Last Sunday’s message was an inspiring analysis of the Fig Tree in the Bible, presented by our very own sister, Silke Roesner.

The famous tree in Palestine, which provides food for taking along or picking when travelling, has so many interesting parallels in the spiritual realm. It stands for a nation, church or, in this sense, for all of us.

Interestingly, its fruits (figs) appear before the leaves. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it didn’t yield any fruit when He was hungry. It only had leaves. The leaves of the fig tree are called “excuses” in Hebrew. Adam and Eve used them in an attempt to cover their nakedness (sin and shame, Genesis 3:7) but excuses cannot cover up our sins.

A fig only ripens as long as it is connected with the tree. Likewise as believers, if we don’t remain plugged into Jesus we won’t mature (2 Peter 1:3-8). Read the Bible and pray – it gives us peace.

Fig trees only produce fruit if pollinated by fig wasps. Although the wasps lay their eggs in the figs and cause them to die, the symbiosis is necessary for the fig tree to survive. Likewise, we need to die of the flesh when the Holy Spirit comes into us, before we can bear fruit. Bearing spiritual fruit comes through trials and hardship.

In Mark 11:12-21 Jesus appears unusually violent in two places in the Bible, one when He cursed the fig tree because He saw its deadness, and another time when He turned over the tables in the temple court because the spiritual leaders were after their own gain, instead of feeding the hungry people with spiritual food. Traditions and rituals are nothing but leaves.

What keeps you from producing fruit? Let the Holy Spirit be your fertilizer (Luke 13:7-9), and let God prune you (John 15:1-2, 5-8). It’s not comfortable but necessary. Jesus paid the price for our salvation on the tree with pain, let us bear the little pain of pruning. It is God’s will that we bear much fruit (John 8:15)
🌍❤