Naked Branches

"Then He said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And His disciples heard Him say it"- Mark 11:14 (NIV).

The peach tree my daughter planted five years ago was not appreciated by me, until it started bearing peaches last year. Excited, I Googled how to prune the formerly unwanted tree, put compost around it, and had my husband erect a small fence to keep the deer from enjoying any of my bounty. Unfortunately, something has caused the tree to wither. Only 10-15 leaves remain on the once healthy tree, and the immature peaches are hanging on naked branches. Why? We aren't certain. My husband added more fertilizer, but it could have been disease or parasites within the tree. Near the end of His ministry, Jesus cursed a fig tree. He was on His way to the temple, where He overturned the tables and drove the money changers out saying that instead of making the temple a house of prayer for all nations, they had turned it into a 'den of robbers' (v.17). On the way back, His disciples noticed the cursed fig tree had withered. Jesus gave them the "with faith, you can move a mountain" message. He began by saying, "Have faith in God...whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (vs. 22-24). The cursing of the fig tree was an object lesson for all of us. The withering of leaves meant the tree was going to die. The fig tree represented Israel's faith, though leafy, the true state of the temple was on deadly grounds. In fact, within forty years the Jews were forced out of Jerusalem and the temple destroyed (70 AD), never to be rebuilt. How is this an object lesson for today's church? Have Christians, Jesus' church, merely been looking good (all leafed out), yet not producing fruit? Has nurturing and growing faith been replaced with "what's in it for us?" We need to look at Jesus' judgment on the fig tree and be aware of any signs of withering. Jesus' response, to His disciples, was four profound words: "Have faith in God." We need to pray and ask Jesus for the kind of faith that produces kingdom fruit. Then believe it and receive it. If not, we'll be like my peach tree...naked branches on a dying tree. "If you do not remain in [Jesus], you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned" (John 15:6).