Bible League: Living His Word ... Jesus said to the tree, "You will never again produce fruit!" The tree immediately dried up and died.— Matthew 21:19 ERV As Jesus was leaving the town of Bethany, He saw a fig tree with leaves. The fact that the tree had leaves was a sign that it should have had fruit. However, when Jesus came to the tree, He found that it had no fruit. That's when He cursed the tree with the words of our verse for today: "You will never again produce fruit!" Although the fig tree looked good from a distance, closer inspection revealed that it was defective. Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? The tree was symbolic. It represented the religious system of the Jewish people. It also represented the religious leaders of the Jews, the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees were the legalistic conservatives of their day and the Sadducees were the biblically aberrant liberals. Just as the fig tree promised something it could not deliver, so the religious system and leaders of the Jewish people promised something and could not deliver. They promised salvation, they promised life, but all they could deliver was spiritual death. On another occasion, Jesus used a similar analogy to describe the religious leaders. "It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people's bones and all kinds of filth. It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil." (Matthew 23:27-28) Like the fig tree, like painted tombs, the religious leaders of the day were all show and no go. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it represented the old religious system and the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Their rule was passing away at of the coming of the kingdom of God, but they held on to it anyway. They resisted Jesus and the kingdom at every turn, and ultimately, they conspired to kill Him. The kingdom of God is still growing in our own day. It is still breaking through old religious systems and hypocritical leaders. God will change His people inside and out. Let us remember and proclaim that Jesus is the only way, the truth, and the life. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJoshua 19, 20 Joshua 19 -- Allotments for Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, Joshua NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Joshua 20 -- Six Cities of Refuge Designated NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 5:17-39 Luke 5 -- Jesus Calls First Disciples, Heals the Leper and Paralytic, Calls Matthew, Questioned about Fasting NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion It is useless for you to work so hardfrom early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones. Insight God is not against human effort. Hard work honors God. But working to the exclusion of rest or to the neglect of family may be a cover-up for an inability to trust God to provide for our needs. We all need adequate rest and times of spiritual refreshment. On the other hand, this verse is not an excuse to be lazy. Challenge Be careful to maintain a balance: work while trusting God, and also rest while trusting him. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Matthew 26:56 Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.He never deserted them, but they in cowardly fear of their lives, fled from him in the very beginning of his sufferings. This is but one instructive instance of the frailty of all believers if left to themselves; they are but sheep at the best, and they flee when the wolf cometh. They had all been warned of the danger, and had promised to die rather than leave their Master; and yet they were seized with sudden panic, and took to their heels. It may be, that I, at the opening of this day, have braced up my mind to bear a trial for the Lord's sake, and I imagine myself to be certain to exhibit perfect fidelity; but let me be very jealous of myself, lest having the same evil heart of unbelief, I should depart from my Lord as the apostles did. It is one thing to promise, and quite another to perform. It would have been to their eternal honor to have stood at Jesus' side right manfully; they fled from honor; may I be kept from imitating them! Where else could they have been so safe as near their Master, who could presently call for twelve legions of angels? They fled from their true safety. O God, let me not play the fool also. Divine grace can make the coward brave. The smoking flax can flame forth like fire on the altar when the Lord wills it. These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the Holy Spirit can make my recreant spirit brave to confess my Lord and witness for his truth. What anguish must have filled the Saviour as he saw his friends so faithless! This was one bitter ingredient in his cup; but that cup is drained dry; let me not put another drop in it. If I forsake my Lord, I shall crucify him afresh, and put him to an open shame. Keep me, O blessed Spirit, from an end so shameful. Daily Light on the Daily Path Proverbs 11:18 The wicked earns deceptive wages, But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.Matthew 25:19-21 "Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. • "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' • "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Timothy 4:7,8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; • in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. Revelation 3:11 'I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. 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