Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him

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 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 you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

- Mark 11:12-26

Yesterday we read that when they 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.  This fig tree has sprouted an early foliage, as if there is going to be a first crop of figs -- but it's not the season for figs yet, so it hasn't borne any fruit.  In Scripture, my study bible notes, a fig tree is often the symbol of Israel (Hosea 9:10).  This fruitless fig shows promise, but is empty.  Jesus is in Jerusalem, and has been welcomes as king and Messiah (Saturday's reading above), but the Kingdom He brings will be taken away and given to other people who are called to bear spiritual fruit (see Matthew 21:43; Galatians 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.   Those who bought and sold included those seller animals for sacrifice.  Doves were a more inexpensive sacrifice, perhaps the only affordable to the poor.  The money changers were those who traded Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Roman currency bore the image of Caesar, and so were considered defiling in the temple.  My study bible suggests that Jesus' cleansing of the temple points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  And, as each person is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it's also a sign that our hearts and minds should be cleansed of "earthly matters" -- particularly where materialistic outlook substitutes for the perspective of faith.  If our souls are nourished by prayer, then we must take care how we either nurture the soul or deprive it of life.   Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. 

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 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 you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."  My study bible calls the cursing and withering of the fig tree a prophetic act, which signifies the judgment of Israel.  It says that the disciples need to learn that the old covenant with Israel is becoming "obsolete" and will "vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13).  These disciples will establish His Church, which will ultimately be filled with both Gentiles and Jews -- and they need assurance that they are following His will.  The image of this fig tree with be unforgettable.  Jesus focuses, however, not on the cursing and withering of the fig tree, but once again on faith and the power of faith.  This is the pillar of the Church and the ground for the disciples.  We note how immediately Jesus couples the power of faith in prayer with forgiveness.  The connection in prayer with the Father goes hand in hand with offering forgiveness.  This pillar on which we rest our  faith is a three-way bond:  the Father is the center and mediator of both our prayers and our forgiveness.  It is a constant practice.   My study bible quotes Theophan's commentary:  "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.  This applies to the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.

What is the power of prayer?  I think we could tie in Jesus' teachings on prayer with both the cleansing of the temple and the symbol of the withering and the cursing of the fig tree.  That is because the unassailable power of faith is based on the power of God.  Jesus' symbolic cursing of the fig tree shows an aggrieved Lord who is rejected by those whom He loves and for whom He has come to sacrifice all, to endure pain and suffering and death as one of us.  The cleansing of the temple is again another type of symbolic cursing:  God's people -- even in His house -- show a disrespect, a lack of love for all the teachings brought through the prophets, for the love God has shown God's people throughout a spiritual history of shepherding and nurturing, by turning God's house of prayer into a den of thieves.  It is finally the Son who has been sent, as suffering servant, who voices the complaint and drives out the money changers and those who sell animals for sacrifice to the poor, for whom this house of prayer is refuge.  We look to the power of prayer to establish God's presence in us and among us, just as Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah:   "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."  It is in the power of this bond that the temple is cleansed, the power of this bond that the fruitless fig tree is cursed, for God's power at work in the world isn't without its effects, depending on how we respond to it.   There are those who would say God is simply a far away being, a Creator who began the universe and then left it to run on its own.  But a witness to the Gospel sees something quite different:  a God who not only gives us life and sustains the world, but cares even for the number of hairs on our heads, or the life of a single sparrow.  The God we know from the Son who has been sent to live and suffer and die for us is the God who is involved in the minute details of our lives, who loves us with a passion we couldn't contain nor comprehend because God is the absolute of love.  And this God, we learn from Jesus, lives within us and also among us.  It is there we go to prayer, indispensable for faith and the power of faith.  And this prayer, says Jesus, must also be offered with our forgiveness:  both at the same time given to the Father, given to the God who loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves, to the God who knows our faults and weaknesses and even sins of which we are as yet unaware.  It is in this bond that we create the power of faith, this synergy of love with the power of God at work in the world.  It is that bond of which Jesus says, "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."  It is that bond to which we give up all things -- even the hurts and grudges and slights we know in the world -- through which God establishes God's temple and power at work in us.