The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard Him say it. Mark 11:12-14
“Jesus knew that it was not the season for figs. He knew that there were none on the fig tree. He wished, however, to teach His disciples, in a way they would never forget, how God had come to the Jewish people, hungry for fruits of holiness and good works. All He had found were mere lifeless observances: worthless leaves.
On that occasion too, the Apostles learned that every moment presents a good opportunity for giving results. We cannot wait for special circumstances in order to sanctify ourselves. God comes to us looking for good deeds in moments of sickness, in our ordinary everyday occupations, both when we are overworked and when everything is going well and all is ordered and peaceful.
He visits us as much in our tiredness as in our rest, in success and failure, in financial ruin – if God allows it – and in times of prosperity. It is precisely those circumstances which can and should produce fruit – all different, perhaps, but unique and wonderful. We should find God in all circumstances because He gives us the graces we need.”
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 460-461.
We shift our focus in Scripture from Jesus and the blind man to Jesus and the fig tree. This one, unfortunately, has nothing but leaves.
Related to generosity, I so often hear people procrastinate instead of act. Let me explain. They reason that if a deal goes through, then they will be generous. If they have extra time in their schedule, then they will serve.
And they suggest that life is first about preserving comfort for themselves and their families, all the while, in so doing they teach their own to be selfish and self-centered.
Meanwhile, as I walk with my dog, Grace, pictured above, and as I walk with Jesus, I see a Lord who had no place to lay his head, that means he had no cushy bed. He was walking along in today’s text and hungry.
I see His humanity up close. I hear his stomach growl.
And in that moment of His hunger, he expects the tree to always be ready to provide fruit. That’s His call for us. When Jesus comes to us, whispers to us, beckons us to give, serve, or love, let us be sure He finds more than leaves.