Jesus went to eat from a fig tree, but it only had leaves, no fruit. He cursed the tree. If withered and the disciples asked how He did that. Jesus said that if they had faith, not even the mountain in front of them would be able to stay in place if they told it to be thrown into the sea. The fact that He says “this” mountain points to Jerusalem as the subject of Jesus’ discussion. Mountains are used throughout the Old Testament prophets to represent seemingly insurmountable obstacles (Zech. 4:6, 7; Isa. 40:3-5; Isa. 41:14-16). By trusting in the great power of the Lord we can overcome even the most difficult of circumstances.
He promised that their prayers of faith would be answered. A prayer of faith is a prayer in line with God’s word. You can have whatever you want if what you want is the result of trusting in the Lord and His promises, that is, if you pray “in faith.”
Threatened by Jesus' actions and His popularity with the crowds, the religious rulers of the Jews challenged Jesus’ right to do what He had done in Jerusalem. Where did He get permission to act like that? Jesus answers with a question— Where did John’s baptism come from? Heaven or from men? If they said heaven, He would have inquired why they didn’t listen. If they said by men, the people would have been angry because they thought he was a prophet. The supposed experts of the Law said that they could not tell if John was from heaven or from men because they were so worried about how they’d appear!
Jesus didn’t avoid their question. He simply gave them the opportunity to answer their own question. To answer that John was “from heaven” would prove that Jesus was too because John pointed to Jesus. If they weren’t interested in honestly evaluating the evidence regarding Jesus’ authority, He wasn’t interested in playing their games.
Lessons to Learn:
Don’t be all leaf and no fruit. That was the religious situation in Jerusalem. They were all show and no substance (see Jer. 7:12-26; 8:13). Jesus previews what is going to happen by the cursing of the fig tree. Matthew has shown us and we will continue to see why that judgment is due on them. The tree was an object lesson. We should learn to not act just to be seen, but to pursue true righteousness.
We should consider every practice in light of the question, “Is it from heaven or is it from men.” Though they were insincere, their question is valid. We want to know if our activities are permitted by God. If it is authorized by the Scriptures, it is from heaven, and thus has the approval of the Lord. If it is not authorized by the Scriptures, it is from men.
We are thankful to share considerations of God’s word. It’s best if you have a Bible close at hand and evaluate what we say. We always want to go “back to the Bible” for what we teach. To reach us with your questions and comments or to request a personal Bible study email us at info@backtothebiblepodcast.com.
