29 March 2010
Psalm 51; Lam. 1:1-2,6-12; 2 Cor. 1:1-7; Mark 11:12-25

The prophet laments (thus Lamentations) the situation in Jerusalem, the once proud city of God. The city is desolate but the prophet does not blame God. He places the blame squarely where it belongs, on the sinfulness of the people of God. They have reaped as they have sown. This is what the Lord has promised. Outwardly and historically it looks as though her enemies have triumphed, but the reality is that the Lord has allowed this devastation, it is His work, and He is just in this decision. At the same time the prophet sounds a warning to those who do not share His lament, those who rejoice over or ignore the shame of Jerusalem. This judgment is not final.

The parable of the withered fig tree has posed a difficult problem for most commentators. Why does Jesus expect to find figs out of season and get angry when he doesn’t? The best explanation seems to be found in the interruption of the story of the fig tree. His hunger provides the impetus for a teaching moment, an enacted parable. The fig tree symbolizes Israel, which has all the look of a tree prepared to bear fruit but does not. The action in the temple reveals why the nation isn’t bearing the fruit God intended, it keeps others from God, denying them access due to their absorption with commerce. Jesus’ judgment on the fig tree is symbolic of God’s judgment on the nation, they have become a nation which honors with the lips but not the heart and therefore the time has come to go directly to the nations. They were always meant to be a light to the nations and instead have become an inwardly focused legalistic religion which looks good but doesn’t produce the fruit intended.

Suffering is a part of the Christian life. In the Gospel lesson Jesus speaks of believing what you pray for and you will receive it. Too often that is taught in a form something like “name it and claim it.” Is that really what Jesus is saying, that God is a cosmic Santa Clause? It certainly makes it difficult to make sense of the suffering and death on the cross, especially after He has prayed that the cup of suffering be taken away. Paul assures the Corinthians that suffering has a redemptive purpose, the suffering of Jesus, Paul’s suffering, and their suffering. It is often in our suffering that we draw near to God and it is from our weakness and pain that we are often able to minister to others. A world broken by sin can be expected to endure much pain and suffering and Jesus came to take on what he had never known “in the flesh” but in His suffering and death we see that we have a God who was willing to suffer with us and for us, revealing His suffering love as real.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.