24.172 | HAVE FAITH IN GOD | Mark

God’s Word for Today
18 Jul 2024
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 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. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
-Mark 11:12-14, 20-23
HAVE FAITH IN GOD
Jesus was hungry because He is human, too. As fully man, Jesus does experience hunger (Mat 4:2), fatigue (Mark 4:37-38), and pain. A life lived in service to God does not protect Him from physical discomfort or harm. He saw a fig tree with lush leaves but no fruit. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” He just declared unequivocally that the tree will die.
Apparently, Jesus' pronouncement against the tree is a sign that God is about to judge Israel (Mark 13:1-2). The fig tree is a symbol of Israel. The tree appears good: it is vegetative, but it produces no figs. Thus, it is useless. The temple looks good: rebuilt by Herod the Great some fifty or sixty years before, but the religious leaders choose not to bear fruit spiritually.
And his disciples heard His words. The next morning, they passed by the tree and it has died to its roots. The tree is completely dead. They were amazed so that Peter exclaimed, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” It was unbelievable before their eyes. Nevertheless, the Lord rebuke them gently, “Have faith in God.” They should have believed His words. But, they did not. They were surprise for their lack of faith to the authority of Jesus’ words.
As an application of trust to His words, He exhorted them saying, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Could we just use this promise as a blank check? Could we do anything as long as our faith is strong? Far from it! We should believe anything that Jesus or God says. As, John says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”[John 15:7] He expanded this in his epistle by saying, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” [1 John 5:14-15]
Faith that works is not faith in our faith but faith in Him, the faithful promiser.
Watch in RUclips: • 24.168 | Servant Leade...
Listen and FOLLOW us on our podcast
Spotify: bit.ly/glccfil_...
Apple Podcast: bit.ly/glccfil-...
Google Podcast: bit.ly/glccfil-...
Audible Podcast: bit.ly/glccfil-...
Follow us on various media platforms: gospellightfil...
#gospellightfilipino
#godswordfortoday
#bookofMark