Mark 11:12-14On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 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. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
In just a few days, Jesus will be arrested, beaten, and crucified. Yet he continues to teach the disciples along the way.
Two things are important to note from this fig tree encounter.
First, Jesus was hungry. Jesus was human. That's not to say that he wasn't God. He was. But he was fully God and fully man. So he got hungry just like we do. He got hunger pains with that hunger. He felt like we feel. And so I imagine that we could never understand the pain that he genuinely felt as he willingly took God's wrath on himself to demonstrate his love for us.
Second, Jesus doesn't think much of fruitlessness. The cursing of the fig tree signifies the judgment of God on the fruitless Jewish people, who had turned away from God into empty ritual and legalism.
Oh, may we not journey through this week ritualistically! May we worship, truly worship, the Son who came to demonstrate the Father's love for us... for you and for me.
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