“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. “It is the prophet’s, the apostle’s, the missionary’s, the healer’s prayer that is made with this confidence and finds the confidence justified by the event.” When God grants us the special type of faith seen in Mark 11 or James 5, he makes us his colleagues, uniting us to himself to such a degree that something like the divine foreknowledge enters our minds so that in praying, we believe that we have already received what we asked for. The struggle for the servant is in carrying out that will. In this sermon series, we’ve repeatedly noted the Messianic secret that marks the ministry of Jesus. —Matthew 17:20. With enough faith and persistence can we demand miracles? This is a Messianic signal. (11:15), 4)    The next day, they go back to the fig tree. Elder Lillie Brock In many marginalized communities, the notion of “repentance” may have become a dirty word since it has often been used as a spiritual whipping post. And so, here comes Jesus, the Son of David, returning to Jerusalem, to Zion, with shouts of acclimation. Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God. Because of this, Jesus’s words in Mark 11 are not really addressed to the condition in which most of us live. Pray that you will eat the fruit of the tree of life which is assigned for this month. Deliver me from anxiety. While it was true that the priestly sacrifices were for the people, the rich and powerful had turned the Temple into a business which was benefiting them. 58. And like in Jeremiah’s day, you’ve turned it into a den of robbers. Second, it’s good and right for us to desire deliverance. The other two are “Help me” and “Thank you.” “Help me” is a prayer for assistance. Sundays at 10:00am & 5:00pm 1524 Summit Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105. So by causing the tree to wither, Jesus provides an object lesson on the need to have faith in God. Jesus does mighty works and signs and miracles and exorcisms that create certain expectations and hopes, while at the same time veiling his true identity as Israel’s Messiah and (even more shockingly) the Son of God. 1)    Jesus explains what he’s about to do: “I’m going to suffer, die, and then be raised.”. We should pray, “Deliver me, O God.” But the fundamental deliverance that we need is deliverance from ourselves and our own sin. Jesus uses a fig tree as a metaphor for the imminence of His return. If Jesus were using the Fig Tree as a symbol, then either Matthew or Mark could easily take liberties in focusing on the issue of the meaning of the story rather than recounting a chronological event. “Deliver me from my sinful desires. 2. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Gen 2:2-3).” If the entrance into Jerusalem was on a Sunday, the day after the Sabbath and the day we celebrate as the beginning of the week, the Resurrection day, was Jesus looking around and saying, “This is not very good”? Second, we need to remember Israel’s expectation and hope that God would come to deliver them. First, throughout the Old Testament, God’s people and their obedience are often described in terms of fig trees and their fruit. This is not about proclaiming anything you want and hoping that it will happen. Either way, you won’t let it go, and big or small, it’s a massive weight that keeps your prayers grounded. The fig tree is the third tree to be mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible.The first is the Tree of life and the second is the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And we gather here, not just as suitors, and not just as servants, but as the friends of Jesus, as the sons and daughters of God. Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant--Douay-Rheims Bible For the fig tree shall not blossom: and there shall be no spring in the vines. This will not be your portion in Jesus’ Name. There are several troubling moments in the Gospels involving Jesus and fig trees. Please remove vanity from my heart and don’t let me die before my time. He doesn’t have to say anything. MARK 11:12-14: “And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. In 9:30-31, Jesus tells them. 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. For Israel (Hos 9:10)? But at a crucial point in the game, this Little League coach learned the lesson. (Learn more about organic soil amendments.) In Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah sees a vision of good figs and bad figs. So what is Jesus teaching here? and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor. Show me a species that doesn’t, and with higher degrees of self awareness and sentience, and we aren’t the only of God’s creatures that have it, we have that need in abundance. Father, please cause me to be fruitful in Jesus’ Name. And we gather at this Table. This building and all of this hustle and bustle is impressive. The art and articles that appear here remain the property of their creators. – Matthew 21:22 Read: Matthew 21:18-22 Open Heaven 10 December 2020 18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. Say to the mountain, “Be thrown into the sea,” with no doubt, with rock-solid faith, it’ll happen. He will bare his arm before the Gentiles and deliver his people. And so we have the poor fig tree, the innocent that died for showy leaves but no fruit out of season. Prayer Points Against Rising And Falling. For Israel (Hos 9:10)? 1. With his disciples, this Messianic secret builds until Mark 8, when Peter utters his famous confession. We need our faith communities and our personal practice of our faith to be ever reminded that God is with us, loves us, and will grant us whatever good things we need. 28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. Please remove vanity … Not one of them has been lost. Remember back in Mark 1, when we talked about what Mark and Jesus means by “gospel,” good news. The last lesson of this passage has to do with Jesus’s exhortation about forgiveness. And in the midst of this instruction about the mission of Jesus, the disciples reveal their confusion and Jesus teaches them. As long as you are clinging to the offense, you can’t open your hand to receive the mercy of God. and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; 6 for the son treats the father with contempt. Lessons from the Fig Tree 2. This is my house. Thank you.” Specific, sincere, targeted gratitude for concrete gifts and help and rescue, in hopes that those three prayers will be the on-ramp to worship and adoration. In 10:32-34, Jesus tells them again. I think what all these teachings have in common is the command to keep talking to God our Father. That’s what all of this thick symbolism is designed to say. You must therefore learn from the fig tree and from Ananias and Sapphira that living a fake life can only earn you a bad reputation, shame and untimely death. 28 “Take a lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its branches grow tender and its leaves sprout, you know that summer is near.” 29 So also, when you see these things happening, you know that the Promised One is near, right at the door. For a shepherd, finding an appropriate lamb isn’t a problem, but these are urban people who perhaps keep a few chickens or no livestock at all. Lord, I pray that I will not be stagnant but I will blossom and prosper in Jesus name. You can’t hold onto bitterness and receive the grace of Jesus. Was not the fig tree a metaphor for the Temple? and there is no one upright among mankind; 3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look how the fig tree you cursed has dried up.” 22 Jesus responded to them, “Have faith in God! Mark 11. But Jesus didn’t just come to reform the Temple, but create a new covenant, one for all people, and one which would exclude no one. After that, a tree could be harvested twice a year, usually yielding much fruit. The prayer points on our website is to guide you as you work on improving your prayer life. The two stories about the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree may be Mark’s best use of his common technique of “sandwiching” stories in a manner that allows one to serve as an exegesis on the other. Prayer points Volume 4, December 30, 2015 A Prayer of Reflection and Anticipation Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NKJV) Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be THREE women met regularly under a fig tree on a hill on Brisbane’s northern outskirts and prayed that one day a church would be built on the site. August 1, 2017. 1. This passage is thick with symbolism and allusions to the Old Testament. But first get the narrative. The first thing to say is that I wonder if there is still some symbolism happening. All people, and in Mark’s church this was already true. Welcome on board. I think to some extent we have. A Guide to Journaling & Prayer; A Guide to Self-Reflection; A Chart to help articulate feelings; Bible Text: Mark 13:28-31. (Mk 11:11).” Leaving town before the gates of a walled city were locked for the night, and Jerusalem was a walled city, makes sense. They’ve passed through Jericho, healing Bartimaeus, who is now following them, and they’ve arrived at the suburbs of Jerusalem (Bethany and Bethpage). the daughter rises up against her mother. This is the Table, where we apply all of these. Deliver us from oppression.” And that’s a good prayer. And his disciples heard it.” God in his mercy has given us this time and a large space to reflect and to repent. 100 Prayers from the prayer web-site of the De La Salle Brothers www.prayingeachday.org 1 Praying with others across the world Lord, you said that when two or three would gather together in your name, then you would be present with them. When Jesus talks about “this mountain” being thrown into the “sea,” I think it’s possible that the mountain refers to the temple mountain and the sea refers to the nations, the Gentiles, because just as Israel is often symbolized by a fig tree in the Old Testament, the nations are often represented as the sea, the oceans. What is happening here? And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. God bless you. The showy temple, but no fruit, and now out of season, even days before the Passover, the celebration of the Jewish liberation, of the promises made to them by God through Moses. For example, when Jesus is entering Jerusalem, he sends his disciples ahead of him to get a colt for him to ride. People need some level of social organization. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? The apparent stone will be bread to us if we believe that a Father’s hand put it into ours, in mercy or in justice or even in rebuke. We know about praise and thanksgiving, about praying for mercy in penance, about interceding for others and for ourselves. Open Heaven 10 December 2020. Of course, miracles do happen, but it isn’t a gimme. The people of Jesus’s day asked God to deliver them. as when the summer fruit has been gathered. / Prayer Points. 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain. Rev. So Israel’s expectation and hope is that, in the midst of their suffering and oppression, God will return to Zion, to Jerusalem, to the temple, and he will restore the glory of his house. Here’s the pattern. Herod the Great spent over 45 years, refurbishing the temple, expanding its courts, giving it an upgrade, attempting to make Jerusalem great again. And what good is a fig tree that has no fruit?”. Jesus says, “Have faith, with no doubt,” and so we try to produce faith in our own power, which often means combining a desperate desire with a strong imagination to produce a subjective feeling we then call “faith.” We begin to measure the value of our prayers by our success in immediately producing certain feelings. Deuteronomy.34:1-5, “And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. This will not be your portion in Jesus’ Name. Take these prayers during the day and midnight hours (12am-2am) PRAYER POINTS FOR FRUITFULNESS. Hindrances in your way. Jesus goes to the temple and checks it out. We are asking God to make things happen for us because we asked, but sometimes it feels more like a demand or even blackmail. Why call on God at all if we are empowered by our free will to take action, whatever that action may be? Prayer Point – Open Heaven 7 January 2019. Seeking the good of the Cities. Here is where the promise of answered prayer in Mark 11:24 applies. But it’s all leaves. The servant has confidence in his master’s reality and goodness. Please remove vanity … 17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The showy temple, but no fruit, and now out of season, even days before the Passover, the celebration of the Jewish liberation, of the promises made to them by God through Moses. Notice the movement. The rest of the passage is oriented by Jesus and the temple (this will be a major theme for the next few chapters). Jesus’ kingdom mission called for His disciples to carry the gospel into all the nations. Comments that use non-PG rated language, include personal attacks, that are not provable as fact or that we deem in any way to be counter to our mission of fostering respectful dialogue will not be posted. Will tend his flock like a fig tree afar off having leaves ”: trees... Text alone difficult passage unless you have broken forth against my enemies ( 2 Thessalonians ). 6 and the Greek does say τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, toi ethnisin, all ethnicities area of life... It could be harvested twice a year, usually yielding much fruit enough at our can. 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