When Appearance Isn’t Enough
Who doesn’t like getting a good deal on something high-quality? These days, sales pop up all the time, not just during holidays, and the offers can be so tempting that we sometimes buy things we don’t actually need.
I recently fell for one of those tempting deals. I bought a mold cleaner online that claimed it would wipe away grime in just one go after a few minutes. I tried it around our bathroom faucet, but honestly, it didn’t work very well. When Kim saw what I’d bought, her look said everything. She didn’t think it was a smart buy.
That experience got me thinking about something more important.
Last Monday, during our pastoral staff’s “abiding time,” we read the story in Mark 11:12–14, 20–24 where Jesus curses the fig tree. At first, this passage can be hard to understand. It looks like Jesus is being harsh, cursing a tree that had leaves but no fruit.
If you take the story literally, it’s tough to make sense of it. But many scholars see this as a kind of acted-out parable, much like the symbolic actions in Isaiah 20:2–6 and Ezekiel 4:1–5:17. The context matters: this event happens right before and after Jesus clears the temple (Mark 11:15–19), which helps explain its meaning.
George R. Knight points out that the fig tree stands for how the temple system failed to get God’s people ready for the Messiah (Exploring Mark, p. 209). Like the tree, the system looked alive but didn’t have real fruit. It’s a picture of a religious system and people who say a lot but don’t do much. The lesson is clear and challenging: it’s risky to just look good on the outside without real change inside.
Jesus said we are known “by our fruits” (Matthew 7:20). It’s not enough to just say “Lord, Lord”; what really matters is doing what God wants. Real faith isn’t about how things look, but about the results it produces.
In the end, this story invites us, not condemns us. It encourages us to stay close to Christ, because without Him, we can’t do anything (John 15:4–5). Only by staying connected to Him can our lives show the kind of fruit that reflects who He is.
-Pastor Lim
