A Simple Homily on the Gospel of Mark 11:20-26

Many people, and indeed many ministers, would have others believe that if anyone's faith is real one can do literally anything.

It must be stated that the whole event surrounding the fig-tree was an acted parable. If this is not understood, all sorts of irrelevant questions arise. The fig-tree is a symbol of Israel, along with the vine. Even though the "season was not of figs", many fig-trees do produce figs early along with the new growth. It appears that this is what Jesus was looking for on the tree.

The reason Jesus cursed the fig-tree was in order to correlate its similarity to Israel. Israel was giving an outward sign of fruit but there was no fruit to be found, not even any developing. Jesus was looking for fruit among God's people, but there was none, even though outward profession was plenty. Therefore, Israel was to be withered and fruitless.

As to the trouble surrounding prayer and faith, the disciples were astonished that the fig-tree was withered, yet Jesus said to them that they could uproot mountains. The need for faith when praying was vital part of Jesus' teachings. But, faith is not a condition of prayer; it is the condition of a relationship with God. Truly, it was radical when Jesus said that mountains would be moved, but it would be by God's power and not that of the disciples'. In verse 24, it is shown that once God has been asked in the relationship of faith, the disciples' attitude should be one of expectant reality. In other words, once faith is placed in God, anything asked in that relationship should be seen as having already occurred.

In verse 25, Jesus added a "condition" to the prayer life of his disciples. This condition was forgiveness of fellow disciples/brothers. Indeed, unless a disciple forgives a fellow disciple freely, it shows that there is no understanding of God's grace or that the true relationship of faith and forgiveness is not understood.

Verses 23-25 must be seen together to prevent any misuse of the text. To summarize in a personal fashion: We must be at all times bearing fruit, or indeed judgement will come. The object of our faith must be God not for what we are praying. Indeed, in our relationship with God we can believe that God has already provided what we asked. Most importantly, we must forgive others if we have truly been forgiven by God. Our forgiveness is contingent upon our willingness to forgive.