Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Friday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - May 29, 2015

Friday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
May 29, 2015       8:30am


Today’s gospel passage really needs some explanation.
At first look, Jesus doesn’t come across very well.
He sees this fig tree and Saint Mark notes that figs were not yet in season.
So Jesus wants a fig, there are naturally not yet any figs on the tree, and he utters a curse on the tree and it withers and dies.
Wow!
Is Jesus just acting out of very raw, human frustration or what?

One Scripture commentator offers a helpful insight.
In the Old Testament, the fig tree was an image for God’s people.
God expected his people to be responsive to his calling and to do good things.
So what is going on here is Jesus uttering God’s judgment on unresponsive people.
So, it doesn’t have to do with Jesus wanting his hunger or physical craving satisfied in an instant.
Instead, it is symbolic of God’s displeasure with his people’s response.

Even here, two clarifications are needed.
First, it is really God’s displeasure rather than God’s judgment.
Jesus never utters a final judgment on people.
When he speaks of judgment, the basis for it is caring for those in need – whatever you do for the least, that you do for me.
What we do or fail to do for the needy will determine our judgment in the end.
The second clarification is that when Jesus speaks of his displeasure, it is usually if not always with the religious leaders.
It was their holding on to unnecessary practices and holding themselves above ordinary people and in the process even neglecting those in need– that was his basis for displeasure and those to whom it was directed.


So, I hope that helps to clarify this passage a bit and give us some food for thought today.