“Jesus is Unpredictable”

**INTRODUCTION 

Welcome to “Key to the Kingdom.” My name is Bret McCasland. As many people have discovered, living as a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ is a great life to live. It brings salvation now and eternal life in the future. At times, however, we may find ourselves struggling to live a life that represents the Lord, and that's understandable. Our faith grows weak, our prayer life suffers, or our relationships with others are not what they need to be. We might even wonder if the Lord can change our heart. We seek some kind of a renewed, or perhaps something new in our spirit, in our soul, that will help us to bear more fruit for the Lord. In our lesson today, on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will look at an event that took place in Jesus’ public ministry. It challenged His disciples and it made them think about how they were to represent Him. And what happened also challenged the religious leaders to consider how they need to be more responsible to those whom they were leading. The lesson Jesus teaches is good for us to hear as well. We are to always consider how we are to grow in our daily walk with the Lord and to make adjustments in our relationship with Him. I hope you will join us for this lesson as we now open up our Bibles and study together.

**LESSON

The Passover celebration was and continues to be an annual event celebrated by Jewish people, specifically in the city of Jerusalem. It reminds them of how God had delivered their forefathers out of Egyptian captivity. And when Jesus lived upon the earth, the Jews were encouraged to attend at least one Passover festival in the city of Jerusalem, if at all possible. One Passover, however, was different. Jesus was there and it would be His last one. He had just made His triumphal entry into the city, riding on the coat of a donkey. And the people lined the roadway and they put their coats and they put branches there to welcome Jesus. And as He came in, the people shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Well, after He passed through the temple, He and His disciples then went back to the village of Bethany, where they spent the night with their good friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. And that leads us into the reading for today, from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, beginning with verse 12. <The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard Him say it. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as He taught them, He said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.> If there was one word which would describe Jesus’ ministry, I believe it would be the word ‘unpredictable.’ Jesus did things out of the ordinary. He did things which were unusual and totally unexpected. We think about several examples in that line. In John chapter 4, He told His disciples to go into the town and to buy something to eat. And when they came back with that food, He said, well, I already have something to eat. He drove out demons from a demon possessed man into 2000 pigs. They ran over the cliff, down into the water and drowned. And then who can forget how Jesus turned ordinary bath water into the wine? We know those stories, don't we? Jesus was constantly doing the unpredictable. Through His words and through His actions He could not be pinned down. Nobody, and especially the disciples, could predict what Jesus would do next. Now, for the most part, we like predictability, don't we? We like to know what we can expect from one day to the next. We might even watch the weather forecast on television or look at it on our cell phone, and we think about what the weather is going to be later this afternoon, tomorrow, perhaps even next week. And yet, you may live in some places of the country where the weather is so unpredictable it can change in a moment's notice. Yes, we tend to like predictability instead of unpredictability. The same is true in religion. We want everything wrapped up in a nice, neat package. We like some routine and order to our worship service. We don't want the preacher to say something that we've never heard before, or perhaps that even challenges our faith. Yes, certainly there is a place for predictability. Some, however, believe if they can keep Jesus and His unpredictability in the past, then they will feel more comfortable with the way things are in the present. In other words, we like to put Jesus in a box. We like to control Him and to not have any surprises with Him. In fact, we may even want to eliminate what He can do in our lives or even in our church. The problem with being comfortable is it robs us of how the Christian life is supposed to be lived. It reduces the level to which our faith can grow. It limits the work Jesus will do. From the religious leaders to His disciples, people did not like Jesus’ unpredictability. And all of that seems to come to a head in the story we just read. We noticed He cursed a fig tree, even down to its roots, and then He went into Jerusalem and He cleaned out the temple. That was unpredictable. Nobody saw that coming. It was unexpected. But those two things are closely tied together. First of all, the fruitless fig tree was a symbol for Israel. As with most fruit trees, we know the leaves appear before the fruit appears. That is an indication that the fruit is coming. In fact, it may be there hidden under some of those leaves. We're familiar with that. It happens with the fruit trees that we are familiar with, where we live. And yet this fig tree, which Jesus saw in the distance, had plenty of trees, or plenty of leaves, but there was no evidence of any fruit. In other words, the tree was not producing what it was made to produce. And so Jesus cursed the fig tree, and it would never bear fruit again. Well, secondly, the spiritual filthy-ness of the temple was an attack on the religious leaders. The temple was not to be a place for trade and commerce, but instead it was to be a house of prayer. Yet the chief priests, the religious leaders, the scribes allowed all of this activity to go unchecked. In the midst of the buying and the selling, the exchanging of money and taking care of business, the temple had simply lost its purpose. Poor people were taken advantage of. And those who had come to the temple in order to pray and to meditate did not have a quiet place to go. And so neither the temple nor the fig tree was bearing any beneficial fruit, and so Jesus condemns both. By doing so, He denounced the nation of Israel and its religious activity. No, Jesus did not turn His back on His heritage. He did not turn His back on His fellow Jews. He simply said what's going on now is not right. We need to address that. Things need to be better. Well, the Jewish people thought, basically, they were better than anybody else. They had certain privileges, which others did not enjoy, and they took advantage of that. And they refused to be the light unto the nations, or to the Gentiles, as they had been called to do way back in Isaiah chapter 49 and verse 6. And Jesus reminds them of that here in verse 18. And so by doing these two things, Jesus was announcing the whole nation of Israel had become spiritually bankrupt. Oh, they may have known the right words to say. They may have gone through the right rituals on their sacrificial systems when they showed up at the temple. The problem, however, was their heart was far away from the Lord. That was true with the people. It was true with the spiritual leaders. Yes, the religious leaders had allowed the House of Prayer to become nothing more than a shopping mall for the Jewish people. Everyone's religious actions were simply on display for everybody else to see. And now it evidently had reached a breaking point; and so, Mark shares this story for our consideration. Mark wants us to think about our religious acts and the attitudes with which we come into the presence of the Lord. He wants us to consider if our outward display of religion is guiding us into a closer walk with God or if it is just a ritual we go through on a regular basis. And that's a big challenge, isn't it? Sometimes we show up at our church services at the appointed time and we do the things that are prescribed for that particular day. And we think everything is good, and then we go out and live our lives. Or at other times we live any way we want to live, irregardless of who we claim to be. Oh, we might, in the back of our mind, think that we are followers of Jesus Christ; and yet, by our words and by our actions, nobody can tell. It doesn't make a difference in the way we live. And so we show up at our churches at an appointed time and we go through those motions. We kind of check in and then we check out; and yet, it makes no difference in the way we live, as a follower of Jesus. When we think about this story, those were some of the things that were happening in the lives of these people. Their religious actions were simply on display for others to see. And we are left to wonder what Jesus would say about the fruit they were bearing, or if they were bearing any fruit at all. And it makes us consider the question, as well, what kind of fruit are we bearing for other people to see? Does it represent the Lord or is it bad fruit? Are we bearing any fruit at all, like that fruitless fig tree? And then, what would Jesus say, about our worship to the Father? We go to the House of Prayer. Are we really worshiping or are we simply going through those motions? All four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, write this story. They talk about Jesus’ entrance into the city of Jerusalem, His triumphal entry, and they describe it in their various ways. But the writer, Mark, here, does something the other three Gospel writers do not do. He offers a lesson, or a follow up. He offers an application from what took place, and we find it in the next seven verses, here in Mark, chapter 11. Notice, if you will, beginning with verse 19, <When evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”> As Jesus and His disciples left Bethany and were coming back into the city the next day, they passed by that dead fig tree. Peter pointed it out. Everybody saw it. It was right there. And that gave Jesus the opportunity to do some teaching on three specific things. And we see them here in the text we just read; faith, prayer and forgiveness. Those things were to be at the heart of the people's religion, but they weren't. As a whole, it was not evident in their lives. The religious leaders had taken advantage of their positions. They had misused the role God intended for them. In fact, they seem to have gotten away from the basic things of their lives; faith, prayer and forgiveness. They were bearing no fruit. Basically, the people were spiritually dead, all the way down to the roots, just like that fig tree. And no doubt those are three things that need to be at the heart of our lives today; faith, prayer and forgiveness. Some churches and some members have become even like the fruitless fig trees. There is no spiritual life in them. And no doubt, that leads to a lack of spiritual growth. It leads to a misuse of the blessings God entrusts to us. And as Jesus points out, here in verses 24 and 25, there is a need to do some praying and some forgiving. There is a need to demonstrate faith in God to do the unpredictable and bring some life back to the church; and even some life back to our lives. You know, some things from the past, some things perhaps even from the present, may need to be changed. Fresh fruit may need to be more evident in our lives as Jesus’ followers. Something unpredictable might need to take place. And that's what the Lord does. And we notice here in the text, the power of the Lord withered the fig tree. The power of the Lord cleansed the temple. The power of the Lord still moves mountains,  as Jesus referred to. It brings new life to the church. It brings new life to the members. It brings new life to religious leaders. And Mark calls upon us to believe that, to have great faith that can happen; and then, to pray for that to happen, to offer prayers that demonstrate great faith in God to make the changes and the adjustments in our life that need to be made. If our identity as Christians and as a group of believers is not based upon that type of powerful and strong and deep-seeded faith, then who are we? We may be simply going through the motions because we have lost our passion and our hunger, our desire for the Lord. If we are not careful, we will become like that fruitless fig tree, or we will become like a building that needs to be swept clean. And if that becomes the case, Jesus tells us go back to your roots. Go back to this displaying and finding that deep rooted faith in God. And that can be demonstrated when we pray prayers of great faith. You know, our faith in God is the channel through which we can open up our lives to God's power. And when that power is demonstrated through our faith and in our prayers, God can do amazing things, even things that are unpredictable. You know, our faith is not in our prayers. Our faith is in the power of God. Sometimes we forget that. We believe that the God answers our prayers, and indeed He does. But the prayer is simply the avenue through which we go in order to access the power of God. And so we pray to draw closer to Him. We pray so that we can be in-tune and in-touch with the power that He has and is willing to give to us. Jesus teaches us an important lesson from the fruitless fig tree and the cleansing of the temple. He calls upon us to pray with great faith so that we can bear great fruit. And we pray those believing prayers so that He can do amazing and unpredictable things in our lives as His followers and disciples. And then in the midst of those prayers, we also forgive those who have offended us. And Jesus makes that point quite clearly. We pray that those people can have a change of heart; that God will forgive them as we forgive those who sin against us. We pray that their hearts are softened so that they can have that right relationship. But the important thing we remember about praying for those who have offended us is the fact that in saying such prayers, God also forgives our sin. And that's important because we stumble, we make mistakes, and we need forgiveness. And prayers like that simply help us to become more like Jesus. The dead fig tree is a warning sign we are to pay close attention to. As followers of Jesus we can never become too comfortable with the way things are. There is a constant need to evaluate our lives and the overall health of the church. So the question is; are we producing good fruit in God's kingdom? And if so, is it blessing the people around us? Is our faith heard through the prayers we offer? Is it seen in the way we forgive those who need forgiveness? And those are just some of the lessons Jesus would want us to learn from the story that we find here in Mark chapter 11. You know, I trust we are not abusing the privileges and the opportunities entrusted to us as part of God’s family. I hope we never become spiritually dead because we are not bearing any fruit. But instead, I hope we are living with respect for and appreciation for who God is and the relationship that we are able to have through His son, Jesus Christ. There are two different reactions to what Jesus did. We see it there at the very last. The chief priests, the rulers of the temple, understood what Jesus was doing. He was condemning them. And as a result they wanted to destroy Him. They wanted to eliminate that threat. The crowds, on the other hand, were amazed at Jesus’ teaching. They were astonished Jesus did the unpredictable. His words and His actions were challenging them to move beyond the past and to grow as His disciples. And that's the same challenge for us; that we are not content to live comfortable Christian life, but we are anticipating and looking forward to Jesus doing the unpredictable in our lives. And I trust that we will accept that as we live as His disciples, both inside and outside of the church building. And that begins by having great faith, and offering sincere prayers, and forgiving those people who have offended us.

**VIDEO CLIP

In my opinion, one of the most difficult and challenging jobs and careers there is being a weather forecaster. I don't know what it is where you live, but perhaps the weather there is unpredictable. Maybe you know what it is going to be from one day to the next. I don't know. But where I live, it is unpredictable. It can change overnight, it would seem. And to predict what's going to happen from one day to the next is sometimes unknown. I think about Jesus’ ministry. He was unpredictable, wasn't He? As He came on the scene, many people thought He would be just like one of the other religious teachers, but He was not. In fact, He condemned much of what they had to say and to do, and people were amazed at that. They would come to Jesus and He would answer their questions and teach them. But then, He would do something that was totally unexpected. When I think about our relationship with God, sometimes it's challenging to get out of the rut in which we are in, in regards to our relationship with Him. We don't need to try to put Him into a box, like the people in His ministry did. They tried to contain Jesus and make Him what they wanted Him to be. That doesn't work with the Lord, today. He is unpredictable. He does some unusual and unexpected things in our life. And when we are walking closely with Jesus on a daily basis, we begin to see that. We begin to understand He does things in our life that we don't expect. And often times they are so much better than what we could ever imagine. In your walk with the Lord, today, I would hope and pray that your eyes are open to what God is doing in your life, and expect the unexpected.

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for joining us for another episode of “Key to the Kingdom.” I trust this message from Jesus’ ministry reminds us of how we can grow as one of His disciples. Some things may need to happen in our life that will bring a fresh renewal or a new perspective, as we continue to follow Jesus Christ. This message is available on our website. It can be found at keytothekingdom.com. Many other lessons are there as well, and they can all be downloaded in several different formats, without any charge or obligation. On the website you can also find additional Bible studies and resources which might bless you in your spiritual walk. A free app can be downloaded onto a smart-phone, which provides access to short devotional thoughts and other information. These lessons and devotional thoughts can also be found on Roku® television. Facebook® is another way you can keep up with this mass media ministry. Every week, a one or two minute inspirational message is uploaded for your consideration. Again, I want to say thank you for being a part of today's program. I hope you will join us again next time, as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”