WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: ‘Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us’ (Luke 11:4 NIV). Do you have anyone in mind? An acted parable Yesterday we looked at the ‘filling’ of the sandwich, Jesus cleansing the Temple. Today we’re back to the ‘bread’, the fig tree. Did Jesus really take revenge on it just because he was hungry (v 12)? To us it seems extreme and out of character – figs weren’t even in season (vs 13,14)! But the fig tree was commonly used as an image of Israel (eg Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1–6; Jeremiah 8:13; 29:17), so things begin to look different. This was an acted parable. Like the incident in the Temple in yesterday’s reading, it was a prophetic action, a warning about the future. The next day, Peter saw the dead tree and remembered what Jesus had said (v 21). It wouldn’t be the last time when Peter remembered something Jesus had said (14:72)! Power of prayer But Jesus also uses this incident as an opportunity to teach about faith (v 22) and prayer (v 24). What he had said about the fig tree (v 14) was an expression of faith. That faith has now been vindicated. And in that is a warning about the powerfulness of prayer. Faith and prayer are not to be toyed with – we may receive what we ask for! At the very least, prayer is a prompt for us to both forgive and be forgiven (vs 25,26). Respond: ‘Make me a channel of your peace / Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope / Where there is darkness only light / And where there’s sadness, ever joy’ (Sebastian Temple). http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-11-14