Mark 11:12-14, 20-26   (also in Matthew 21:18-22)

(12) And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: (13) and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. (14) And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

(20) And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (21) And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. (22) And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. (23) For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. (24) Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (25) And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (26) But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

  This is one of the very few miracles that does not involve another human element but Jesus. Matthew’s version just gives a brief summary, as Lukes gives us more detail. When I read this I am trying to fully understand why Jesus chose what he chose to do with he fig tree. Over the years on hearing many preach on this subject, with many times a different but not wrong possibility of the story. I had heard that a fruitful fig tree represented prosperity and blessing on the community and by cursing it, it might have shown His distain with the Israelites and their religious ways, especially how the pharisees were.

 I personally would just like to take the scripture in context and say He saw the tree from a distance and went to it hoping it had fruit, once he found out it did not, He kind of maybe out of frustration or hunger said what he said. Sometimes we say things impromptu on situations. There is something to consider. Whatever Jesus says will come to pass. As we see in verse 20, the next morning they pass the tree and Peter tells Jesus it has withered away. Jesus then goes on to tell them a little more bout faith. The first thing He says is what you shall say, and have no doubt, you shall have what you say come to pass. Whenever Jesus talks and commands anything, He knows without a doubt it will come to pass. In the following verses he goes on a little more about this faith, and notice He starts talking about forgiveness. I believe those of who walk around not forgiving others and not asking for forgiveness of us cause the hampering of truly walking in the fullness and completeness in Christ required to having the perfect faith. We must keep our conscience clean by making sure we are not holding anything over anyone and that we forgive, even in times it is hard to. You can not walk in faith if you are not acting on the simple rudiments of following Christ. I cannot expect prayers to be answered or the power of God manifested through me if I have an unforgiveness mind. Verse 26 says if I do not forgive, neither will God forgive me. That’s a bold statement. When you break it down, forgiveness is key to our faith in Christ.

Ephesians 4:32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3:13 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

How can we expect to do great deeds in Christ if we will not follow a very simple command. 

Luke 17:6  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

 Notice how almost silly those last 2 verses seem, why would you want to move the mountain or sycamine tree. Jesus is telling us with faith, our words have the power to do wonderous tings. Jesus also in the passage we read about praying. Without prayer we know we cannot build our faith. We have seen in past Bible studies where Jesus tells His disciples, certain faith to do things requires prayer and fasting. We need to build our relationship with Christ and act as he would act.