JESUS curses a fig tree! Environmentally incorrect??

[ShieldOFaith]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. 15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.' " 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city. 20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. --Mark 11

We see here JESUS CHRIST cursing a fig tree. There is no doubt in my mind that some of you will cry "Environmentally Wrong!", JESUS was bad and wrong for doing this. However, is that the case?

The correct answer is: NO!

JESUS CHRIST was perfectly within HIS rights to curse and destroy that tree. HE is GOD the Son, the second person of the holy trinity. If HE wants to curse a fig tree that is not producing fruit; then HE has all the right to do so. It is HIS world. HE owns the earth and all that is within it. HE can do whatever HE wishes with it. It is a cool little bio-sphere that HE made; and HE will do with it whatever HE wants.

For those of you who have been to church a few times; you have probably heard a few sermons on this passage. You have heard the parallel between the barren fig tree and the Christian who is not producing fruit. This was one of the reasons why JESUS did this. This was a very powerful illustration of how GOD sees us, and what HE expects from us. HE wants us to bear fruit. If we don't produce fruit...
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[TheBear]

Are you aware that there are other parts of the Bible that are filled with love and forgiveness and being helpful and caring and cheerful and the beatitudes, or do you only focus on the violent and cursing and wrath and death and destruction parts?

I'm seriously worried about you. Tell me where you live, and I be sure to keep me and my family as far away from you as possible.

 

[Beanieboy]

And how does one produce fruit?
On what criteria is it based?
Can you give me a concrete list?

 

[Nathan45]

And how does one produce fruit?
On what criteria is it based?
Can you give me a concrete list?

in before giant cut and paste wall of text from shield of faith.

 

[Nathan45]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]

JESUS CHRIST was perfectly within HIS rights to curse and destroy that tree. HE is GOD the Son, the second person of the holy trinity. If HE wants to curse a fig tree that is not producing fruit; then HE has all the right to do so. It is HIS world. HE owns the earth and all that is within it. HE can do whatever HE wishes with it. It is a cool little bio-sphere that HE made; and HE will do with it whatever HE wants.
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A more interesting question is why he cursed the fig tree. Anyone have any opinion on that?

 

[Nathan Poe]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]We see here JESUS CHRIST cursing a fig tree. There is no doubt in my mind that some of you will cry "Environmentally Wrong!", JESUS was bad and wrong for doing this. However, is that the case?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]The correct answer is: NO![/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]JESUS CHRIST was perfectly within HIS rights to curse and destroy that tree. HE is GOD the Son, the second person of the holy trinity. If HE wants to curse a fig tree that is not producing fruit; then HE has all the right to do so. It is HIS world. HE owns the earth and all that is within it. HE can do whatever HE wishes with it. It is a cool little bio-sphere that HE made; and HE will do with it whatever HE wants.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]For those of you who have been to church a few times; you have probably heard a few sermons on this passage. You have heard the parallel between the barren fig tree and the Christian who is not producing fruit. This was one of the reasons why JESUS did this. This was a very powerful illustration of how GOD sees us, and what HE expects from us. HE wants us to bear fruit. If we don't produce fruit... [/FONT]

Never mind the environment, Shield -- consider the moral lesson here:

You seem to have missed the part -- verse 13 -- where it was not the season for figs. Therefore, there was no reason for the fig tree to produce fruit -- it was behaving exactly as God created it to.

It almost seems like Jesus has forgotten Ecclesiastes 3:1-2:

1: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

If Jesus had wanted to bend the laws of nature to make a fig tree produce figs when it normally shouldn't have, As God incarnate, that would've been as easy as turning water to wine.

But he didn't. Instead, he killed the tree for doing exactly what it was supposed to do exactly when it was supposed to do it. As God, he can do to us exactly what he did to that tree -- kill it for not breaking any rules; for being nothing more or less than what God made it to be.

That sound about right to you, Shield?

 

[scraparcs]

If you have no problem with the smackdown, you shouldn't be laying it down.

 

[Nathan Poe]

Bear, this is simple physics.

Picture if you will a teater toter.

<===@===>

If all the unsaved want to do is HATE GOD and bash His children; then I will continue to help balance the teater toter with the WRATH OF GOD.

Is God's wrath so weak that He needs YOU to balance it for Him?

WAIT FOR IT! Don't jump to conclusions!!! Hold on.

I know the very next thing out of your mouth will be: "No Shield! You should put LOVE on the other side of the teater toter to balance it out."

Geez, Shield, you haven't been this wrong since your last 37 threads on the Presidential elections.

Clearly, God has not tapped you for prophecy.

AAHHHH, but here is where things get mixed up. Ready?

We as Christians must preach the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD. Not just LOVE. But we must preach on Judgment and Wrath as well.

I see lots of Christians pouring over the love...ect.. But very few, and sometimes no one preaching the Judgment and Wrath of GOD.

Hence, that is where I come in. I have no problem being the "bad guy" if you will. I have no problem obviously, with sharing with the lost that GOD will layeth the smacketh down.

Simple physics.

Simple physics, indeed -- the rest of the World's Christians preach on God's Love, and you cover His Hate.

Question, Shield: Are you sure you have enough of God's Hate in you to get the job done by yourself?

 

[Angel4Truth]

Never mind the environment, Shield -- consider the moral lesson here:

You seem to have missed the part -- verse 13 -- where it was not the season for figs. Therefore, there was no reason for the fig tree to produce fruit -- it was behaving exactly as God created it to.

It almost seems like Jesus has forgotten Ecclesiastes 3:1-2:

1: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

If Jesus had wanted to bend the laws of nature to make a fig tree produce figs when it normally shouldn't have, As God incarnate, that would've been as easy as turning water to wine.

But he didn't. Instead, he killed the tree for doing exactly what it was supposed to do exactly when it was supposed to do it. As God, he can do to us exactly what he did to that tree -- kill it for not breaking any rules; for being nothing more or less than what God made it to be.

That sound about right to you, Shield?

Neither of you get it :

"Why did Jesus curse the fig tree, when figs weren't in season?
Some light is shed on this passage by an article in Hard Sayings of the Bible by F. F. Bruce:

Was it not unreasonable to curse the tree for being fruitless when, as Mark expressly says, "it was not the season for figs"? The problem is most satisfactorily cleared up in a discussion called "The Barren Fig Tree" published many years ago by W. M. Christie, a Church of Scotland minister in Palestine under the British mandatory regime. He pointed out first the time of year at which the incident is said to have occurred (if, as is probable, Jesus was crucified on April 6th, A.D. 30, the incident occurred during the first days of April). "Now," wrote Christie, "the facts connected with the fig tree are these. Toward the end of March the leaves begin to appear, and in about a week the foliage coating is complete. Coincident with [this], and sometimes even before, there appears quite a crop of small knobs, not the real figs, but a kind of early forerunner. They grown to the size of green almonds, in which condition they are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. When they come to their own indefinite maturity they drop off." These precursors of the true fig are called taqsh in Palestinian Arabic. Their appearance is a harbinger of the fully formed appearance of the true fig some six weeks later. So, as Mark says, the time for figs had not yet come. But if the leaves appear without any taqsh, that is a sign that there will be no figs. Since Jesus found "nothing but leaves" - leaves without any taqsh- he knew that "it was an absolutely hopeless, fruitless fig tree" and said as much.​

F. F. Bruce goes on to describe the cursing of the fig tree as a real-life parable that emphasized the spoken parable of the fig tree in Luke 13:6-9. It is also likely that Jesus, knowing in advance that his disciples would be surprised by the quick effect his curse had, used the fig tree to provoke their reaction and thus make the lesson about faith more memorable." http://www.rationalchristianity.net/fig_tree.html

I have that book and its exceptional.

 

[Pliny the Elder]

And how does one produce fruit?
On what criteria is it based?
Can you give me a concrete list?

Make like a tree and leave?

 

[Pliny the Elder]

Howdy Bear.

I am very very aware of all of the parts of the Bible that are filled with love, forgiveness, caring...ect.. I love all those passages.

I also love the passages like that of above. I love all of GODS Word. It is all awesome and precious. All of it.

Here is the deal Bear. Until I see attitudes of most around here change, most of what I will post about is the negative. If I continually see all of the GOD hating and Christian bashing; I will continue to make sure everyone knows about GODS WRATH.

Bear, this is simple physics.

Picture if you will a teater toter.

<===@===>

If all the unsaved want to do is HATE GOD and bash His children; then I will continue to help balance the teater toter with the WRATH OF GOD.

WAIT FOR IT! Don't jump to conclusions!!! Hold on.

I know the very next thing out of your mouth will be: "No Shield! You should put LOVE on the other side of the teater toter to balance it out."

AAHHHH, but here is where things get mixed up. Ready?

We as Christians must preach the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD. Not just LOVE. But we must preach on Judgment and Wrath as well.

I see lots of Christians pouring over the love...ect.. But very few, and sometimes no one preaching the Judgment and Wrath of GOD.

Hence, that is where I come in. I have no problem being the "bad guy" if you will. I have no problem obviously, with sharing with the lost that GOD will layeth the smacketh down.

Simple physics.

First of all that has nothing and I repeat NOTHING to do with Physics. And secondly we do not hate god or his word we simply DO NOT BELIEVE in god nor that he ever said anything.

And secondly posting word from a book does not show anything other than words if you want to show his wrath if there is one then you must show the actual wrath occurring where we can actually see it.

 

[JustMeSee]

Yes and No.

 

[Garyzenuf]

I also love the passages like that of above. I love all of GODS Word. It is all awesome and precious. All of it.

Even the part were it tells you how (with Ikea like precision) to build a Tabernacle?

 

[corvus_corax]

We see here JESUS CHRIST cursing a fig tree. There is no doubt in my mind that some of you will cry "Environmentally Wrong!", JESUS was bad and wrong for doing this. However, is that the case?

I wouldn't say so, no
And to assume so on your part is idiocy.
Have fun with that

JESUS CHRIST was perfectly within HIS rights to curse and destroy that tree. HE is GOD the Son, the second person of the holy trinity. If HE wants to curse a fig tree that is not producing fruit; then HE has all the right to do so. It is HIS world. HE owns the earth and all that is within it. HE can do whatever HE wishes with it. It is a cool little bio-sphere that HE made; and HE will do with it whatever HE wants.

And your theology is so far off-base as to not even be considered Christian theology.
100% God, sure
And100% human
Jesus did nothing...........I repeat, NOTHING on his own.
He surrendered his omniscience, his omnipotence, his omniprescence.
In doing so, Jesus had no "right" to do anything.

He gave it all up to be human.
100% human.

Your theology is heretical.

HE wants us to bear fruit. If we don't produce fruit...

Hmmm
And, Warmonger, how do you justify your .....ahem...."fruit"?
Ah well, never mind

 

[Beanieboy]

[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. 15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.' " 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city. 20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. --Mark 11

We see here JESUS CHRIST cursing a fig tree. There is no doubt in my mind that some of you will cry "Environmentally Wrong!", JESUS was bad and wrong for doing this. However, is that the case?

The correct answer is: NO!

JESUS CHRIST was perfectly within HIS rights to curse and destroy that tree. HE is GOD the Son, the second person of the holy trinity. If HE wants to curse a fig tree that is not producing fruit; then HE has all the right to do so. It is HIS world. HE owns the earth and all that is within it. HE can do whatever HE wishes with it. It is a cool little bio-sphere that HE made; and HE will do with it whatever HE wants.

For those of you who have been to church a few times; you have probably heard a few sermons on this passage. You have heard the parallel between the barren fig tree and the Christian who is not producing fruit. This was one of the reasons why JESUS did this. This was a very powerful illustration of how GOD sees us, and what HE expects from us. HE wants us to bear fruit. If we don't produce fruit...
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I'm not following the point of the OP.

This is considered by most a parable. I don't think Christ had anything against the tree itself, but used it as a metaphor to show that a tree that bares no fruit is worthless. It is then cursed, and dies.

He could just as well pulled up a grape vine that no longer gave grapes, or a spindly basil plant that offers no real usable leaves. He could have used a bucket with a hole in it, that can hold no water.

Yes, the point is that we are to bear fruit. However, the "if we don't produce fruit" implies that you believe that Christ will curse us, and we will wither up and die. I believe that those who do not produce Fruit of the Spirit may not have the Spirit at all, may be Christian in name, but do now display any of the Fruit of the Spirit, unable to, not submitting to God. That leaves God powerless, and thus, the hope, the love, the mercy, does not come through, but rather revenge, murder, anger, destruction, and the portrayal of God as such.

However, to suggest that Christians who do not produce fruit will simply be cursed to wither and die doesn't make much sense from my POV. Is it not the people that cannot love, don't know mercy, gentleness, kindness, and charity the ones for whom God came, the ones God asks us to pray for? Are the sick of heart not the ones who need the most healing?

I believe that Christ did not curse the tree, but rather, showed how the fig tree withered by squashing and quieting the voice of God, the will of God, by not living Christ by loving others, having mercy on others and try to understand others rather than be quick to condemn. Acting selfishly, acting in anger, in destruction, hardens the heart. It makes one believe that they are always right, and everyone else is wrong, and thus, can not longer learn, not even when God himself is speaking through another to us. It makes us callous, blaming the victim, telling him his misfortune is punishment, his own fault. It creates such a warped image of the Divine that one sees God in their own image, a God of Righteous Murder, a God a Righteous Destruction, a God of Righteous Death, while ignoring that God is also the God of Life, humbled himself as a man, a lowly man, shows mercy, grants forgiveness, and joy and hope.

The heart becomes hard ground, the heart hardens, and begins to wither, literally becoming physically weak from it's lack of love.

However, simply submitting to God, to his Spirit, is all one needs to do to heal, because it is not a submission of slavery, but of freedom in Love.

 

[Nathan Poe]

I'm not following the point of the OP.

Mistake #1 -- You're assuming it has one.

 

[TheBear]

Hence, that is where I come in. I have no problem being the "bad guy" if you will. I have no problem obviously, with sharing with the lost that GOD will layeth the smacketh down.

Hence, you've deluded yourself into believing that your calling from god is to beat people into submission. Got it.

 

[ShieldOFaith]

Why does anyone respond to SoF, the guy is clearly imbalanced

Because they know that the WORD OF GOD is truth. Some hate it, some love it; but everyone knows it is truth (or at least they understand that the Christians believe it is true).

Hence, when I or someone else creates a post dealing with the WORD OF GOD; they respond. Because you will either attack the WORD, or you will rally around it and defend it.

The eternal WORD OF GOD: there is nothing like it.

 

[ShieldOFaith]

Never mind the environment, Shield --

Wow! And you call yourself a liberal? hehe...

 

[Nathan Poe]

Because they know that the WORD OF GOD is truth. Some hate it, some love it; but everyone knows it is truth (or at least they understand that the Christians believe it is true).

Hence, when I or someone else creates a post dealing with the WORD OF GOD; they respond. Because you will either attack the WORD, or you will rally around it and defend it.

The eternal WORD OF GOD: there is nothing like it.

I'm pretty familiar with the WORD OF GOD, and I'm not seeing where it's being hated or even disrespected -- most of the posts seem to be pointed at your own commentary.

Do you consider your comments part of or inexorably linked to the Word of any particular God?