SPIRITUAL BARRENNESS: ITS CAUSE AND CURE

“After seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.  He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again!’  And His disciples heard it.” (Mark 11:13-14 HCSB)

What does the fruit of your life reveal about your relationship with Christ? Jesus said, “So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.” (Matt.7:20)  It is impossible for Christ to indwell us and there not be some evidence of it in our lives.  The fruit may be sparse, it might be shriveled, it might be scant—but there will be some.  If there is no fruit of righteousness evident, can it be that there is no root in Christ present?  I realize there also may be seasons for the saint where we may be somewhat barren, and need to prune some activities that hinder and cultivate some activities that make us fertile, in order to be more fruitful.  But, to be entirely without fruit is to be without faith. 

In the eleventh chapter of Mark we see the subject of spiritual barrenness: its cause and cure.  So, let’s explore this together. 

I want you to notice first there is FAVOR TO CELEBRATE in verses 1-11.

When the favor of God rests upon us, the fruit of godliness will reside in us.  Grace within generates goodness without. 

Jesus was the perfect expression of a Man who had the favor of God resting on Him.  The result is the clear and convincing fruit seen in His life. 

The disciples recognized it and so were responsive to Him.

“When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples and told them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.”’

So they went and found a young donkey outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, and some of those standing there said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the donkey?’  They answered them just as Jesus had said, so they let them go.  Then they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their robes on it, and He sat on it.”  (v.1-7)

The life of the Son was vitally connected with His Father.  He had authority because He was under authority (read Matt.8:5-13).  If we want spiritual authority, we must be submissive to it.

The people recognized God’s favor and so were rejoicing in Him.  The life of Christ was visibly connected with His Father.  The common people declared the blessedness of the Son because the blessing of the Father rested upon Him.

“Many people spread their robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting:

Hosanna! He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One!

The coming kingdom of our father David is blessed!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

And He went into Jerusalem and into the temple complex.

After looking around at everything, since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.” (v.8-11)

Can people see the hand of God upon us?

Consider this carefully: what was the source of Christ’s fruitfulness? 

While we acknowledge that Jesus was and is and ever shall be fully God, He was also fully man.  He came to show us how man was to live when God is in the man. 

“Then Jesus replied, ‘I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.’” (John 5:19)

During the days of His flesh, Christ lived rooted in the life of the Father and the fruit of that was seen in Him.  How do we know this same favor of God?

“‘I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper.  Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

 

Remain in Me, and I in you.  Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.

I am the vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.’” (John 15:1-5)

Do people celebrate the blessing of your life—the fruit of your faith—that your presence brings to them? 

What Jesus did that day was the fulfillment of Scripture (see Zech.9:9).  The Word was abiding in Him and thus the Word was fleshed out in His daily life.  It can be so with us.

“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.  My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:7-8)

A life grounded in the Word is a life glorifying the Lord.  With truth as our root, we have the testimony of our fruit.

But, from this positive example, we turn to a negative one and note there is FRUITLESSNESS TO CURSE in verses 12-14. 

Here we have another reminder of Christ’s humanity.  He was hungry, “The next day when they came out from Bethany, He was hungry.” (v.12) 

Now, He had the power as God to turn stones into bread, but He had already overcome that temptation.  He would rely on the Father, instead of living on His own resources—as the Perfect Man dwelling among men, to show us how man is to live in reliance on God.  When we a need and face a test, it is good to know we have a High Priest in heaven who understands and sympathizes (see Heb.4:15-16).

Jesus came expecting to find fruit on a fig tree and discovered that it had none.

“After seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.” (v.13)

The question we might have is, “Why did He expect fruit, when it wasn’t the season for fruit?”  Because it wasn’t the season for foliage either! 

New Testament scholar, F.F. Bruce clarifies this:

“Towards the end of March the leaves begin to appear, and in about a week the foliage coating is complete. Coincident with [this], and sometimes even before, there appears quite a crop of small knobs, not the real figs, but a kind of early forerunner. They grow to the size of green almonds, in which condition they are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. When they come to their own indefinite maturity they drop off." These precursors of the true fig are called taqsh in Palestinian Arabic.  Their appearance is a harbinger of the fully formed appearance of the true fig some six weeks later. So, as Mark says, the time for figs had not yet come. But if the leaves appear without any taqsh, that is a sign that there will be no figs. Since Jesus found "nothing but leaves" — leaves without any taqsh — he knew that "it was an absolutely hopeless, fruitless fig tree" and said as much.”

It is essentially a message of hypocrisy—professing fruit but not producing it!  The fig tree is symbolic of Israel. It was a nation filled with hypocrisy.  Are we that way?

As we consider spiritual barrenness, we have witnessed favor to celebrate, fruitlessness to curse and next we find there is FILTH TO CLEANSE in verses 15-19.

“They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers’ tables and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple complex.

Then He began to teach them: ‘Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?  But you have made it a den of thieves!’  Then the chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him.  For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching. 

And whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.”

Here is an example of the very hypocrisy that was symbolized by the fig tree.  The Temple had become a den of thieves rather than a house of prayer.  Jesus needed to cleanse the temple because it was polluted with the greedy. 

It is a sobering warning to hypocrites in the house of God today.  Such a church as this is no church at all—it is a sham.  We are either a house of prayer or a den of thieves! 

Our prayerlessness makes us thieves.  We rob God of glory.  We rob people of opportunity.  We will not be fruitful if we are not faithful in prayer.  Prayerlessness is not just a slip-up, it is a sin!

Again, don’t miss the relationship between vital union with Christ which is rooted in prayer and the visible action of Christ in responding to prayer:

“I assure you: The one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do.  And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.   Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me

anything in My name, I will do it….

If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.  My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” (John 14:12-14; 15:7-8)

Did you get that?  The pivotal point of connection is faith!  So, next we observe there is FAITH TO COMMEND in Mark 11:20-24.

We noted how Christ approaching the fig tree hungry and hopeful of fruit—fruit that wasn’t there—demonstrated His humanity, but what happens to the fig tree is a proof of Christ’s Deity.  He curses it and it withers from the roots up. 

You see the real problem wasn’t just a fruit problem—that was the symptom of barrenness.  The real problem was a root problem—it had to do with the source of barrenness! 

Is our life rooted in God?  If not we are headed for God’s wrath.  What makes the difference between fruitfulness and fruitlessness? Faith!

“Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.  Then Peter remembered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that You cursed is withered.’

Jesus replied to them, ‘Have faith in God.  I assure you:

If anyone says to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for — believe that you have received them, and you will have them.’” (v.22-24)

Faith brings us into a right relationship with God and empowers us to be fruitful.

The grace that brings forgiveness enables us to bestow forgiveness.  The life rooted in God’s forgiveness enables us to bear the fruit of forgiveness.  With this in mind we come to our next point and that is FORGIVENESS TO CLAIM in verses 25-26.

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.  But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.”

Perhaps we think our prayers aren’t very productive?  Maybe this is the reason—we are nursing grudges instead of granting grace.  Bitterness brings a blockage to the flow of grace.  Look at this:

“Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many.” (Heb.12:15)

The sad conclusion of the chapter is that even though the cause of spiritual barrenness was diagnosed and its cure was declared—the Great Physician’s prescription was rejected.  Thus, we read of FAILURE TO COMPREHEND in verses 27-33.

They came again to Jerusalem.  As He was walking in the temple complex, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came and asked Him, ‘By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?’

Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  Was John’s baptism from heaven or from men? Answer Me.’

They began to argue among themselves: ‘If we say, “From heaven,” He will say, “Then why didn’t you believe him?”’  But if we say, “From men”’ — they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was a genuine prophet.  So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’

And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’”

They just didn’t get it.  Basic spiritual principles were gibberish to them.  They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but you can’t teach a dead dog anything!  These were spiritually dead and so couldn’t grasp the truth.  They didn’t understand who Jesus was!  Until we meet Him we can never be fruitful for the life of God is not in us.  It is only a life rooted by faith in God that evidences a life of fruitfulness in a relationship with God.