Faith between the Colt and the Fig Tree

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this? tell him, "The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly"

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "what are you doing untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to and the people let them go. (Mark 11:1-6)

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. when he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. (Mark 11:12-14)

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!" And Jesus answering them said unto them,"have faith in God". "For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he said. Therefore I say unto you, what things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:20-25)

God has revealed several revelations to me through this verse, on this day of fasting. In Mark 11, we see two famous events of huge contrasts and comparisons must definitely be made. The similarities are uncanny. Both are situations whereby Jesus wants something. Whilst in the first case, he is immediately obeyed, in the second, we see unpreparedness and perhaps even rejection.

At the start, Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly on a colt. This is the famous scene whereby he is praised with shouts of "Hosanna in the highest" as he enters the city. The bible reveals the back story of how the colt was procured to us. With regards to this, we can make two conjectures, and through this discover three important attitudes we should have. Firstly, Jesus' missionary team had already made preparations for such a colt to be made ready for Jesus' arrival. Secondly, the people had either prepared the colt of their own initiative knowing that Jesus was passing by; or having not been prepared for Jesus' arrival were immediately willing to give up that colt once they heard that the Lord needed the colt.

1. Expectancy of God's arrival
2. Willingness to sacrifice for God
3. Immediacy of Faith

Regardless of the conjectures, the people were prepared or expectant of God's arrival. It is easy to say that the people were prepared if we go with the first conjecture. In the second conjecture, we see that even if the people had not made prior preparations for Jesus' arrival, once they heard that Jesus wanted the colt, they immediately gave it up. This shows that they knew what to do if God wanted something, they should give it up immediately. The bible tells us that the disciples said the word "The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly." I certainly doubt that the people tending to the colt were gullible and naive. The fact that they were willing to give up a colt - a fresh one that had not been ridden no less - with just these words that would probably form scant assurance to the rational, indicates their faith in God.

However, this situation is immediately juxtaposed with another. This time, in Bethany, Jesus was hungry, he sees that a fig tree has no fruit as it was not fig season. He curses it and then it withered up from the roots. Now, is Jesus being unreasonable to ask from a fig tree what it could not give because it was not in its nature to do so? This reveals yet another attitude that Jesus wants us to have.

4. Faith even in the face of the impossible
Hebrews 11 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of the things not seen. The bible tells us that this whole situation was enacted in the audience of the disciples which indicates that Jesus was trying to teach the disciples a lesson. Let us compare this to the case of the colt. In both cases, the people tending to the colt as well as the fig tree were probably physically unprepared for Jesus' arrival. However, in the first case, the people were willing to have faith in God and trust that the disciples were not some bandits that would cheat them out of their livelihood. I am sure that a colt was very valuable to the people of that time. This is faith in a situation where it seems like God is asking of the impossible. In the second scenario, the fig tree seems to be constantly confining itself according to the seasons, according to the time that it believes that nature says it should be fruitful. God is trying to tell us that if we have faith, we will be fruitful all year around. We will not be confined by the seasons. Jesus then emphasizes this point when he declares that "whatever you ask for in prayer believe that you have received, and it will be yours." This is indeed a universal rule for "whatever" means everything and "you" means everyone.

In closing, it is uncanny that Jesus answers Peter's incredulous questioning of his cursing of the fig tree with the line "Have faith in God". It seems as if God is trying to tell us that faith in God is truly the answer to all our difficulties. So let's trust God even in the face of an impossible situation and let us be prepared and willing to do obey God's voice, that He would do a miracle in our lives. Amen!