READING: Mark 13:28-31
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near……...Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Mark 13: 28-31
I knew very little about the fig tree until I began reading this passage more deeply and doing a bit of research. The fig tree was an important trading commodity and food source for the ancient Israelites. It blooms twice a year – in autumn and early spring, with the spring fruit being the most delicious. It is a sturdy tree, many reaching 30 feet high. It is resilient to summer frosts and its new leaves announce the beginning of spring each year. Perhaps it is then a most fitting plant to represent the birth of Jesus and His meaning in our lives.
Just as the fig tree provides food, Christ provides us with spiritual food. He is resistant to “frosts “ –forever there whenever we turn to him, even if it has been a long time between visits. Christ’s love is strong and rooted in grace. As the early fig leaves signal spring’s new beginning, Christ’s birth signals a new beginning for all people on earth. Spring has arrived. Christ has arrived. Newness and spiritual wholeness begins.
And over time, as everything else disappears – our fig tree, its leaves and its fruit – Christ and His love are ours forever.
Christ Our Savior, as a fig tree gives us food, we thank you for giving us spiritual food for life. Amen.
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near……...Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Mark 13: 28-31
I knew very little about the fig tree until I began reading this passage more deeply and doing a bit of research. The fig tree was an important trading commodity and food source for the ancient Israelites. It blooms twice a year – in autumn and early spring, with the spring fruit being the most delicious. It is a sturdy tree, many reaching 30 feet high. It is resilient to summer frosts and its new leaves announce the beginning of spring each year. Perhaps it is then a most fitting plant to represent the birth of Jesus and His meaning in our lives.
Just as the fig tree provides food, Christ provides us with spiritual food. He is resistant to “frosts “ –forever there whenever we turn to him, even if it has been a long time between visits. Christ’s love is strong and rooted in grace. As the early fig leaves signal spring’s new beginning, Christ’s birth signals a new beginning for all people on earth. Spring has arrived. Christ has arrived. Newness and spiritual wholeness begins.
And over time, as everything else disappears – our fig tree, its leaves and its fruit – Christ and His love are ours forever.
Christ Our Savior, as a fig tree gives us food, we thank you for giving us spiritual food for life. Amen.
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