When Jesus Gets Hungry

“On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it. (Mark 11:12-14 ESV)”

Here we find Jesus, in the final week before His crucifixion, travelling from Bethany to Jerusalem, about a two mile hike, and he wants breakfast. He looks ahead and sees a fig tree in the distance that is covered in lush leaves, promising sustenance. There’s only one problem; upon closer inspection, Jesus finds no figs. The tree’s appearance of fruitfulness could not satisfy Jesus’ desire for figs because “…it was not the season for figs.”

Many times we as Christians are satisfied with the appearance of fruitfulness. We say and do the “right” things in order to maintain the beauty of our leaves. We are faithful church members and good neighbors who are involved in all the right political causes. The problem is there is no real fruit in our lives; not the kind that satisfies the Lord at least. Paul called that fruit ‘the fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:22-24). That fruit is the product of a life crucified to self, and surrendered to the operation of the Holy Spirit.

Instead of bearing fruit, we are satisfied with a moralistic code or religious reformation instead of a truly spiritual transformation. While you might go far in life by playing nice in the sandbox and not cheating on your taxes, forcing these or any other disciplines upon yourself will never produce the Spirit’s fruit in our life. We must abandon the rot of self-righteousness and rely on God to do in us what we can never do on our own.     

Let me further demonstrate with another story you’re probably familiar with…

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:6-7 ESV)”

From the very beginning of humanity’s unending dance with sin, we have sought to make coverings for ourselves; coverings that from the start have proven to be ineffective. Our first parent’s response to their newly discovered awareness of nakedness and the subsequent shame was to immediately cover it up. The problem was that they weren’t very good at it!

You see, Adam and Eve’s fig leaves would eventually wither; and I assure you, modern man’s “fig leaves” are no better suited to cover our shame. Things like blame, excuses, boasting, pride, piety, and false humility are all fig leaves that will eventually wither and fall off, revealing the shame that is universal to mankind.

However, just like the Father shed blood to cover the sin and shame of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21), Jesus died to clothe us in His own righteousness (Isaiah 61:10)! The problem is that instead of receiving His covering (His blood that alone makes us righteous), and fully trusting in what he has already done, we try to “beef up” our covering to impress others, and allay our guilty consciences. This is never O.K. with Jesus.

What He is looking for is fruit. John chapter 15 tells us exactly what Jesus' idea of a successful Christian life is…the abiding that produces fruit.

What is the main purpose of fruit? “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:8 ESV)”. So many have approached the Christian life with the consumerist idea of “What’s in it for me?”; but have you ever thought, “What’s in it for God?” The fruit produced by our lives is for the satisfaction (glory) of God. As we are the branches of the Vine, any fruit produced belongs to the Master of the Vineyard!

He tells us in John 15 that our fruit is for His glory. Psalms 2 tells us that “the nations” (that’s you and I) are His inheritance . I remember hearing stories of Moravian missionaries sailing to preach to slave colonies, never to be heard from again, shouting “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!” Did you catch that? HIS glory, HIS inheritance, HIS reward! Christianity focused on us is ALWAYS the weakest, most useless form there is; not a whit better in any way than Islam or Mormonism. We need to be practitioners of Christocentric Christianity where Jesus is the entire point, not mansions in the sweet by and by, or moral societies in the sour now.

One last note…you may think you’re “off the hook” because it’s just not your “season” for fruit; you’re waiting until you’re older in Christ or have conquered that one pesky sin, etc., but since fruitfulness comes to those who abide, and not those who labor, true disciples are always in season (2 Timothy 4:2, John 15:16). 

Is Jesus finding anything that will “satisfy His hunger” in your life or mine? Let’s stop playing “dress up” in the leaf pile and abide in His love so that He will find what He’s looking for.