这个有关耶稣的故事很奇怪。耶稣饿了，祂看见一棵无花果树，虽然已经过了季节，却还长着叶子。祂见没有果子，就咒诅那棵树，树便死了。耶稣为什么要这样做？这不是很不合理吗？马可为什么要讲这个故事呢？
这最后一个问题很关键。福音书并不是随机收集耶稣所做的那些事。每一卷福音书都在揭示耶稣是谁。所以，如果马可不是想要我们认为耶稣是个不可理喻的树木杀手，就是这里发生了更深层的事。
把这棵树想像成圣殿的一幅插画。它没有按着神的旨意结出果子。如果无花果树有叶子，那通常意味着它有果子。但耶稣一个也没有找到。圣殿也是这样。它看起来像一所圣殿，但它并没有成为祈祷的地方，人们把它变成了一个市场。这个地方剥夺了神子民的祈祷。所以耶稣推翻兑换银钱的桌子，叫那不结果子的搅扰止息了，正如祂叫那不结果子的树枯干了。
我们每天都有机会以神创造我们的样式服侍祂。有时，这就像花时间祷告一样简单。有时难一些——或许靠着我们自己根本不可能。但我们绝没有借口不结果子。即使不可能的事，在神也有可能。
主啊，帮助我忠心地服侍你。我愿意按着你想要的方式多结果子，无论容易还是艰难。阿们。
马可福音 11:12-25
12第二天，他们从伯大尼出来，耶稣饿了。远远地看见一棵无花果树，树上有叶子，就往那里去，或者在树上可以找着什么。
13到了树下，竟找不着什么，不过有叶子，因为不是收无花果的时候。
14耶稣就对树说：“从今以后，永没有人吃你的果子！”他的门徒也听见了。
15他们来到耶路撒冷。耶稣进入圣殿，赶出殿里做买卖的人，推倒兑换银钱之人的桌子和卖鸽子之人的凳子，
16也不许人拿着器具从殿里经过。
17便教训他们，说：“经上不是记着说‘我的殿必称为万国祷告的殿’吗？你们倒使它成为贼窝了！”
18祭司长和文士听见这话，就想法子要除灭耶稣，却又怕他，因为众人都稀奇他的教训。
19每天晚上，耶稣出城去。
20早晨，他们从那里经过，看见无花果树连根都枯干了。
21彼得想起耶稣的话来，就对他说：“拉比，请看，你所咒诅的无花果树已经枯干了！”
22耶稣回答说：“你们当信服神。
23我实在告诉你们：无论何人对这座山说：‘你挪开此地，投在海里！’，他若心里不疑惑，只信他所说的必成，就必给他成了。
24所以我告诉你们，凡你们祷告祈求的，无论是什么，只要信是得着的，就必得着。
25你们站着祷告的时候，若想起有人得罪你们，就当饶恕他，好叫你们在天上的父也饶恕你们的过犯。
"[Jesus] said to the tree, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' . . . Peter remembered and said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!'" - Mark 11:14, 21
Here is an odd story about Jesus. Hungry, Jesus sees a fig tree in leaf, though it is out of season. Finding it has no fruit, he curses the tree, and it dies. Why does Jesus do that? Doesn’t it seem unreasonable? Why does Mark tell this story?
That last question is the key. The gospel accounts are not collections of random stories of things Jesus did. Each gospel book is a revelation of who Jesus is. So either Mark wants us to think Jesus is an unreasonable tree killer, or something deeper is happening here.
Think of the tree as an illustration of the temple. It was not bearing fruit the way God intended. If a fig tree has leaves, that usually means it has some fruit. But Jesus found none. The same was true at the temple. It looked like a temple, but instead of it being a place of prayer, the people had turned it into a marketplace. It had become a place that robbed God of the prayers of his people. So Jesus overturned the money tables and brought an end to the unfruitful distractions there, just as he brought an end to the unfruitful tree.
We have opportunities every day to serve God as he has created us to. Sometimes it’s as easy as taking time to pray. Sometimes it’s more difficult—maybe even impossible on our own. But there’s never an excuse; even the impossible is possible with God.
Lord, help me to serve you faithfully. I want to be fruitful in whatever ways you ask me to be, whether that means something easy or difficult. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
