Have faith in God

 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

On Saturday we read that when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus 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 and 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.   That it was not the season for figs means that this fig tree had sprouted an early fall foliage, according to my study bible.  The early foliage would indicate a first crop, but there is no fruit borne on the tree.  Jesus doesn't find a single fig, and it results in a vivid symbol of condemnation.  In Scripture, my study bible comments, a fig tree is often a symbol of Israel (Hosea 9:10).   At this time of the Triumphal Entry (Saturday's reading, above), Jesus enters His last week of life as human being and earthly ministry, and this is a comment on the lack of fruitfulness under the present leadership; the Kingdom will be taken and given to another people, called out of the whole world 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 in the temple were trading in live animals for sacrifice.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, and were considered to be defiling in the temple.  It is particularly noteworthy that the text specifically mentions those who sold doves, as these were the affordable sacrifices of the poor.  My study bible comments that the cleansing of the temple points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As each one is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), it is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters that do not reflect the loving nature of God.

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."   The disciples remark upon Christ's prophetic act of cursing and withering of the fig tree.   It is an image they won't forget, as they go out into the world as apostles after Christ's death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  The old covenant is becoming "obsolete" and will "vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13).  They will go on to establish Christ's Church, which will be filled ultimately with both Jews and Gentiles, and they will need assurance that they are following His will.  The image of the fig tree will remain significant to them in this way.

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."  Jesus uses this occasion to teach once again regarding faith, and it is important that this teaching on prayer and faith is couple with the admonition to forgive in prayer.  This is because it cements in the notion that all prayer is couched in the hands and will of God.  Prayer and faith go hand in hand simply because of this understanding that all things are given up to God for reconciliation, including whatever it is that we have against anyone.    Forgiveness is the act of giving up our hurts to God for God's will and adjudication; it does not mean excusing harm done to us or even necessarily reconciling in full with others, unless this, too, is something we find we are drawn to do through prayer.  But we are asked, rather, to put all things in God's hands, for God's will, including our own will.   The prayer given to us by Christ (Matthew 6:9-15) includes both of these understandings, that we give our will to God's will, and that we give up all "debts" and "trespasses" to God for God's reconciliation in our lives.  Therefore, the faith with which we pray becomes powerful in that will.  My study bible comments that while it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved am mountain, Church tradition is clear that the saints had this authority if the need has arisen (in certain stories of the saints they did make crevices appear in mountains).  Moreover, not everything the apostles accomplished has been written down.  Beyond the literally meaning of Christ's words, the promise is also an illustration, my study bible says, of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  It quotes Theophan:  "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.

What makes prayer powerful?  This is a question all kinds of people throughout history and the ages would like to ask.  But what makes prayer effective and powerful?  I think it could be understood that God hears every prayer.  Whether or not that prayer is necessarily good for us, effective, or profitable in a spiritual sense makes little difference.  God's messengers are everywhere and uncountable, and each has an angel who hears.  Within that system of messengers (for messenger is the root meaning of the word "angel" -- and even most likely why the visions of angels given to us have wings) we are all certain to have had our prayers heard.  The question becomes, then, what prayer is effective, and how it is so.   My belief is that we can be certain that our prayers are answered even when we don't think they have been.  Often, prayers are answered instead in ways that we need them to be answered for our own highest good.  An unanswered prayer in my own life has meant that I had further issues to deal with, to resolve and reconcile, new understandings to gain in my own spiritual life which would not have been possible if my prayers were simply answered as I had requested them in my own ignorance or lack of knowledge and understanding.  Sometimes an unresolved issue goes a long way to giving us new revelation about God's work in our lives and even the nature of God's love for us.  In this context, St. Paul's own experience is particularly enlightening.  He prayed several times for relief from a "thorn in the flesh" but was eventually told, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  "Therefore," concludes St. Paul, "most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  (See 2 Corinthians 12:7-9).  This new way of thinking was a message to St. Paul which opened up a new understanding of God's grace at work in the world.  Seemingly paradoxical, it teaches us about our own struggles and our own lives.  As human beings, we may be called upon to struggle with particular difficulties and obstacles, even so that God's grace may shine out from us.  We may consider Beethoven, the great composer, who wrote groundbreaking music through all manner of personal pain and illness, and even through deafness, completing and performing his "Ode to Joy" when he was completely deaf.  We may think about these twelve men, Christ's apostles who will go out into the whole of the known world of their time spreading the message of Christ's gospel.  The Gospels teach us all about their own personal flaws.  They are for the most part unlearned in a formal sense of educational institutions of their time.  None of them are a part of the institutional hierarchy of faith or national leadership.  And yet, what they do will -- in a very short span of one generation -- revolutionize the world.  It seems clear that God's grace works through our own imperfections.  The Cross of Christ -- as well as our individual crosses which He teaches each of us to bear (Luke 9:23) -- functions to give us an image of struggle in which each of us is bound by our very natures to engage.  That very struggle is for God's grace to work through us, imperfect as we are, bringing even greatness possible through each one.  This greatness is born of a struggle not necessarily known to the world, but is between ourselves and God -- and found especially through heartfelt and honest prayer.  If we are open to God's grace, placing ourselves and all of our lives in God's hands, then we are on the right track for answers to our prayers -- but most especially for that particular grace which might be known only to ourselves.  Let us be good disciples and find His way, for this is the true substance of life within us, and something we cannot predict or calculate.  But we can put trust in His promise of the power of our faith.  We just need to place faith in the answers we find.   The story of the cursing of the fig tree is couched in Mark's Gospel on either side of the cleansing of the temple.  Let us understand there is also a message for us there, about seeking God's will in all that we do and learning to set aside our own impulses for selfishness or corruption.  We give all things to God, but most especially the fullness of ourselves.  In this is our greatest expression of faith.