Mountain-Moving Faith

MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH

Mt. 21:18-22

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Little Tommy attended first grade Sunday School faithfully. He loved his teacher, Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith told great Bible stories, and she would always end the story by saying, “And, boys and girls, the MORAL of the story is …”

2. Little Tommy enjoyed learning about the morals of each Bible story. But when Tommy entered second grade, he moved up to another Sunday School class, taught by Mrs. Jones. She told Bible stories, too, but she never ended them by giving the moral of the story.

3. After a few weeks Tommy’s mom asked him how he liked his new Sunday School teacher. Tommy said, “Mrs. Jones is okay. The only problem is that she doesn’t have any morals.”

B. SETTING

1. During the week leading up the cross, Jesus spent His days in Jerusalem teaching in the Temple courts. Each evening He would walk to Bethany to spend the night.

2. Bethany was about a mile away on the other side of the Mount of Olives. The Bible doesn’t say where He stayed in Bethany, but since Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus lived there, He might have stayed with them.

3. Each morning Jesus and His disciples would walk back over the crest of the Mount of Olives and down into the Kidron valley and then up to the Temple Mount.

4. I’ve made the same walk before. It’s a beautiful sight to see Jerusalem as you walk down the Mount of Olives. It was the week of Passover, so the city was full of pilgrims. It was Monday morning and Jesus was heading back to Jerusalem.

C. TEXT

“Early in the morning, as he was on his back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. ‘How did the fig tree wither so quickly?’ they asked. Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.’” Matt. 21:18-22

D. THESIS

1. There is a parable in every miracle and a miracle in every parable. In our passage today, we’re going to briefly examine a miracle that is really a parable—a withered fig tree.

2. And we’re going to devote most of our attention to a miracle, the moving of mountains! The title of this message is “MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH!”

I. THE WITHERED FIG TREE

A. A JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL

1. Jesus walked up to a fig tree expecting to enjoy a fig breakfast, but while there were leaves, there was no fruit. Mark 11:13 adds, “because it was not the season for figs.”

2. Commentators take one of two approaches to explain the Lord’s actions: 1). That the Capri-fig trees of Palestine did bear edible buds in March/April which fall off and are replaced by figs in May, or 2). That Jesus knew it would have no figs and cursed it metaphorically as a symbol of the nation.

3. This tree was symbolic of the lack of good spiritual fruit being found in the Jewish leaders and nation of Israel as a whole (Hos. 9:10; Jer. 24:5,8).

4. Outwardly, they were righteous, but inwardly they were hypocrites. Jesus gave the moral of the story in Matthew 21:43, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” [i.e. – the primarily Gentile Church.]

B. A WARNING TO US: BE IN UNION WITH CHRIST

1. The application for us is that outward religious activity is worthless unless my life reflects Jesus.

2. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5, 8)

3. As Ron Dunn says, “We’re just a fruit rack where Jesus can display His life.” My job is not to try to be good and imitate Jesus.

4. My daily job is to stay firmly connected to the Vine, Jesus. As I do that, His life-giving sap (the Holy Spirit) flows into my life and the result is the life of Jesus seen in me.

II. THE POSSIBLITY OF MOVING MOUNTAINS

A. A PARABLE ABOUT FAITH