The gospel reading for Morning Prayer yesterday was that little passage from Mark 11 where Jesus cursed a fig tree that had no figs, even though it was not the season for figs. His disciples passed the tree later in the day and saw that it had withered and died, and, being a bit curious asked Jesus about it. I’ve wondered about that episode. It seems so out of character for Jesus. The tree was just being a tree. Figs were not in season. Why would Jesus curse it to death in what looks like a rather childish fit of pique?
I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to notice, but instead of explaining the fig tree to his disciples, Jesus talked more about the nature of prayer and it’s power, and Mark ended the passage with these words: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (RSV) Consider that the innocent fig tree was an object lesson pointing to our thoughts, words and even prayers that condemn and damn rather than forgive and bless.
How often have we heard, or perhaps said, words of damnation in God’s holy name? How often have our thoughts of getting even, taking vengeance, taken on the form of prayer? Do we think they just bounce off the ionosphere and fall back as harmless syllables? It’s not that I think God hears our prayers of damnation or vengeance and gives us our desire. Not at all. But those thoughts and words do have the power to kill, if not our intended victim then us, slowly at first, but like a cancerous parasite deep inside, killing bit by bit until there is nothing left.
Late in the afternoon I was on the beach near a man who brought the whole thing home. He was on the phone and cursing whoever was on the other end with his heartfelt enraged desire that they be goddamned. His grandchildren and adult kids showed up after a while, and his behavior toward them became a combination of affection, overly harsh kidding, and bursts of cursing. Now it may be that he was rightfully anxious about some difficulty in his life, but I wonder if a lifetime of curses has effectively killed whatever budding figs may have been growing on his tree. As the psalmist said, “He put on cursing like garment, let it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.” (The psalmist was on pretty thin ice himself, don’t you think?)
I don’t think that’s an extreme example. Think about it; it’s a fairly common one. But how often do we do the same, maybe not just that way, maybe in smaller thoughts and words that still mean the same? Maybe that’s why Jesus said that we should pray that we be forgiven our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Maybe that’s why Jesus was so insistent that we learn to love our enemies, that we bless and not curse. This is not about bad language; it’s about the power of evil that lies within that language just as much as the power of God’s love lies within the language of forgiveness and blessing.
Thank you Steve! I need to take this to heart. You are va fine preacher of the good news.
I was a missionary in kabylia, Algeria. In our market town among the hilltop villages, figs, and olives were very important. They were enjoyed freash and dried. If they took a trip on foot and by train they would take only dried figs. They were poor. There is a story that a man on a train was eating dried figs. If the figs were inhabited he had to throw them away. When he was running out of food, he turned out the light and ate in peace. I do not recall what they did with trees that gave no figs.On our little garden they all bore figs. I don\’t understand the import of the story. I think you make a good case for some object lesson for something against violence.
Very good insight CP.I have been studying tzara\’ath, translated as leprosy. Western minds still want to link it with a skin ailment even though it is explained in the texts as a punishment for lashon hora and can afflict the skin, clothing and buildings. When viewed with the lesson of the fig tree and your observations about the nature of prayer and the emphasis on the call for his followers to heal the leper, there is provided a great deal of synchronicity in my study.Thank you
This post turned on a little lightbulb as the story has always been obscure in its point for me.\”Consider that the innocent fig tree was an object lesson pointing to our thoughts, words and even prayers that condemn and damn rather than forgive and bless.\”I found more than one switch turner, but the one above will be enough for the day as its context for me is in the chapter on Reconciliation that I\’m currently reading in \”The God of Second Chances\” by Erik Kolbell.Thanks, CP.
i love when you ponder like this and while turning on light bulbs in your own living room, you help illuminate my own.i guess better a fig tree as an object lesson than a person…i still feel badly for the tree, but definitely appreciate the lesson.thanks…and it really made me sad to think of anyone standing on a beach in hawaii cursing anything! (let alone in the presence of children and grandchildren)
But those thoughts and words do have the power to kill, if not our intended victim then us, slowly at first, but like a cancerous parasite deep inside, killing bit by bit until there is nothing left. I\’ve been pondering this and I haven\’t been able to get a particular thought out of my head. Maybe I\’m just not following, or maybe I\’m getting hung up on something you didn\’t intend, but I keep thinking . . .If those thoughts and words do have the power to kill, if not our intended victim then us, slowly at first, but like a cancerous parasite deep inside, killing bit by bit until there is nothing left, then what effect did this particular prayer have on Jesus? What effect did this negative prayer have on him?It seems odd to me that Jesus would put himself in this position. And I\’m certain you didn\’t intend that, but I keep coming back to this idea of, \”What was the negative effect of killing the fig tree on Jesus.\”Or maybe I\’ve just had a rough week.
Well Rev, consider that sometimes an object lesson is the only way to get a point across, and that Jesus was not in the habit of cursing anyone or anything. Consider also the story of the woman caught in adultery in John. Jesus was the only one present who actually had both the right and the authority to condemn, and he didn\’t, and he still doesn\’t.CP