Passion Week 2

The Cursed Tree

Good Morning!

As we I hope that for many of you who started e-learning that you had a great first day of school yesterday and you are ready for the next day!

If you recall yesterday we talked about Jesus turning tables and cursing a fig tree- On Monday Jesus was going on it- guns blazing!

On Tuesday, we read what was happening from

Mark 11:20-

Mark 11:20–25 ESV

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Jesus and his disciples are passing by this fig tree that Jesus cursed.

Well the tree is dead now.

So that right, if you cross Jesus he has the power to make you wither away.

I’m just playing with you.

But Jesus actually saying something pretty important to Peter’s statement.

He says the tree that you cursed has withered.

Jesus looks at him and probably the rest of his disciples and has a moment to teach them.

Jesus starts by saying: Have faith in God.

With that statement Jesus is still referring back to the temple- We also see this change from the temple which was the pinnacle in the Jewish culture now seems to shift.

Jesus is saying have faith in God.

Trust in God because Faith and Prayer- NOT THE TEMPLE are now the way to God.

He goes on to say faith and prayer go hand and hand.

That if you had faith you could tell a mountain- which was a symbol of difficulty that it could throw itself into the sea.

I have never been able to move a mountain, I don’t know about you.

However this does not mean that our faith is meaningless or even that we don’t have any faith.

Here is what Jesus was talking about.

Here is the deal: it is not about how great of faith you have, because Jesus has said that if your faith was as small as a mustard seed you could move mountains.

It is about the object of your faith.

HAVE FAITH IN GOD.

YOU CAN’T MOVE THE MOUNTAIN

But you know who can?

God can!

I do want to say that Jesus is using an illustration here, just to be clear.

No way in the Bible do we see anyone throwing a mountain into the sea.

Yet the principal behind this is incredible.

Jesus is setting up the disciples to have faith that was not tied to the temple.

Mountain Moving faith is based on the promises of God not of man.

If we are only praying for things we want our prayers are surface level-

The significance of the sea is that often

Yet when we pray through our faith that is built on the promises of God-

we will pray for His will to be done in our life, not ours.

God will only move mountains that he wants to move.

Meaning that God’s will and our will— begins to line-up our faith is then in the promises of God.

If we pray this way then we have confidence that God will answer our prayers.

For prayer that is done through faith is forgiveness.

We are unable to say the words “in Jesus name,” if we have unforgiveness in our hearts.

We must be people who forgive.

Because Jesus freely forgave us by his blood that he shed on the cross.

We then must be willing to forgive others.

What better way to display our faith than by loving God and loving people.

Do you have a Mountain moving type of faith?

That is built on the promises of God?

I hope so, and if not then what is stopping you?

We are only on Tuesday, and Jesus has already had a pretty busy week, join us tomorrow as we continue our passion week devos.

See you guys tomorrow, you are loved.