Leaves, Yet no Fruit by Brenda Crowe

By Brenda Crowe
I woke up this morning with a question in my mind that seems unrelated to where God led me. The question centered around why evil always seems to win. We are seeing it all over this world right now and in our personal worlds. I questioned where is God's intervention as promised for His children. Better yet, because God cannot lie, where were we, as born again children of God, missing it? I was led to Mark 11:23, but I still needed some clarification – again this seemed unrelated. I was impressed to go and read the verses leading up to this "Word" from Jesus to determine the context. My attention was drawn to the cursing of the fig tree (why?) and then the activity that was going on in the Temple.
Leaves, Yet no Fruit by Brenda Crowe
 
 
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I woke up this morning with a question in my mind that seems unrelated to where God led me. The question centered around why evil always seems to win. We are seeing it all over this world right now and in our personal worlds. I questioned where is God's intervention as promised for His children. Better yet, because God cannot lie, where were we, as born again children of God, missing it?
 
I was led to Mark 11:23, but I still needed some clarification – again this seemed unrelated. I was impressed to go and read the verses leading up to this "Word" from Jesus to determine the context. My attention was drawn to the cursing of the fig tree (why?) and then the activity that was going on in the Temple. The story goes like this:
 
Jesus and His disciples were headed from Bethany to Jerusalem for what we today call "Passover." Jesus became hungry and saw a fig tree with leaves in the distance. He was expecting to see figs in hopes of satisfying His hunger.   However, He saw only leaves and no figs (fruit), for it wasn't fig season. Jesus curses the fig tree – "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" But this action doesn't seem fair: after all it wasn't the season for figs or was it? I began to dig.
 
The Breba Crop
 
In my research, I find something called the "Breba" crop. The definition is as follows: A breba is a fig that develops on a common fig tree in the spring on the previous year's shoot growth. In contrast, the main fig crop develops on the current year's shoot growth and ripens in late summer or fall. So we see that the fig tree can produce more than one crop. There is a message here. Let's continue.
 
Jesus and His disciples continued on to Jerusalem and upon entering the Temple, He found buying, selling, and merchandising taking place – sin of the Priests who were taking advantage of those who were coming to celebrate Passover (Palm Sunday). "My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples, but you have made it into a den of robbers."
 
In both of the incidents, Jesus doesn't get what He is expecting. Both were created to produce good fruit. The green leaves on the fig tree held out the hope of fruit (blessing, sustenance etc). Jesus expected to find figs being produced from the "mature" wood (this Breba crop). The people looked forward to the new crop of figs in the Spring time, close to Passover, since it had been a while since the last harvest. The fig tree held out promise but was found lacking. Jesus was sent away hungry.
 
Likewise, the religious leaders in the Temple were supposed to be feeding the people, many coming for Passover, "spiritual" fruit (blessing, sustenance). They came to the Temple to be fed, but, instead, the people were being taken advantage of. The spiritual leaders were like the leaves on the fig tree. They held out a promise of fruit, but they were fruitless. The people left hungry (spiritually).      So° how does this relate to you and I? What is the message?
 
The reality is that we are ALL created to produce good fruit. Those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus are expected to be producing good fruit. Do we have leaves that hold out a promise of good fruit, but yet upon closer inspection, are found to be fruitless (for the Kingdom of God). 
 
Examples: 
 
Fruitful (Heart) – faith, genuine kindness, love, patience, compassion, non-judgmental, servant heart, esteem others, listen, encouraging, positive.
 
Fruitless (Flesh) – fear, lying, gossip, selfishness, cursing, judgmental, negative, aggressive, ill intentions, rejection.
 
Again, this is not meant as condemnation. We are all in process, but if we don't examine ourselves on a regular basis, we may get off track. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He responded, "Love God with all your heart, mind and soul. And the second is like it – Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:36-40
 
God's heart for you and I today is simply "Love me with all of your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself." People all over the world are hurting. People will not respond to your message of MY Kingdom unless they know you care. Your Heart is everything!
 
Brenda Crowe