O my God, make them like whirling dust, like chaff before the wind.
As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so may you pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane!
Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD.
Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever, let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. Verses 13-18
Matthew 21:18-22--A Lesson From a Fig Tree
Seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it...And He said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. Verse 19
The context of this short passage is a period when Jesus is dealing with hypocrites. Before this passage, he had just tossed the crooked merchants out of the temple. Afterwards, he has to deal with religious authorities who don't recognize John the Baptist's authority.
Christ's curse on this fig tree is a foreshadowing of what will happen to those who, by their "leafy foliage," promise fruit, but, in fact, produce none.
The disciples miss the point, focusing instead on how quickly the tree withered. So Jesus turns the lesson around and teaches about prayer. Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
But we would do well to remember the central lesson here. The cursing of the fig tree is a sobering reminder of just how much the Lord hates hypocrisy.
Luke 22:47-53
Jesus has just finished his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. He has found his disciples sleeping. Then this happens. Here comes a mob of people, headed up by none other than his trusted "friend," Judas.
Judas Kiss.
I'll try to place myself in the shoes of one of the disciples at this point.
When Judas arrives with this angry mob, I am shocked. I really don't believe it. How could this be happening? He was one of us! It's like a dream of some kind, a nightmare. In fact, maybe it is a dream. After all, Jesus just came back from the garden and woke us up, right? I ask one of the others to pinch me. I am outraged at this betrayal.
Then Peter takes a hack at the servant of the High Priest! Again I'm shocked. Well, not that it was Peter. He was, after all, kind of a hot-head, but this violence! And against the servant of the highest religious leader of our nation! I reach out and pull Peter back, trying to restrain him. There are only a few of us. We can't possibly think to fight this mob!
Then, Jesus does the unthinkable! The unimaginable! He reaches out, and with soothing words, he HEALS the ear of the servant! Jesus has just touched and healed one of the mob that is trying to kill him!! I am now completely dumbfounded. This entire event is too much to take in, and I think I'm feeling dizzy, like I might actually faint.
Jesus brings me back around, though, when he actually kind of pokes fun at the mob. Yes, he, in a roundabout sort of way, mocks them! He said, "What is this, jumping me with swords and clubs as if I were a dangerous criminal?? Day after day I've been with you in the Temple and you've not so much as lifted a hand against me. But do it your way--it's a dark night, a dark hour."
Yes, it certainly is. And Jesus is right! What is the purpose of all of this mob? Do they really think we are that dangerous? Or are they, at heart, truly a bunch of cowards?
I thought that crazy man was going to cut off my head!! The look in his eyes...he was mad! Lucky for me, his swing was just as crazy as the look on his face! He only cut off my ear. Hurt like hades, it did, though!
But then...I can scarcely believe what happened next! This man...(can he truly be just a "man?")this man that we were coming to arrest (and I admit, in reflection, that it all seemed kind of silly, all of us against this small band of men with, what, two swords?) reached out with his hand, and healed my wound! Just like that. Good as new.
We went ahead and arrested him, and went through with what I'm now convinced was a sham of a trial. Years later, I am ashamed that I was part of this. I began listening to some of those guys that were with him. A lot of what they said made sense. I eventually became a believer in the "man" who healed my ear. I believe he really did come from Yahweh!
(Of course, my tale is pure speculation...but I think it is entirely possible and plausible that the servant actually became a believer later in his life.)
Nothing
Else
Matters
At first, I hang my head in shame. But then I rejoice.
I rejoice in his healing and feel the inspiration to carry that healing to others.
Praise his name.
Grace and peace, friends!