The fig tree and the mountain
The New Testament on prayer, part 1
In this mini-series I want to tackle a few of the more difficult passages on prayer; I'm guided in this not least by the excellent but perhaps not-well-known book Knocking on Heaven's Door by David Crump, given to me a few years ago and invaluable ever since. Today we are thinking about the relationship between faith, success in petition, and impossible possibles, from Mark 11.
Mark 11:12-25
And on the morrow when they had left Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree from afar, that had leaves, he came, if he shall find anything in it. And coming upon it he found nothing except leaves; for it was not fig season. And in response he said to it, 'may no one eat fruit from you any longer, forever.' And his students were listening to him.
15 And they go into Jerusalem; and when he had entered the temple he began to drive out the sellers and buyers in the temple, and he flipped over the tables of the bankers and the chairs of those that sold doves, and he would not permit anyone to carry some goods through the temple. 17 And he was teaching and saying to them, 'Is it not written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? You however have made it into a bandits' lair.’
And the high-priests and the bible-scholars were also seeking how they might kill him; for they feared him, since the entire crowed was astonished at his teaching. And when it was late he journeyed out of the city.
20 And as they travelled past, early in the morn, they saw the fig tree withered from its roots. And Peter, recollecting, said to him, 'Rabbi, Check out the fig tree which you cursed, it has withered.'
22 And Jesus responded, saying to them, 'Have faith in God. 23 For sure - I say to you that whoever says to this mountain, 'Get up and get into the sea', and does not waver in their heart, but believes that what they speak, happens - it will be for them.' 24 For this reason I say to you, all things whatsoever you pray and request, believe that you have got them, and it will be for you. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive - if you have anything against anyone, that your father also, he in the heavens, shall forgive you your transgressions.'
(Seumas’ deliberately awkward translation)
This section of Mark has an ‘intercalation’, that is it has a kind of parallel structure with insertions:
A1 fig tree 11.12-14
B1 temple 11.15-19
A2 fig tree 11.20-21
B2 prayer 11.22-25
So we need to interpret Jesus' comments about the temple and prayer in relation to each other, and in connection to his actions in the temple. I take it (agreeing with Crump and many interpreters) that the cleansing of the temple is a prophetic action signifying the purification of the temple, which typologically refers to its replacement through Jesus' death, but at the same time is a proclamation of judgment of the current temple, because it is barren. The fig tree is a common OT image for the people of God and especially fruit as obedience. It is fitting, then, that Jesus 'looks for figs' as an enacted parable, Jesus is looking for the fruitfulness of Israel, not least in the temple. The presence of leaves suggests the appearance of life and fruitfulness, but the absence of fruit is an indictment of appearance not substance.
(Why then Mark's comment about it not being the season? Various horticultural suggestions have been made, but the text remains insistent and puzzling. I'm attracted to R.T. France's comment that it is precisely the point - Jesus is being unreasonable. Mark locates his story (in chs 11-16) in the context of Passover, and it was unreasonable for Jesus to expect figs. "A tree in full leaf at Passover season is making a promise it cannot fulfill; so, too, is Israel." (France, NGITC, 441) The leaves are an unseasonable boast, the fruitlessness is its condemnatory evidence. So too the temple.)
The failure of the temple is correlated in several ways then with the surrounding passage. The temple priesthood and persons are associated with the bandits of v17, the failure to be a house of prayer is answered by the prayers of the Christian community foreseen in vv23-25, not least because of the close association between temple and prayer in the original context. How can we be confident that God hears prayers when the temple is about to be destroyed? In the temple that is the body of Christ.
Only with this context can we look at vv22-25. Crump suggests that we understand the mountain reference in v23 in light of two ideas. Firstly, that it has a specific reference, the temple mount, which is being destroyed indeed (as seen in the context). Secondly, in light of ancient debates about "whether God could create a mountain too heavy for him to move" (32), this is therefore also language for God doing impossible things. These two should be overlaid together onto our understanding of v23, and parallels Jesus' declaration of judgment on the fig tree.
From this we draw two lessons: for the early and persecuted Christian community, initial intra-Jewish hostility from the temple and its supporters shall not ultimately prevail, but the disciples' faith in Jesus will eventually overcome all opposition. Secondly, that nothing is impossible with God, and so "No request is ever too great. No need is beyond the reach of God's ability" (33).
However, there are two seeming conditions placed on prayer here, faith and forgiveness. I won't treat the forgiveness topic here, except to quote Crump again, "Mark's emphasis, however, is not that forgiving others is a condition to the general effectiveness of a disciple's prayers, but that extending forgiveness is a condition for the community's being forgiven of its own sins" (34). What, however, is the relationship of faith to petition and efficacy? It reads very much like (as many take it), that unanswered prayer can simply be blamed on a lack of faith.
We are told here explicitly what the believer ought to believe : (1) that what they speak, happens, (2) you have (already) got whatever you prayed for. Put differently, Christian prayer cannot view an unanswered prayer as being because God is unable to do it. God can do it. So the answer lies elsewhere. Yet the answer does not lie in the "volume or strength of our faith" (35), because (i) there is no conditional here ("if you have faith..."), (ii) there's no connection drawn between the quality of one's faith and the answers to one's prayers. It is doubt or faith here, a binary choice, not degrees. The one who does not believe that God can do the impossible, will not ask him to. The one who does, will (eventually) see them.
But is there a guarantee here? I think that's what we keep wondering. Does our trust ensure answers? Our experience in prayer is likely to tell us otherwise. Crump offers two suggestions and a deferral, and I follow suite. Firstly, we must grant that "perhaps the simplistic nature of the saying is a rhetorical device" (37) which we should be reluctant to press too far. It is an encouragement to prayer, an antidote to cynicism and despair. Secondly, that the answers are future "it will be [so]", but no time frame is given. Personally I find this more satisfactory, to recognise that all prayers rightly offered in accord with God's will, shall find their yes in their proper time. Often that is not yet. And then the deferral: there is more to be said, and read, from the New Testament about the relationship between faith, prayer, and God's will.