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Now the next day, when they had come out 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." And His disciples heard it.
So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. When evening had come, He went out of the city.
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive yo your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgiven your trespasses."
- Mark 11:12-26
On Saturday, the Gospel told us that when Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, "Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here." So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?" And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried, out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Now the next day, when they had come out 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." And His disciples heard it. My study bible tells us: "It was not the season for figs means that this fig tree had sprouted an early full foliage, indicating a first crop, but without bearing any fruit. Jesus, finding not even one fig, condemns it. In Scripture a fig tree is often a symbol of Israel (Hos. 9:10). Her fruitfulness has ceased, so the Kingdom will be taken from her and given to another people, who will bear spiritual fruit (see Matt. 21:43; Gal. 5:22-23)."
So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. When evening had come, He went out of the city. My study bible says here: "John appears to report the cleansing of the temple as occurring early in Jesus' ministry (John 2:13-22), whereas the other Gospels place it in the week before His Passion. Perhaps there were two cleansings. More likely, John is not concerned with chronological order and places the event early for teaching purposes. Jesus acts as the King of Israel would, utterly in control. He disrupts business and makes a sweeping condemnation of the religious system, yet He is untouched. The religious rulers and the Roman soldiers are close by, but all are paralyzed. In the light of the imagery in the account of the fig tree, the temple is all leaves and no fruit, a picture of the nation itself." St. John Chrysostom has written that there were two cleansings of the temple in Jesus ministry, one in the beginning and one at the end. Whatever way we look at it, this bold move at this time is a kind of announcement. In some strong sense, He has arrived, and the time is right for open confrontation over the issues of salvation and spiritual fruitfulness. What is the temple for? What are they doing there?
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." My study bible says here, "The cursing and withering of the fig tree is a prophetic act, signifying the judgment of Israel. The disciples need to learn that Israel is being rejected. They will establish His Church, ultimately filled with Gentiles and Jews, and they need assurance that they are following His will. The fig tree will be an indelible image in their minds."
So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them." My study bible tells us: "The cursing of the fig tree also demonstrates the power of faith in God and prayer. The mountain probably refers to the Mount of Olives, but Jesus speaks not of the physical relocation, but of great deeds done through undoubting faith. Neither Jesus nor the disciples moved any actual mountains, but they did turn society upside down with the message of the Kingdom. We all need such faith in our struggle for full repentance and life in Christ . . . We can have assured faith in answered prayer, according to St. John Chrysostom, when we ask things worthy of the Lord and strive for holiness. Of course, human requests neither limit nor control God's omniscient freedom."
"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive yo your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgiven your trespasses." My study bible says, "A call to forgive follows the promise of nearly unlimited possibilities of faith in prayer. What can deter faith that is able to move mountains? Failure to forgive -- the greatest hindrance to knowing God. Not only does unforgiveness cripple our prayers, but even the Father in heaven does not forgive the unforgiving. As the fig tree is rejected for bearing no fruit, so are unforgiving people rejected (see John 15:1-6)."
Jesus' words are quite startling on a number of levels in today's reading. First there is the withering of the fig tree, and His curse upon it. Then comes the violent act of the cleansing of the temple, in which Jesus acts with great authority and forcefulness, startling those in the temple, to say the least. It's as if they can do nothing to resist Him. Next the disciples (and we, as we read the Gospel) see the withering of the fig tree, and we're treated to Jesus' rather astonishing words about faith and prayer. Whatever we ask, having faith, will come to pass through our prayer? And then He adds -- clearly as an important part of this prayer and this faith -- that forgiveness is essential to the things of God in our prayer. Forgiveness, cursing, faith in "moving a mountain, " cleansing the temple -- and especially the analogy here about bearing fruit -- how do they all go together? It's here that we start to unravel what is happening in this reading. Jesus exercises a kind of judgment in the cleansing of the temple, and the cursing of the tree ("Let no one eat fruit from you ever again") would seem to be a complete finality. There is a key here, to the faith, to the judgment, to the cursing of the tree, to the power of prayer, that sets things in a particular light, and that is Jesus' teaching about forgiveness. To forgive is to "let go" in the Greek. And we note, importantly, that "letting go" here comes during prayer to God. We remember the Lord's prayer, that we are forgiven our debts, as we forgive our debtors. "Letting go" doesn't happen on our own in either of these instances, but rather happens in prayer: to God and with God. What it implies is an exchange: our point of view for God's point of view. Judgment is assured, but the judgment is up to God and what we really exchange when we forgive is our point of view for God's point of view. The same is true of what we pray for, as Jesus also has taught us in the Gospels, "Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done." St. Paul teaches about prayer, that "the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). It seems to me that the key to all these teachings, to Jesus' cleansing of the temple and His teaching about both faith and forgiveness in prayer, is this clue about the Spirit and the exchange in prayer of one point of view for another: a worldly perspective for God's perspective and God's will in our lives. What should I pray for? What's worthwhile? This alliance with God, this place in which the Kingdom can grow in our hearts through forgiveness or more literally "letting go" of our point of view and asking for God's point of view of ourselves and what we do with our lives, what we choose, is a powerful formula for allowing God's Spirit to work through us. We've recently been told by Jesus that, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." Well, that "with God" becomes a much deeper subject than we can imagine. Jesus' words here are not a teaching on the great power of prayer as some sort of magical incantation that will give us whatever we desire. No, they are couched in very strong teachings and implications about our own spiritual fruitfulness, and especially our alliance with God through the process of forgiveness, of letting go, a detachment from a purely worldly perspective, an exchange of our point of view for God's point of view. We do the work of letting go, and God does the rest with us and in us. Neither is this teaching an excuse for berating ourselves for our lack of faith when everything doesn't go our way! The road of faith is one that teaches us about prayer and union with the Spirit, about letting go and exchange, and especially about the growth of our own perspective on life and what's truly of value. All of these things are a part of today's teaching. Let us look again at what is fruitful spiritually, as my study bible pointed out the words from St. Paul (Galatians 5:22-23): "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." These things accompany our growth in prayer, our capacity to see things as God sees them. Let's remember that Jesus is on a journey, and so are we. In the Gospel, He has reached Jerusalem, His final stage in His earthly ministry; it is here that confrontation takes place, symbolized by the withering of the fig tree, and evidenced in the cleansing of the temple. But His teaching for us on faith and prayer is couched in the language of letting go, and the the language of trust in God (which is what faith really means). It is there that our prayer becomes supremely powerful. Sometimes the mountain that needs to move first might be the one blocking our view of the bigger picture.
