Word@Work 131 - Mark 11:20-22
Published: Tue, 05/27/08
Word@Work from BeaconLight
Read Mark 11:20-22 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig-tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig-tree you cursed has withered!" "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. (NIV)
Truth has a way of lodging in our hearts (even if we don't want it to stick) so that the God can use it to challenge us in the future. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, as a parable of how faithless Israel would be judged, Peter remembered. When they went down the same road the following day, he looked out for the tree. The text indicates his surprise that it had withered overnight.
He remembered Jesus speak with authority, he wondered what would happen and yet was amazed that God's word had such immediate effect! Why should Peter react like this? He had seen the blind with new sight and the paralysed with new strength, and even the dead with new life. But this was different. It was one thing to witness divine healing, but quite another to see the effect of the wrath of God at close quarters. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that the flip side of salvation is judgement: and both come by the Word of God. So Jesus commanded that Peter must believe in the wrath of God as well as His love. It was an essential part of his training to be a church leader.
Without the certainly of God's judgement, there is little incentive to proclaim any gospel of salvation. If there is nothing terrible to be saved from, why bother? And that is why many fair weather believers have no instinct to persuade others of the saving gospel - they sort of believe that it really doesn't matter because the just God will not really punish nice people! Jesus had acted out the answer on the fig tree, and now Peter realised that the Son of God was serious. We need to believe in the real God too - the God whose terrible judgement is as certain as His wonderful love. Then gospel instincts can grow in our hearts.
Prayer: Father God, Thank you for lodging truth in my mind with examples of Your powerful ways. Help me to grasp seriousness of Your final judgement, and to develop gospel instincts as I meet and work with non-Christians. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
Truth has a way of lodging in our hearts (even if we don't want it to stick) so that the God can use it to challenge us in the future. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, as a parable of how faithless Israel would be judged, Peter remembered. When they went down the same road the following day, he looked out for the tree. The text indicates his surprise that it had withered overnight.
He remembered Jesus speak with authority, he wondered what would happen and yet was amazed that God's word had such immediate effect! Why should Peter react like this? He had seen the blind with new sight and the paralysed with new strength, and even the dead with new life. But this was different. It was one thing to witness divine healing, but quite another to see the effect of the wrath of God at close quarters. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that the flip side of salvation is judgement: and both come by the Word of God. So Jesus commanded that Peter must believe in the wrath of God as well as His love. It was an essential part of his training to be a church leader.
Without the certainly of God's judgement, there is little incentive to proclaim any gospel of salvation. If there is nothing terrible to be saved from, why bother? And that is why many fair weather believers have no instinct to persuade others of the saving gospel - they sort of believe that it really doesn't matter because the just God will not really punish nice people! Jesus had acted out the answer on the fig tree, and now Peter realised that the Son of God was serious. We need to believe in the real God too - the God whose terrible judgement is as certain as His wonderful love. Then gospel instincts can grow in our hearts.
Prayer: Father God, Thank you for lodging truth in my mind with examples of Your powerful ways. Help me to grasp seriousness of Your final judgement, and to develop gospel instincts as I meet and work with non-Christians. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
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