From Mark 11 starting in verse 12.
The next day, when they had left Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if there was any fruit on it. But when He reached it, He found nothing on it except leaves, since it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again.” And His disciples heard this statement.
As they were walking back in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots. Peter remembered it and said, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree You cursed has withered.”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them. “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Lessons from the Fig Tree: Fruitfulness and Faith
A Podcast
We will draw our lesson from Alistair Begg, from a sermon in October 2011, part of a series The Gospel According to Mark, Volume 5.
This study explores the symbolic meaning of Jesus cursing the fig tree in Mark 11 (also Matthew 21) and highlights themes of faith, fruitfulness, and prayer among believers.
Says Begg, “This is what we need to understand: God is able to do beyond all of your capacity to even imagine. You could even say, as it were, to this mountain, ‘Throw yourself in the sea,’ and it would actually be accomplished. It is a picture of the doing of the impossible. Jesus is encouraging his disciples to trust God with all that they need for doing God’s work.
The passage serves as a call for self-examination — asking whether one’s life reflects genuine faith and fruitfulness — while encouraging believers to trust God boldly through prayer.
Those who trust God for the right things in the right way may have confidence that from God they will always get the right response. ~Alistair Begg
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