A reflection on Mark 11:12-26

The lectionary for today offers up a selection from the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Saint Mark. It is rich with opportunities of connecting with our lives.

I’m only going to take on one of the offerings, that of the fig tree. Jesus and his entourage are hungry. He spots a fig tree. As it was not fruit-bearing season for figs, this tree had no fruit for Jesus to eat.

He read it the riot act: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And no one ever did. When the group passed the tree again, they pointed out to Jesus its withered form.

Everything Jesus tells us offers a lesson. But what is the lesson here? How can a tree bear fruit out of its season.

Each human being, some believe, are to bear fruit worthy of the Creator. What we say and what we do should reflect the hands that made us. A food-bearing tree offers God’s love through being a source of strength and stamina. Endurance. Perseverance for the faith cannot hold if the physical body is weak.

The lesson for me? For you? I find it helpful to offer some space to the fig tree lesson. Each of us, definitely me, maybe you, has times of great fruitfulness over a lifetime. Sometimes, though, God needs us “out of season.” Or maybe it’s I’m too busy, I’m too distracted, I’m too tired.

But I think excuses do not get me off the hook. As with the little fig tree, Jesus may have need of me just when I think I have nothing else to offer. And so I must try. Because it’s Jesus asking.