Many people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions.
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" Isaiah 43:18-19
I once had the opportunity several years ago to go to Israel on a learning trip. It was amazing. The Bible and the places of the Bible truly come to life when you walk on the same roads that Jesus walked. One of my most memorable times was standing on the cliffs outside of Nazareth, the place where they threatened to throw Jesus off the mountain after He preached. It was truly spiritually moving.
When we got back a group of us were discussing our most memorable times and a lady in the group said that for her it was seeing the cave on the hillside of Bethany and Bethphage that moved her. We all looked quizzical. We remembered the cave. It was a replica of a tomb like the one Jesus would have been buried in. We were invited to go inside and it was a horrible, confining experience. But once we were outside, our guide leader read to us Mark 11, where Jesus curses the fig tree.
You all remember the story. It's where in verse 23 Jesus says that if we just had faith we could move mountains.
The reason why this story is so poignant is not to accuse us of not having enough faith but because of the mountain and who built it.
In the Old Testament, the fig tree quite often was an allegory for the nation of Israel. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, the disciples understood that symbolism. Remember they had just come from the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Thousands of people were shouting Hosanna in the highest to Jesus and the disciples probably thought that now was the time for Israel as a nation to stand up and be counted. And, consequently, the disciples thought they would be the ones to rule the nation. Remember how they squabbled over who would sit at the right and left hand of Jesus?
But when Jesus cursed the fig tree, the disciples were concerned. Jesus was symbolically saying that Israel would be no more. That the grand temples would be destroyed and their hopes of ruling other nations would be dashed. So the disciples asked Jesus about it.
And Jesus said that if they just had faith, they could move mountains.
A weird kind of answer. But it makes sense.
King Herod the Great was the king of Israel who tried to assassinate the new-born Savior and the reason Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt. Herod crowned himself as "King of the Jews." He enslaved tens of thousands of people and one day, he decided to make a mountain.
He found two hills just south of Bethany and Bethphage and forced his slave labor to slowly take the dirt and rocks of one hill and move it to the other. Bucket by bucket and pail by pail the slaves moved the dirt down one hill and dumped it on top of another.
The only mountain that you can see while standing on the side of the hill between Bethany and Bethphage is Mt. Herodium.
If the disciples just had faith, then imagine what kind of kingdom could be built. They could build a kingdom that is free from the religious structure of Israel and its temples. And they could build a kingdom that would outlast the man-made mountains of kings and rulers.
Nations come and go. Rulers and kings fade away. Glorious temples are destroyed from the ravages of times.
But in God, our kingdom is eternal.
If we put our faith in God and not in the rulers and nations of this world then we can do great and unimaginable things. The Gospel can be proclaimed to the poor. The lost can come home and the least among us can be the greatest.
All we need is a little bit of faith in the right kind ruler. Christ the King.
PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. EMAIL: [email protected].
Religion on 11/16/2016