Do you remember the Reader's Digest condensed novels? That's kind of what Mark is especially as we read all the action here in chapter 11.
It's hard tonight as I write this to really pinpoint my thoughts. I'm amazed again by the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, since we're in the midst of the Lent season. I'm confused by the cursing of the fig tree and I dearly love how Jesus confounds the Pharisees. In the midst of the story is the clearing of the merchants in the temple. Jesus reminds them all that the Temple is to a place of prayer for ALL nations. How often do we make our churches less than that? I think about my own church and although during a Sunday morning service we have a wonderful and powerful times of family prayer people don't come out for prayer meetings. We use God's house for meetings and rehearsals, why don't we use it as a place of prayer. But even as I typed the previous line I feel like the Holy Spirit reminded me that we are God's house! Are we a house of prayer? Or full of thieves that are stealing that time and space God intended for prayer. (Think it's time for me to do some repenting!)
God is Good!
Blessings,
Holly
As for the fig tree - I've heard it interpreted that the fig tree represents "fruitless Israel". I don't know if that is a stretch or not, but it is as good an interpretation as any, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteAs for churches - Churches used to be open to the public all hours and people could go in a pray. We felt like we had to start locking our churches because people came in and trashed them, stole things, slept in them ,etc. I miss being able to wander into churches and spend time praying. It doesn't seem right to have to either lock them up or hire security. But, you are correct, we don't need church buildings to pray.
Previously we read Matthew 21:1-27, which reflects this same passage we are reading today in Mark 11. I agree ~*~ Mark is the outliner, Matthew is the fill-in-the-blanks guy. Both were there and wrote what they saw. That's why each one of us has such different personalities and some are visual and some verbal learners. I am a visual learner. It all becomes a movie to me! As we were reading in Matthew, the area, Bethphage, was known for it's abundance of fig trees. Here is says it was out of season for the figs, i.e., time of harvest gathering. There was no pre-growth with the leaves on this tree.
ReplyDeletephoto of growth with leaves
http://www.bijbelaantekeningen.nl/gallery3/var/resizes/bn/V/vijgenboom/taqsh.jpg?m=1293885598
[Holly, you will have to teach me how to insert jpg files here.]
Bethphage (Aramaic בית פגי, meaning "House of un-ripe figs")
Do we have pre-growth? Are we watching, waiting ready to receive, to have our empty, barren places filled with His abundance? The pre-growth falls off and the permanent fruit takes hold!