Mk. 13:24-31, The Final Lesson from the Fig Tree

We have noted that the Olivet Discourse shows us the love of God as well as the faithfulness of God.  The latter conclusion is one Jesus Himself picks up on as, for the fourth and last time, He brings His disciples, and us, back to the fig tree.

Let’s review.  In Luke 13:6-9 Jesus saw that the fig tree was struggling.  The keeper of the vineyard wanted to cut it down but the owner wanted to give it one more year with tender, loving care.  This was a picture of the Jewish people; Jesus wanted to give them one more year of His ministry.  In Part 2 (Mark 11:12-14), at the end of that year, Jesus sought fruit on a fig tree, but there was none, and He cursed the tree.  In Part 3 (Mark 11:20-24), the next day, His disciples saw that the tree had already withered.  Jesus used the opportunity to call His disciples to “have faith in God.”  He seemed to think that the tree was not hopeless.  To this point, the nation was now under a curse, but the disciples should trust God in the matter.

Now, at the conclusion of the Discourse about Israel’s coming tribulation and great tribulation, and the bringing together of all things when Christ returns, Jesus returns to the fig tree.  The essence of His message is, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”  Again, the tree is Israel.  A time will come when leaves will begin to appear on the fig tree that had once been cursed.  The tree will start to look like a living tree again.  Jesus said when they start seeing the ”signs” of His coming, then they will know that the restoration and salvation of the nation will be “near – at the doors.”  He emphasizes by saying that the generation that sees these things happening will not pass away until the end comes.

This promise is, as we said, based in the fact that Jesus said it.  In our previous post we considered several passages that promise God’s faithfulness to Israel.  Let me lead you through a few more, given by the Lord at critical times in Israel’s history.

·       Deut. 32:23-27,43: Just before Israel crossed the Jordan to enter the land the first time, Moses, at God’s direction, gave them a song by which God told them where they would be going as a nation.  They would eventually turn to idols and God would punish them and remove them from the land.  But He would eventually, for the sake of His name and glory, bring them back.

·       Amos 9:8: Before the Assyrians carried away the northern tribes, the LORD said that destruction was coming, “Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.”

·       Jer. 30:7,11: After the Assyrians, and before the Babylonians came to destroy Jerusalem and take Judah captive, the LORD promised to save Israel out of all their trouble.  Again, He said, “Yet I will not make a complete end of you.”

·       Rom. 11:1,11,26-27: After the crucifixion of Israel’s rejected Messiah, God again said that He had not cast them away, but that “all Israel will be saved.”  He confirmed this be reminding them: “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”  As Jesus said, “My words will by no means pass away.”