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Mark 11:22
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The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree

20 aNow in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  
21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
23 For aassuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  
24 Therefore I say to you, awhatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  

Forgiveness and Prayer

25 “And whenever you stand praying, aif you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  
26 But aif you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”  
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Mark 11:22 Mean?



Mark 11:22-24

The miracle of Christ's withering of the fig tree reveals His divine and human natures. As God, He withered the tree in judgment. As Man, He needed the sleep His friends' home in Bethany provided as well as the tree's food to sustain Him, as “He was hungry.”

Although He could have satisfied His hunger with a miracle, He showed self-restraint in the use of His supernatural power to teach a valuable lesson to His disciples. He would not use it to provide for His personal wants or for those of His disciples. Nor would He work a miracle just to impress others. He would not do so to increase His earthly influence or power or to terrorize people into accepting His teaching. If a need could be fulfilled by human effort, or if lessons would be useful, Jesus would do no miracle.

Self-restraint requires faith. Jesus withered the fig tree to teach His disciples a lesson in faith because, if they had genuine faith in God, they would not only be able to affect nature miraculously as Jesus did with the tree, but also move mountains (Matthew 17:20). If they truly believed and asked according to God's will, they would receive whatever they prayed for.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: The Withering of a Fig Tree



Mark 11:20-24

Jesus' miracle involving the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-24) is the only one in which He brings judgment by a miracle. All the other miracles are acts of goodness and mercy. This miracle, which can also be classified as a parable, is recorded in more detail in Mark than in Matthew. Mark's chronology is also more detailed, showing its correlation with other events, clarifying, for instance, that this miracle and the cleansing of the Temple took place within two days.

Having gone through several days of conflict and tension, Jesus now needed to find a place of love, gratitude, and peace to rest and meditate on soon-coming events. He found it with His friends in Bethany. This setting contrasted markedly to Satan's world, designed to be hectic with its constant pressure to keep people from thinking deeply about anything of true value. Satan knows that if he can make us busy, it is easier to make us sin.

Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: The Withering of a Fig Tree


 
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