BEARING FRUIT

INTRODUCTION

Imagine you find a brand-new toy. It has all the buttons, lights, and colours you love. You get excited, ready to play with it—only to discover… it has no batteries! How would you feel? Probably disappointed. It looked amazing, but it couldn’t do what it was supposed to do.

Jesus experienced something similar during His time on earth. In Mark 11:12–26, He came close to a fig tree and later to the temple—and both, like that toy, looked impressive on the outside. But when He got closer, He found they were empty on the inside. They weren’t doing what they were made to do.

So let’s read these two stories—two disappointments—that teach us something very important about what Jesus is looking for in our lives.

THE FIG TREE (Mark 11:12-14)

In the first part of the story, Jesus and His disciples are walking from Bethany to Jerusalem. On the way, Jesus gets hungry. He spots a fig tree in the distance with lots of leaves. Now, you might wonder why that detail matters.

Here’s why: In a fig tree, fruit usually appears before the leaves. So if a fig tree has leaves, it should also have fruit.

Jesus sees the leaves and expects to find something to eat. But when He gets closer—no figs. Only leaves. The tree looked good from far away… but had nothing to offer.

So Jesus says, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”

That might sound harsh—but remember, this is not just about a tree. Jesus is showing us something deeper.

THE TEMPLE (Mark 11:15-19)

Next, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem and goes to the temple. It was a magnificent building—God’s house. From the outside, it looked like a place of worship.

But what does Jesus find inside? People buying and selling. Traders and moneychangers. Instead of prayer, there’s business. Instead of worship, there’s noise and greed.

Jesus clears them out, saying: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations—but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Again, what looked impressive from the outside was empty and wrong on the inside.

BEARING FRUIT

So—why are these two stories in the Bible?

Because God wants to teach us something very important: He doesn’t want us to just look like we love Him—He wants us to really love Him. He doesn’t want us to just go through the motions—He wants our hearts.

It’s like the toy with no batteries. Or the fig tree with no figs. Or the temple with no prayer.

God wants us to bear real fruit—faith, love, prayer, forgiveness, obedience.

Later in the chapter, Jesus teaches about faith and prayer, and the religious leaders start questioning His authority. But the truth is, they couldn’t bear fruit—because they didn’t trust Him. They didn’t want to come close to Jesus. They didn’t believe.

And that’s the key: The only way we can bear fruit is by truly loving and trusting Jesus.

That’s not just for grown-ups. Even children can trust Jesus—today! You can pray to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and give you a heart that really loves Him. And when we do, the Holy Spirit helps us grow the kind of fruit that pleases God.

CONCLUSION

So, here’s the question for all of us:

What kind of tree do you want to be? Do you want to be the kind that looks good from far away, but has nothing real? Or do you want to be a tree full of good fruit—the kind that blesses others and brings joy to Jesus?

I pray that you and I will be that second kind—the fruitful kind.

Amen?

Let’s pray.