Observation: So, Jesus is close to the end of his life. He's in Jerusalem. He sees a fig tree that already has no fruit. He curses it, and it withers right there on the spot. In other accounts, he's mad because it isn't fig season, or there's a more obvious symbolic connection to God's letting the current religious power structure "wither" because it isn't bearing any spiritual "fruit". Not in Matthew. In Matthew, Jesus seemingly kills this tree to impress his friends, and make a point that they, too, can kill trees--even move mountains--if they pray with the right kind of faith.
Application: Man, what a week of texts.
So, I love, worship and follow Jesus. I believe he is God's son, even God made flesh. I believe his life is the best example we have of how to be authentically human, in relation to God and our neighbor, and I believe his death freed me and all creation from sin, reconciling us to God.
But all that said, I just can not for the life of me figure out what he had against this poor fig tree. Even if he was proving a point, did this little creation of God have to lose its life in order for that to happen?
Having grown up in the church, sometimes I have a vision of Jesus that is too domesticated. If I just sit in my office and think about Jesus, he starts to think, sound, and act more and more like me. He becomes a half-finished jigsaw puzzle of my favorite proof-texts that tell me what I already think about the world. He's not even a real person, let alone the Son of God.
But then I pick up my Bible, and I have to read texts I don't like. Much like any real person, Jesus does some stuff that just baffles me, even shocks me. That seems to willfully defy my explanation. That makes me mad. It's not fun.
Now, I am really, really not a fan of the verbage, "personal relationship with Jesus Christ," because any individual's relationship with Jesus isn't complete unless it's part of a communal relationship. But if, along with the communal, I do want a "personal relationship" with Jesus...then what makes me think we would get along all the time? Because, I hate to burst your bubble, but Jesus actually didn't get along with anyone and everyone all the time. Sometimes it was because he was asking what they thought was too much. Sometimes it was because he was turning their expectations on their heads. And sometimes...it was because people just didn't get it. That's what a personal relationship is. And yeah, I guess I do want one. Most of the time.
Prayer: Jesus, sometimes I just don't understand you. Help me to love, follow and worship you anyway, and not expect to get out of our relationship more than I'm willing to put in. And help me put in everything. Amen.
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