(Click on the Image to open a clearer view)
Welcome back to The Road2Wholeness Blog. Thank you for taking the stroll with us today. We hope you've been enjoying the series The JAWW. This is blog 4, and today we look at God's
Word as a part of The JAWW of God.
To do this, we're going to look at the story of The Fig Tree. In Matthew 21:18 it reads, "Early in the Morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again!' Immediately the tree withered."
The Word of God has many functions, however, its essential purpose is to produce life or death. In the above scripture we see that it was used to produce death. In verse 21 Jesus says to his disciples, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
This incident that we receive as a story can serve us in multiple ways. It can serve to remind us to put on the Lord's words like garments, and it can also serve to produce faith; and faith not just to give birth but also faith to condemn.
Some might ask, well was it the season for the fig tree to bear fruit? Why was the tree punished or condemned for not bearing fruit out of season? To this question, we look at where Jesus is in the story. He is on His way to Jerusalem, and to give His live as a ransom. Therefore, we see that no matter the season.. ultimately, the season of preparation had come to an end.
In Matthew 21:43 and 44, Jesus says "Therefore I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed."
Jesus is speaking of the cornerstone which is Himself but He is also speaking about The Word of God. Later in Matthew 22 we read the story of The Wedding Banquet. In verses 8-14 Jesus tells the story of a King who has prepared a banquet. Jesus likens the wedding banquet to The Kingdom of God and says, "The Wedding Banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, 'How did you get in here without wedding clothes friend?' The man was speechless. Then the King told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many were invited, but few were chosen."
Here we see again the matter of readiness. Those who did not deserve to come were those who had neglected the invitation. Those who were gathered from the street corners were the ones already chosen. How do we know that they were already chosen? We know that they were already chosen because though they had been taken from the street corners, they were dressed appropriately for the banquet. This is then why the Lord says, "For many were invited, but few were chosen." What if I told you that the man who was tossed out of the banquet was dressed in the finest linens and looked the actual part, but the banquet the Lord had requested the chosen to attend did not require such clothes. Can you see that the wedding is not the kind of wedding you have in mind, and the guest aren't the guests you have in mind. More importantly, we know that the chosen are already ready.
Therefore, the Lord cursed the fig tree because it wasn't chosen to feed him. Nor was it ready. Thus the Lord says, cut it down... why should it use up the soil.
Let's look at another story Jesus told.
In Luke 13:6-8 we read, "A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' Sir, the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"
In Matthew 24:32-33 it reads, "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door."
Thus the take away from this final blog in the series The JAWW is to be sensitive to the life of the Word of God, understanding its dual functions. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. When you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. In the meantime, do as the man who cared for the vineyard, and dig around it. Dig around the word of faith that you are believing for so that its roots may retain its moisture and fertilize it. For any word that you are not willing to cultivate by faith may produce leaves but won't be ready to serve you.
In Service,
NaTisha Renee Williams
Thank you for following the series. Continue on with The Road2Wholeness Blog as we move into Mysteries in Common (a blog series).
Comments
Post a Comment