Mark 11:12-22 “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. (13) 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. (14) In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. (15) So they came to Jerusalem. … (19) When evening had come, He went out of the city. (20) Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.”
In our previous example we saw a partial miracle take place. The reason for that was because although Peter initially began to walk by faith, he allowed himself to be influenced by what he could see in the natural, which resulted in the flow of God’s power being cut off. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit has given us an example of a completed miracle taking place as a result of our Lord Jesus walking by faith and not by sight. In this account we see that the Lord Jesus cursed a fig tree and that fig tree then withered up and died. And so we will examine this miracle from the point of view that if we want to experience the power of God being made manifest, then we must not look at the things which are seen but rather at the things which are unseen. This account starts off with Jesus coming out of Bethany in the morning on His way to Jerusalem. When He passes the fig tree He stops to see if the tree has any fruit on it because He was hungry. Finding no fruit on the tree He then speaks to the tree by saying, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again", and His disciples heard what He said. Jesus then turned around and went on His way into the city of Jerusalem, where He spent the rest of the day teaching in the temple. At the end of the day He and the disciples went back to Bethany because that was where they were staying at the time. They all walked past the same fig tree that Jesus had spoken to that morning. There was no visible change to the fig tree and it looked just the same as it did when Jesus spoke to it that morning. Jesus paid no attention to the tree as they walked past, for He had spoken to the tree that morning and as far as He was concerned the matter was closed. To be continued …
Michael E.B. Maher
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