirit. Once we recognize it as a temptation, we, like Christ, must depart to the mountain by ourselves alone. The church is called to sacrifice and self-denial. The church is called to poverty of spirit and humility. The church is called to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. What are you “hungry” for? What temptations are Satan and the world and the flesh pulling you to? The only way to overcome the temptation is by prayer, fasting, self-denial, and confession. The temptation of Christ was the same as Adam and Eve and it is without a doubt our temptation as well. As Jesus prayed in Gethsemane: “Pray that you may not enter into temptation” Have you made that the prayer of your heart? If not, do so now, and walk in humility, meekness, and truth. Let Christ be glorified in all you do and overcome the need for self-realization. Amen. |