Mark 11:12-14

B. MONDAY:
1. THE BARREN FIG TREE. 11:12-14.

TEXT 11:12-14

And on the morrow, when they were come out from Bethany, he hungered. And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season of figs. And he answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit from thee henceforward for ever. And his disciples heard it.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 11:12-14

608.

If Jesus stayed in the home of Mary and Martha why was He hungry?

609.

Where was the fig tree? Cf. Matthew 21:18-19.

610.

In what way are leaves an indication of figs?

611.

Didn-'t Jesus know before He came to the tree that there were no figs? For whose benefit did He search among the leaves?

612.

It was not the season for figs why expect them?

613.

Wasn-'t there something terribly symbolic about this whole action? What was it?

614.

Did the disciples understand the prophetic judgment against the Hebrew nation in the cursing of the fig tree? If not why do it?

COMMENT

TIME.A.D. 30, Monday, 3rd April, 11th Nisan (Monday) the fourth day before the great Jewish Passover.
PLACES.On the road from Bethany to JerusalemJerusalemthe TempleBethanythe home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

PARALLEL ACCOUNT.Matthew 21:18-19.

OUTLINE.1. The time, place and cause for judgment, Mark 11:12. Mark 11:2. The object of judgment, Mark 11:13. Mark 11:3. Judgment pronounced, Mark 11:14.

ANALYSIS

I.

THE TIME, PLACE AND CAUSE FOR JUDGMENT, Mark 11:12.

1.

on the morrow probably Monday morning.

2.

Just outside Bethany was the place.

3.

Jesus was hungry.

II.

THE OBJECT OF JUDGMENT, Mark 11:13.

1.

A fig tree in full view.

2.

Full of leaves.

3.

A hypocriteno figs.

III.

JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED, Mark 11:14.

1.

Addressed directly by word.

2.

Its mission removed forever.

3.

Those for whom the lesson was given heard and saw.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

I.

THE TIME, PLACE AND CAUSE FOR JUDGMENT.

We see, in the beginning of this passage, one of the many proofs that our Lord Jesus Christ was really man. We read that He was hungry. He had a nature and bodily constitution like our own in all things, sin only excepted. He could weep and rejoice and suffer pain. He could be weary and need rest. He could be thirsty and need drink. He could be hungry and need food.

Expressions like this should teach us the condescension of Christ. How wonderful they are when we reflect upon them! He who is the eternal God,He who made the world and all that it contains,He from whose hand the fruits of the earth, the fish of the sea, the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, all had their beginning,He, even He was pleased to suffer hunger, when He came into the world to save sinners. This is a great mystery. Kindness and love like this pass man's understanding. No wonder that St. Paul speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Ephesians 3:8).

Expressions like this should teach us Christ's power to sympathize with His believing people on earth. He knows their sorrows by experience. He can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities. He has had experience of a body and its daily wants. He has suffered Himself the severe sufferings that the body of man is liable to. He has tasted pain, and weakness, and weariness, and hunger, and thirst. When we tell Him of these things in our prayers, He knows what we mean, and is no stranger to our troubles. Surely this is just the Saviour and Friend that poor aching, groaning, human nature requires!

II.

THE OBJECT OF JUDGMENT.

We learn, in the second place, from these verses, the great danger of unfruitfulness and formality in religion. This is a lesson which our Lord teaches in a remarkable typical action. We are told that coming to a fig tree in search of fruit, and finding on it nothing but leaves, He pronounced on it the solemn sentence, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And we are told that the next day the fig tree was found dried up from the roots. We cannot doubt for a moment that this whole transaction was an emblem of spiritual things. It was a parable in deeds, as full of meaning as any of our Lord's parables in words.

III.

JUDGMENT PRONOUNCED.

But who were they to whom this withered fig tree was intended to speak? It was a sermon of three-fold application, a sermon that ought to speak loudly to the consciences of all professing Christians. Though withered and dried up, that fig tree yet speaks. There was a voice in it for the Jewish Church. Rich in the leaves of a formal religion, but barren of all fruits of the Spirit, that Church was in fearful danger at the very time when this withering took place. Well would it have been for the Jewish Church if it had had eyes to see its peril! There was a voice in the fig tree for all the branches of Christ's visible Church, in every age and every part of the world. There was a warning against an empty profession of Christianity unaccompanied by sound doctrine and holy living, which some of those branches would have done well to lay to heart.But above all there was a voice in that withered fig tree for all carnal, hypocritical, and false-hearted Christians. Well would it be for all who are content with a name to live while in reality they are dead, if they would only see their own faces in the glass of this passage.
Let us take care that we each individually learn the lesson that this fig tree conveys. Let us always remember that baptism, and church-membership, and reception of the Lord's supper, and a diligent use of the outward forms of Christianity, are not sufficient to save our souls. They are leaves, nothing but leaves, and without fruit will add to our condemnation. Like the fig leaves of which Adam and Eve made themselves garments, they will not hide the nakedness of our souls from the eye of an all-seeing God, or give us boldness when we stand before Him at the last day. No: we must bear fruit, or be lost for ever! There must be fruit in our hearts and fruit in our livesthe fruit of repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,and true holiness in our conversation. Without such fruits as these a profession of Christianity will only sink us lower into hell. (J. C. Ryle)

FACT QUESTIONS 11:12-14

681.

How is the humanness of Jesus shown in this passage?

682.

What does the humanness of Jesus teach us?

683.

What great encouragement is found in His human qualities?

684.

How do these verses become a parable in deeds?

685.

Discuss and answer in your own words the two difficulties in this incident.

686.

What does the withered fig tree say to the Jewish nation?

687.

What does it say to the church of today?

688.

Above all the withered fig tree speaks to whom?

689.

In what sense are baptism, the Lord's supper and church-membership nothing but leaves?