In the final week before His crucifixion, Jesus knew that He had only a short time to finalize His ministry, and in these days He got to the heart of the matter. Of course, the things that were said in the previous years of His life are just as important, as are the other inspired words of scripture. But I have come to respect the urgency of final instructions quite a bit in the recent past. Before He cleared the temple of the money changers, Jesus taught a lesson to His disciples, who likely didn’t even realize that a lesson was being taught. It happened when He approached a fig tree.
Mark 11:12-14
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.†And his disciples heard it.
When Israel was commissioned to be a blessing to all peoples, they were given a mandate. They were to tell others of the hope that could only be found in God. With some exceptions they failed miserably, bearing no fruit. The fruit is the result of being a part of the tree, and there are different kinds of fruit that we need to display, lest we too whither away. The fruits of the spirit are the first example that come to mind, but at their core is the fruit of belief. You can be given enough forensic evidence to believe that Jesus was crucified, dead, buried and resurrected and still not bear any fruit at all. But the fruit that all men are commanded to bear, even before love, joy, peace and the others is the fruit of belief, for when you believe that the promise is truly for you, all other fruits will inevitably follow.
Salvation does come from the Jews. It is the covenant given to Abraham that we have been made a part of. But if we are to call ourselves a branch upon this tree and bear no fruit, we can know that we will be removed for one that is alive and does take nourishment from the tree. The root is our source, our sustenance. It is this root which sprang up from Jesse that supports us and grants us our very lives. Honor this root with the fruit of belief. Seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness of Christ. And all things will be added unto you.
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
Doug,
I really enjoy this portion of scripture. I try to tie it in with when Jesus says, “Abide in Me and I will abide in you…” and John 1:1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God, He was with God in the beginning.”
Which I then conclude with; if Jesus tells us to Abide in Him and He will abide in us, isn’t Jesus specifically telling us to Abide in HIS Word because He is the Word?
Gives new meaning to “Word up!”