SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter twenty-one.
SPEAKER_01: Do we want to hear God's word speak to us and fill the earth with his glory, even if it's hard to hear?
SPEAKER_01: Even if it's painful, even if it's not something that we enjoy hearing.
SPEAKER_01: That's one of the benefits, I think, of preaching through a book of the Bible, going just section by section, because I would want to avoid the passage before us this morning because it's difficult.
SPEAKER_01: It's hard.
SPEAKER_01: It's not something that is easy to preach or even easy to hear.
SPEAKER_01: But you know that we do this, and so if I skip a passage, I will hear about it and have to do it anyway.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to face it.
SPEAKER_01: We'll face it together this morning and see what God has to say to us for Matthew chapter 1, 21, beginning in verse 18.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 21, verse 18, it says, In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, and so that helps us remember that we've got some context here.
SPEAKER_01: This is after the triumphal entry, Jesus has ridden a donkey down into the city of Jerusalem to the loud shouts of people welcoming him as their king.
SPEAKER_01: He's gone out of the city, returning to Bethany, to the home of Lazarus.
SPEAKER_01: And now he has come back into the city and cleansed the temple and has returned back.
SPEAKER_01: And now he's coming back again on Tuesday morning of the week that he will hang on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Early in the morning.
SPEAKER_01: As he's returning to the city, he became hungry.
SPEAKER_01: And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves.
SPEAKER_01: And he said to it, May no fruit come from you to eternity.
SPEAKER_01: And the fig tree withered at once.
SPEAKER_01: When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How did the fig tree wither at once?
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen.
SPEAKER_01: And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I was about eight years old when my instruction in working with wood began.
SPEAKER_01: If memory serves me well, and there's no guarantee of that, if memory serves me well, my first project with my dad was a small bookshelf made from three wood blocks, small wood blocks, about this tall and about that wide.
SPEAKER_01: And they were all connected with two or three dowels, I can't remember.
SPEAKER_01: And there were two blocks on the end of those dowels and one block in the middle that slid along the dowels.
SPEAKER_01: My dad cut the blocks and he cut the dowels all to the right length.
SPEAKER_01: And my job was to sand the wood blocks.
SPEAKER_01: And then my dad helped me put them together.
SPEAKER_01: I remember this because it shaped how I work with wood, even to this day.
SPEAKER_01: My dad handed me a sanding block.
SPEAKER_01: It had some sandpaper on it, and he told me to sand the three wood blocks while he worked on something else.
SPEAKER_01: I sanded them probably in the course of about 30 seconds and announced I was done.
SPEAKER_01: And he came over and looked at the blocks and then crushed my pride by telling me that my work was not done.
SPEAKER_01: Because there were still marks left on the wood from the saw blade cutting the pieces of wood.
SPEAKER_01: Those marks cut across the grain of the wood.
SPEAKER_01: And he told me that once we stained those pieces of wood and varnished them, those marks across the grain would stand out even more.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I didn't care.
SPEAKER_01: But he told me I had to put some elbow grease into it.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't know what that meant.
SPEAKER_01: I had to put some elbow grease into it and sand those marks out of the wood.
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, to be frank, I didn't like doing wood projects with my dad that much.
SPEAKER_01: Because I knew he would always come and inspect my work.
SPEAKER_01: And there would be something about it that wasn't quite up to spec.
SPEAKER_01: I knew that he saw those little details that made extra work for me.
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't care.
SPEAKER_01: So what was the big deal about it?
SPEAKER_01: I didn't mind cross-cut marks on my bookshelf, my finished project.
SPEAKER_01: So why should he?
SPEAKER_01: Somewhere around 10 years later, I began to see that he was right.
SPEAKER_01: He was right.
SPEAKER_01: Those little marks cutting across the grain seemed insignificant at the moment, but they were much worse when the project was complete.
SPEAKER_01: And after all of the effort of cutting the pieces to the right size and sanding them and gluing them together and staining them and varnishing them, I no longer wanted to see those little marks standing out on my bookshelf.
SPEAKER_01: I realized that, okay, dad was right.
SPEAKER_01: And I began to trust him.
SPEAKER_01: Our relationship with our Father in heaven can sometimes be similar.
SPEAKER_01: You see, I think my dad felt the result of my project was in some way a reflection of him.
SPEAKER_01: He was the one teaching me.
SPEAKER_01: He was the one showing me what to do and how to do it.
SPEAKER_01: And if my project showed that the cut marks on the end grain were not sanded properly, it somehow reflected his teaching, his expectations, and even his own work because he was a carpenter.
SPEAKER_01: And he made part of his living from carpentry.
SPEAKER_01: Carpenter can't teach his own son to do carpentry work, then what does that say about his work?
SPEAKER_01: He never said that to me.
SPEAKER_01: But I did feel as though my dad had high expectations, and there was a reason for it.
SPEAKER_01: Now there are similarities between my story and God's story with his people.
SPEAKER_01: They're not identical, but there are similarities.
SPEAKER_01: You see, from the very beginning, God said that human beings, men and women, were created in his image.
SPEAKER_01: That is, they reflected his glory.
SPEAKER_01: They reflected that he is the creator, that he is the king, that he is powerful, that he is kind, that he is good.
SPEAKER_01: That's why sin was and is such a horror, because it in no way reflects who God is.
SPEAKER_01: All throughout Scripture, God expects his people to mirror his relationship with them.
SPEAKER_01: God's care, God's provision, and his blessing on his people are so magnificent that his people should almost automatically show their trust in him to the rest of the world.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, we know that there is a sad part to that story, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: Sin seeks to steal God's glory when it enters the human heart.
SPEAKER_01: It often does that by thinking that all of the good that we have is from our own effort rather than God's provision and God's blessing.
SPEAKER_01: I think that the projects that I do are all because of the effort and the hard work and the time that I put into them, not from the kind, good intention of my father to show me, here's how you do it, son.
SPEAKER_01: So we steal the glory from our Father.
SPEAKER_01: One of the many pictures of God's blessing and care for his people in the Bible is, of all things, a fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: It's all throughout the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And in the same way, when God disciplines the sinful unfaithfulness of his people, it often comes through an illustration of a fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: So on the one hand, fig trees are an example in the Bible of God's goodness and his kindness of providing for his people.
SPEAKER_01: At the same time, fig trees in the Bible can be an example of God's discipline and judgment of the unfaithfulness of his people.
SPEAKER_01: Let me show you what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy chapter 8.
SPEAKER_01: We aren't here yet in our reading of Deuteronomy, but Deuteronomy chapter 8, beginning in verse 7, it says, For Yahweh your God, this is speaking of Israel, Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs flowing out in the valleys and the hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees, and pomegranates, and a land of olives and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper, and you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land that He has given you.
SPEAKER_01: You see how that's an image of blessing, of provision?
SPEAKER_01: God says, You are my people, I've made you and I've called you to be my own, I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and my fig trees are an example of my blessing.
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to ever hunger under my provision.
SPEAKER_01: Now the opposite of that is also true in Psalm 105, recounting Israel's disobedience.
SPEAKER_01: It says that God struck down their vines and their fig trees.
SPEAKER_01: And he shattered the trees of their country.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is an astounding statement.
SPEAKER_01: It's an astounding statement because of how God reacts and treats his own creation.
SPEAKER_01: Because God isn't indifferent to his creation.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't treat people so highly that he just disregards trees.
SPEAKER_01: For example, when Israel came into Egypt and they were conquering the land, God said, Go up into one city and surround it and take it, but make sure that you don't cut down the trees around the city, because what have the trees done to you?
SPEAKER_01: God values his creation.
SPEAKER_01: He does treat trees differently than human beings.
SPEAKER_01: But when God Himself will strike down his creation, that is a sign of his blessing.
SPEAKER_01: It says something.
SPEAKER_01: It says something about who God is, it says something about what people are doing, and it says something about the relationship between God and His people.
SPEAKER_01: You see, fig trees were a common metaphor for fruitfulness and faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: They even became a metaphor for God's people.
SPEAKER_01: If they faithfully followed the Lord, they were like a fruitful fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: But if they were unfaithful, they were like a tree with no figs.
SPEAKER_01: Here's an example from the prophet Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_01: Jeremiah chapter 8.
SPEAKER_01: God says, When I would gather my people, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: Even the leaves are withered, he says here, and what I gave them has passed away from them.
SPEAKER_01: God says, I would love to gather my people together in faithfulness and in provision and prosperity, but when I come to my people, there's no faithfulness, there's only unfaithfulness, imaged in this picture by no figs on the fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: So it should be no surprise to us that Jesus now uses a fig tree as a parable, as a living parable.
SPEAKER_01: And since we now know how the fig tree was thought of in ancient times, we know that Jesus is probably going to have something to say about provision, blessing, faithfulness, or unfaithfulness, discipline, and even judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at the fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 21.
SPEAKER_01: They returned to the city, and Jesus became hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves.
SPEAKER_01: And he says to it, May no fruit ever come from you again.
SPEAKER_01: And the fig tree withered at once.
SPEAKER_01: So let's look at the fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: What do we see about this fig tree?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I notice as we look at these first couple of verses here that it teaches us a lot about who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew is giving us an indication, just a couple of insights here at the beginning of this section about the Lord Jesus himself.
SPEAKER_01: So what is it that we see?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think we see here that there are two elements to Jesus on display.
SPEAKER_01: The first thing is his humanity.
SPEAKER_01: How do we see his humanity?
SPEAKER_01: He was hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Have any of you eaten breakfast this morning?
SPEAKER_01: You got hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you just knew I will get hungry.
SPEAKER_01: My stomach will growl in church in the pew and that will embarrass me, so I have to eat breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is on his way to the city and he eats.
SPEAKER_01: Well, he doesn't eat, maybe, or he has not eaten in a long time.
SPEAKER_01: Those details we don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Has he gone the morning without breakfast?
SPEAKER_01: We don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Has he eaten too long early in the morning and now he's hungry again?
SPEAKER_01: We don't know those issues.
SPEAKER_01: All we know is that Jesus is hungry, and that demonstrates his humanity.
SPEAKER_01: We see this all throughout the scriptures, right?
SPEAKER_01: He had a human body that developed and grew.
SPEAKER_01: Here he was hungry.
SPEAKER_01: In John 19, he became thirsty.
SPEAKER_01: John 4, he grew tired.
SPEAKER_01: John 11, he he wept.
SPEAKER_01: But that is not all that Matthew shows us.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew shows us that here is someone who speaks words.
SPEAKER_01: And creation comes apart.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a mere human being.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a horticulturist that knows how to undo a tree.
SPEAKER_01: John tells us that Jesus existed in eternity past.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew 16, we see that Jesus is omniscient.
SPEAKER_01: We have seen his omnipotence, his power over the wind and the waves, his his ability to speak to creation, and it responds immediately.
SPEAKER_01: We've seen his power over the spirit world.
SPEAKER_01: Here we see his power to destroy a tree.
SPEAKER_01: So we see both sides of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We see his humanity and we see his deity.
SPEAKER_01: He has the humanity to become hungry, to desire food, and in his deity, he has the power to destroy a tree only by words.
SPEAKER_01: This shows us that Jesus is a faithful son of God with the authority to speak to the unfaithfulness, to the children of God.
SPEAKER_01: What?
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at Jesus' expectation of the fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: This is early in the morning, so we're not given too many details.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know how early.
SPEAKER_01: We just know it's early.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know if Jesus skipped breakfast, if there was no breakfast available.
SPEAKER_01: But whatever the case, somewhere along the one and a half mile trek from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus became hungry, and there were no convenience stores by the road, no gas stations to stop and get a bite.
SPEAKER_01: Only a single fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew tells us that Jesus went and he searched the tree, but found only leaves.
SPEAKER_01: Only leaves.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a reason for that.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason also helps us understand Jesus' expectations and what's going on in this passage.
SPEAKER_01: You see, figs were, they still are, a primary source of food in regions of the Middle East.
SPEAKER_01: And because they were common, folks were familiar with the patterns of fig trees.
SPEAKER_01: Specifically, fig trees generally produce two crops in a year.
SPEAKER_01: This is the early crop beginning in March and early April.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Passover season.
SPEAKER_01: Beginning in March, the first crop of fruit begins to develop on the stems of the tree, on the branches of the tree, and that fruit begins to develop before the leaves come out.
SPEAKER_01: Early fruit starts to grow on the tree before there are any leaves.
SPEAKER_01: It grows, it begins to develop.
SPEAKER_01: In late May, the leaves come out.
SPEAKER_01: And as those leaves come out, that fruit begins to ripen, and that first crop is eaten then and picked and eaten in June.
SPEAKER_01: But it's still edible before it ripens.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, there is a specific name for this bitter, unripened fruit that is still used today in the Arab world.
SPEAKER_01: But this bitter fruit is still, even today, often consumed by poor people or by those who are desperately hungry.
SPEAKER_01: It's edible, it's just bitter.
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus sees this fig tree in full leaf from a distance, he rightly expects there are going to be some figs growing on the tree.
SPEAKER_01: If there are leaves, that early fruit has already started to grow.
SPEAKER_01: It's probably still bitter.
SPEAKER_01: It's not June yet.
SPEAKER_01: But he can go and he can eat some of that bitter fruit and fill his hungry stomach.
SPEAKER_01: That's a natural common expectation.
SPEAKER_01: There should be some fruit on the tree since it is in full leaf.
SPEAKER_01: But there is no fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Since there are leaves, but no fruit.
SPEAKER_01: That tells us that the tree will remain barren.
SPEAKER_01: There's no fruit, and will be no fruit on this tree.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus condemns the tree.
SPEAKER_01: It withers and dies in a very short amount of time.
SPEAKER_01: And that seems, at least, best case scenario, odd to our sensibilities.
SPEAKER_01: Some have even called Jesus petulant here.
SPEAKER_01: Sort of throwing a tantrum because he's a young, impatient human being throwing a fit after not getting what he desires.
SPEAKER_01: But think about this from Jesus' perspective for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Two days ago.
SPEAKER_01: In fulfillment of scripture, he has ridden into the city of Jerusalem on a young donkey.
SPEAKER_01: As Israel's king.
SPEAKER_01: He is the divine king.
SPEAKER_01: He is the righteous king.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one the book of Colossians tells us holds all things together by his own power.
SPEAKER_01: The crowds and the children proclaimed his majesty.
SPEAKER_01: Even more, it says that he is the one who prepared in eternity past praise to be given to him from children in the temple.
SPEAKER_01: So when the Messiah is present, Jesus says the stones would cry out if the people did not.
SPEAKER_01: Even nursing babies give praise to God.
SPEAKER_01: So why then was a fig tree not prepared to provide fruit when its creator was present?
SPEAKER_01: If even infants are prepared to give praise, then why was a fig tree not prepared to feed its maker?
SPEAKER_01: Let's give some personification to the tree for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: What an opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: All the other fig trees would be jealous of this one.
SPEAKER_01: This fig tree, I have the privilege to feed my maker during his time in the flesh.
SPEAKER_01: What fig tree wouldn't want that privilege?
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't you do anything to be ready for that moment, to be prepared with fruit for the one who made you for this moment?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, but Matthew has already prepared us for this, hasn't he?
SPEAKER_01: If you remember back to Matthew chapter 3, the leaders and the rulers of Israel were told, bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
SPEAKER_01: Telling us if there is no fruit, there's not bound to be much repentance.
SPEAKER_01: And if there's no repentance, then there's not much fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Two verses later, Matthew recorded, even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees.
SPEAKER_01: Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, and it gets worse.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 7.
SPEAKER_01: You will recognize them by their fruits.
SPEAKER_01: Are grapes gathered from thornbushes?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Are figs gathered from thistles?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
SPEAKER_01: A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and is thrown to the fire.
SPEAKER_01: Are we at all surprised then that Jesus curses a fig tree that should be bearing fruit, but is not?
SPEAKER_01: We shouldn't be, should we?
SPEAKER_01: If we're seeing all that Matthew's putting together, we begin to see that the cursing of the tree was an acted parable of discipline, maybe even of judgment, on God's people for not bearing fruit.
SPEAKER_01: But the passage doesn't end there.
SPEAKER_01: We still have three verses.
SPEAKER_01: So let's look at the disciples for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Seeing the fig tree, let's look at the disciples.
SPEAKER_01: When the disciples saw it, they marveled.
SPEAKER_01: It's a word that's often used of unbelievers in the book of Matthew, looking at the miracles of Jesus and not understanding it.
SPEAKER_01: So here in this moment, Matthew's saying, we were like people who don't get things.
SPEAKER_01: We were followers, disciples of Jesus, and then in this moment we didn't see what we were supposed to be seeing.
SPEAKER_01: And they said, How did the fig tree wither at once?
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus said, Well, truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that Jesus didn't say, You will do this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, if you were to do this.
SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that in a moment.
SPEAKER_01: But let's notice first that the disciples weren't concerned about what Jesus meant by this parable.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't ask a question about Jesus, what's the deal with this?
SPEAKER_01: What are you trying to tell us?
SPEAKER_01: Instead, they simply wanted to know, how did you do that?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, what wait a minute, what just happened here?
SPEAKER_01: They're like little kids at a magic show.
SPEAKER_01: They're not thinking about Jesus' intentions, they're just fascinated at what he does.
SPEAKER_01: And we might think, well, come on, guys, you've been with Jesus for three years now.
SPEAKER_01: You ought to know this by now, but let's not get holier than thou on the disciples.
SPEAKER_01: We would do the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: Our jaws would drop at the astonishing speed with which the tree wilted and died.
SPEAKER_01: Our heads would be flipping back and forth like a like a weather vein, trying to figure out what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: How did that happen?
SPEAKER_01: But let's not forget that when Matthew wrote this down for the early church, he knew what Jesus meant.
SPEAKER_01: In the moment, they didn't get it.
SPEAKER_01: But Matthew's now recording this later to say to the church, we now understand this.
SPEAKER_01: We get it.
SPEAKER_01: But initially they're saying, How did this happen?
SPEAKER_01: Notice that Jesus' answer, though, it doesn't really answer the question.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't tell them this is how it happened.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't say, Well, you know, I cut the bark off the tree and I put some bugs in there.
SPEAKER_01: No, he doesn't say that.
SPEAKER_01: They know what happened.
SPEAKER_01: The creator spoke.
SPEAKER_01: And the creation responded.
SPEAKER_01: In this moment, there's a nation of people that are called by the name of God, and the creator is speaking to them, and they're not responding.
SPEAKER_01: But in a moment, he speaks to a tree.
SPEAKER_01: And just like that, it responds.
SPEAKER_01: All of the U's in verses 21 and 22 are plural.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is speaking to the group of disciples.
SPEAKER_01: And he's not giving a horticulture lesson on the decay of trees.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, there's no direct answer to the question.
SPEAKER_01: He simply doesn't tell them how the fig tree withered and died so quickly.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, he encourages them.
SPEAKER_01: Strange way to encourage, I guess, but he says if you have faith that does not doubt, you will be able to do even the greatest of things.
SPEAKER_01: Don't get caught up in the cursing of the fig tree and the taking up of a mountain.
SPEAKER_01: Those are illustrations of the impossible.
SPEAKER_01: It was a common thing at that time.
SPEAKER_01: You can look in ancient Jewish literature.
SPEAKER_01: This moving this mountain was a common way of expressing doing the impossible.
SPEAKER_01: And this is almost identical to James's statement in James chapter 1, verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, the one who does not doubt, but instead has faith will do the impossible.
SPEAKER_01: Faith again is a prerequisite in verse 22, if you have faith.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, we see the fulfillment of this in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: Where these very same disciples do the miraculous, they do impossible wonders by faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But we also need to notice the specific element here that this is connected to the will of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is a parallel to John chapter 14, verses 13 and 14, where Jesus said, Whatever you ask in my name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
SPEAKER_01: If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
SPEAKER_01: So this isn't a flippant request that we think we want.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, please make my morning go smoother.
SPEAKER_01: Make everybody move faster so I can get to church on time.
SPEAKER_01: This is a purposeful coming to the Father in prayer, desiring his will to be done.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever is requested according to the will of the Father will be granted, even if it seems impossible.
SPEAKER_01: That's what faith in Christ can accomplish.
SPEAKER_01: That's the basis of the book of Acts, what follows this.
SPEAKER_01: That's the basis for the gospel progressing so rapidly in the first century.
SPEAKER_01: There was reliance and trust and faith in Jesus that sustained that gospel effort.
SPEAKER_01: They accomplished the impossible.
SPEAKER_01: In one, Jesus displays divine power and authority over creation by judging a fruitless fig tree.
SPEAKER_01: And in the next, Jesus declares that similar power is available to the disciples by faith through prayer.
SPEAKER_01: But how do those two go together?
SPEAKER_01: Or do they?
SPEAKER_01: Seems like they do.
SPEAKER_01: They're one section here in Matthew's writing.
SPEAKER_01: What part do they play in the book of Matthew?
SPEAKER_01: Well, remember, this is the last week of Jesus' earthly life.
SPEAKER_01: In just a few days, he will be arrested.
SPEAKER_01: He will be beaten, tried, and hung on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: Those to whom he came will reject him and kill him.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, by the way, have faith.
SPEAKER_01: Because faith can do the impossible.
SPEAKER_01: How do we connect those two?
SPEAKER_01: I would suggest to you that a key part of connecting these is found in the prophet Micah.
SPEAKER_01: Micah chapter 6, beginning in verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: Going to look at a large section of this.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to turn there, you can.
SPEAKER_01: I've got it on the screen for you if you would rather look at that.
SPEAKER_01: The voice of the Lord cries to the city.
SPEAKER_01: And it's sound, wisdom to fear God's name, your name.
SPEAKER_01: So this is a prayer.
SPEAKER_01: God is speaking to the city of his people, and he says it's it's it's wise to listen.
SPEAKER_01: Now notice the quotation marks.
SPEAKER_01: Hear, listen.
SPEAKER_01: Hear about the rod.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't sound good.
SPEAKER_01: And of him who appointed it.
SPEAKER_01: Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked?
SPEAKER_01: Can I forget the scant measure that is accursed?
SPEAKER_01: Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights?
SPEAKER_01: It's worse and worse, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Your rich men are full of violence, your inhabitants speak lies, their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.
SPEAKER_01: You shall eat, but not be satisfied.
SPEAKER_01: There shall be hunger within you, you shall put away but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
SPEAKER_01: You shall sow, but not reap.
SPEAKER_01: You shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil.
SPEAKER_01: You shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
SPEAKER_01: For you have kept the statutes of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab, two of the worst kings in Israel's history, maybe the worst.
SPEAKER_01: You have watched, walked in their councils, that I might make you a desolation.
SPEAKER_01: Not just that, but I may make your inhabitants a hissing.
SPEAKER_01: And so you shall bear the scorn of my people.
SPEAKER_01: Micah responds on behalf of God's people, saying, Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_01: Woe is me.
SPEAKER_01: For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered and when the grapes have been gleaned.
SPEAKER_01: There's no cluster of grapes to eat.
SPEAKER_01: There's no first ripe fig that my soul desires.
SPEAKER_01: The godly has perished from the earth.
SPEAKER_01: There's no upright among mankind.
SPEAKER_01: They all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net.
SPEAKER_01: Their hands are on what is evil to do it well.
SPEAKER_01: The prince and the judge, they ask for a bribe.
SPEAKER_01: And the great man utters the evil desire of his soul, and thus they weave it together.
SPEAKER_01: The best of them.
SPEAKER_01: The best of them is like a briar.
SPEAKER_01: And what have we already learned?
SPEAKER_01: You don't get grapes from briars.
SPEAKER_01: The most upright of them is a thorn hedge.
SPEAKER_01: And what have we already learned?
SPEAKER_01: You don't get figs from thorn bushes.
SPEAKER_01: So what happens?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, the day of your watchmen.
SPEAKER_01: The day of your punishment has come.
SPEAKER_01: My dad would let me sand the pieces of my project.
SPEAKER_01: And I knew that he would check on my work.
SPEAKER_01: I knew his expectations, and I knew that he was trying to teach me how to work.
SPEAKER_01: And I knew that he was trying to teach me how to work with wood, but sometimes I just didn't care.
SPEAKER_01: I had a choice, though, right?
SPEAKER_01: To respond well.
SPEAKER_01: I had a choice to respond well by learning, by listening, by faithfully repeating what I was taught to do.
SPEAKER_01: And if I wanted to show my dad that I was a faithful learner, I would put elbow grease into that sanding.
SPEAKER_01: I would sand those blocks.
SPEAKER_01: Too many times I showed my dad that I was not a faithful learner.
SPEAKER_01: Through the prophet Micah, God said his people were not showing that they were faithful children.
SPEAKER_01: They were not showing that they were faithful learners and faithful followers.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, they were like fig trees with no figs.
SPEAKER_01: And as a result, a day of punishment would come.
SPEAKER_01: Now, in the next few sections of Matthew chapter 21, Jesus compares the leaders of Israel to children, to sons who say that, oh yeah, Dad, we're going to do what you tell us to do.
SPEAKER_01: But they go out and don't do what Dad tells them to do.
SPEAKER_01: He compares them to tenants of a farm who refuse to give the fruit of the harvest to the owner.
SPEAKER_01: And he compares them even further on as guests invited by the king to the wedding of his son, and they refuse to come.
SPEAKER_01: When we compare these things in this section before us this morning with things yet to come in the chapter, with the rejection of Jesus in the temple that occurred before this, we find that the Son of God came to Jerusalem and found a fruitless people, a fruitless faith, and the fig tree is a living parable of God's judgment against it in fulfillment of Micah's prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's been no heart change.
SPEAKER_01: There's no genuine faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: There's only the outward shell of religion, only whitewashed tombs full of bones, Jesus would later say.
SPEAKER_01: There's no fruit to their religion.
SPEAKER_01: And what that means is there's no inward life that produces fruit.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it might produce some leaves.
SPEAKER_01: But there's not enough life on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: There's not any sustenance there to produce fruit.
SPEAKER_01: As a result of their lack of faith and repentance and preparedness for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Their fig tree would be destroyed.
SPEAKER_01: Forty years later, the Roman general Titus would destroy Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: He would destroy the temple.
SPEAKER_01: He would take away Israel's pride.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, just a few chapters later in Matthew, Jesus would tell these same disciples regarding the temple buildings, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.
SPEAKER_01: So thankful.
SPEAKER_01: That I'm not a first century Jewish person who would reject Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But there's a lesson in this for God's new covenant people, too.
SPEAKER_01: Those of us who, by faith in Christ's finished work of the cross, are now called by his name.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Micah's prophecy was a warning for Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Did you know that God gives us warnings too?
SPEAKER_01: 1 John 2, verse 28 is a similar kind of warning for us.
SPEAKER_01: John says, and now, little children, abide in Jesus, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink back from him in shame at his coming.
SPEAKER_01: Throughout John's writing, that idea of abiding in Christ results in fruitfulness.
SPEAKER_01: A living, abiding, confident, and believing faith in Jesus will result in obedience, and as we faithfully reflect the glory of our Father, he produces fruit in us.
SPEAKER_01: It all begins with what are you going to do with Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Here is the Son of God who has come and has revealed himself to you.
SPEAKER_01: Will you glory in his name?
SPEAKER_01: Will you sing Psalm 148?
SPEAKER_01: Praise Him.
SPEAKER_01: Or will you take the hammer and pound the nails?
SPEAKER_01: This is what Jesus tells his disciples.
SPEAKER_01: He says, an active, obedient, and living faith in Jesus is the key to avoiding a fruitless life.
SPEAKER_01: Do we want to be found like the fig tree when Jesus comes?
SPEAKER_01: We want to be prepared and full of fruit for him.
SPEAKER_01: We can indeed do that.
SPEAKER_01: We can indeed live with the power that was demonstrated in Jesus' condemnation of the tree, just as those first disciples did.
SPEAKER_01: That's the whole element of that second portion.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, you're going to face difficulty in this life.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to face trials and suffering.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to even face death for me.
SPEAKER_01: But my life in you, your faith in me, is the means by which I will grow fruit in you.
SPEAKER_01: We do that by living trustingly in him, prayerfully asking for that which is needed to accomplish his will.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the exciting part God enables all of this.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus doesn't just walk away and says, okay, now do it on your own.
SPEAKER_01: He says, No, I'm taking you and I'm making you a part of me, of my vine.
SPEAKER_01: And as long as you abide in me, my life flows through you.
SPEAKER_01: My spirit lives in you and produces fruit, gives you miraculous power to overcome the dead faith that pervades this world.
SPEAKER_01: And he empowers a living, abiding, and miraculous faith that is faithful even to the end.
SPEAKER_01: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, this is a hard, hard passage, but I pray that you would take it and plant it deep in us.
SPEAKER_01: That through your word you might develop life in us, giving life-giving power to overcome a dead faith, a lifelessness that pervades our world.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, may you make every single one of us here firmly attached to you, so that your life might flow in us.
SPEAKER_01: Ground us firmly in you.
SPEAKER_01: Give us that life-giving faith, and may your spirit work in us so that your miraculous life-giving power lives in us.
SPEAKER_01: Not for our own selfish gain.
SPEAKER_01: But so that a world that has a shell of religiosity might see what true life is all about.
SPEAKER_01: Make us living trees, fruitful trees, to the praise of your grace.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.