Sermon(Mt 21:18-22): Jesus felt hunger
The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251594
>> 18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Mt 21:18-22)<<
) -->
An incident in the Garden of Eden. God cursed the land that never sinned when Adam and Eve sinned. >> And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field." (Gen 3:17-18)<< Man can live by cultivating fields. So it is God's blessing if he makes the ground fertile so that it can produce many fruits and grains when man plants trees and sows seeds on it. Therefore God curses the ground when the men on the ground commit sins. God cursed the ground so that man can barely subsist even when he works hard in the sweat of his brow. He should have obeyed God from the beginning ....
) -->
Let's say that you are walking on a hot summer day, and are so hungry and exhausted, and look for something to eat. Fortunately, there is a vineyard near, and the grapes look ripe and delicious. The owner of the vineyard is working there. You'll say, "Sir, I'm very hungry. Could you give me some grapes? I’m dying of hunger!" The owner says, "Pay for it, and you can eat it!" "Oh, I have no money right now, but ..." The owner retorts, "If you don't have money, starve!" There are some big persimmon trees among the vine trees. Seeing the leafy persimmon trees, you can conclude that there will be a lot of persimmons on the trees in autumn. If you are an ordinary person, wouldn't you mutter, "Would that the persimmon trees withered to death at once"?
) -->
Did Jesus, who created heaven and earth, curse the innocent fig tree just because he was very hungry? The fig tree in the text had no sins, for the season of the fruit of fig was June or July while the tree was cursed in around April. "And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. (Mk 11:13)" Even if it were the season for fig, the fig tree would not be guilty. Can a tree bear many fruits just because it wants? Why did Jesus curse the sinless fig tree to wither to death? There are two reasons for that. The first is that the Israelites did not deserve the rich blessings of the earth, and the second is that Jesus was hungry.
) -->
The feelings of Jesus penetrating the above whole text were revealed in verse 18. "In the morning, as he (Jesus) was returning to the city (Jerusalem), he was hungry." Jesus had left the glorious throne of God in heaven and come to this world in human flesh in order to grant humans God's mercy, grace and salvation. Jesus did good to humans, healing the sick, driving out demons, and teaching God's words; nevertheless their reaction was ingratitude itself. People would not gladly accept the new good news Jesus presented. So he was haunted by the thought 'Where can I sleep tonight?' >>And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man (Jesus) has nowhere to lay his head." (Mt 8:20)<< I don't know where Jesus had slept the last night, but it is certain that he cannot have been served with a sufficient meal and a comfort place to stay overnight, from the fact that he, who came into the city early in the morning, was very hungry. Jesus also is a man having humanity, so he might have a deep feelings of disappointment about the ingratitude of humans. 'I'm going to sacrifice myself for you, but you're rejecting me. Oh, this morning, too, I'm hungry. I'm really hungry. Is there something to eat around here?' Jesus was so hungry that he approached the fig tree although he had little hope for it because it was not the season of fig. However, as was expected! We can know that Jesus' hunger was frequent and intense, from the ｅxpression 'it was not the season of fig'. Feeling great sorrow for the ingrate humans, Jesus cursed the fig tree, which could give joy to them with delicious figs, to die, instead of cursing humans directly.
) -->
My brethren, do not let Jesus be hungry. Please still Jesus' hunger by fruits you've produced. If you do not give Jesus your fruits to satisfy his hunger, he will, if not curse you directly, not let you fill your stomach with the fruits of the world. Jesus is the owner of your life. Use your life for the kingdom of Jesus, and he will give you a greater life, that is, the eternal life. Use your wisdom and strength for Jesus. Use your riches for Jesus' sake. Let your body and soul be holy and clean so that Jesus may dwell there. Give your love to Jesus. Give your thanks and praises to Jesus. Let your precious workplace be a place for preaching the gospel of Jesus. Let your home be a holy temple in which Jesus dwells. Let your children be nourished by the word of God and be important figures in the kingdom of God. If Jesus wants, send your sons and daughters to other countries as missionaries. Give Jesus all that he wants from you, not grudgingly but gratefully and joyfully. Jesus will bless a man with such faith: "Your fig trees shall bear a lot of fruits."
) -->
My brethren, does your farm produce little grains and fruits? Please reflect on your life. The cause of the bad produce could be your indifference to the severe hunger of Jesus that has been hurting him. Jesus, too, is a man.
) -->
My brethren, what is faith? Jesus says, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. (v. 21)" Some people use these words of Jesus to show forth their great faith without success. Say to the mountain before your house, "Get into the sea. I believe that you'll be gotten into the sea. I do believe it! Get into the sea right away!" What are you doing? Faith is neither self-delusion nor self-assurance nor self-display. Faith must have its object. The faith of Christianity can't be considered apart from Jesus. The miracle by the Christian faith is a miracle that Jesus works. There is not the faith in Jesus in the utterance, "Mountain, plunge into the sea!" (The utterance has nothing to do with Jesus.) Therefore nothing happens to those who utter such words to their disappointment. When is the mountain moved? It will be moved when we pray God to move it for the sake of our faith when Jesus thinks it is necessary to move the mountain to another place. Actually a mountain has never been moved to another place by Christians' command so far because the mountain need not be miraculously moved for the sake of faith. If you pray desperately to give rise to a miracle for something that Jesus does not want, you're wasting your time. Why did the fig tree die at the command of Jesus? Because the tree had a good reason to die. People were not qualified to eat the fruit of the tree. "May no one ever eat fruit from you again. (Mk 11:14)" Through the curse to the fig tree, Jesus says that Israelites who forgot the grace of God do not deserve the rich earthly blessings of God.
) -->
A miracle of moving mountains by prayer begins with grasping the will of Jesus. How can we know the will of Jesus? The easiest way is to figure out what Jesus is hungry for. If you get hungry when Jesus is hungry, the miracle occurs. You'll never have a normal faith to move a mountain if you feel full when Jesus is hungry. May Jesus' desire be your desire. Jesus wants you to be a man of God. If you long to be a man of God in conformity with Jesus' wishes and pray God to change you, at last the miracle to move a mountain will happen to you. Someone would rather carry all the soil and rocks of a mountain before him with a shovel to the sea in order to fill the sea than believe in God and change himself and be a righteous man. Sometimes your arrogance and stubbornness are bigger and heavier than a big mountain. Jesus wants to remove such a mountain. If you, too, want to remove such a big mountain, the mountain will be cast into the sea immediately. My brethren, see everything from the perspective of Jesus. Look carefully at what he is hungry for, and pray to God in the direction of jesus' satisfaction. Then all bushes will be pulled up and the heavy mountains will be thrown into the sea, so that an even, wide and straight highway to heaven will appear before you. Why do people remove trees and dig ground? To build houses and roads. Jesus lets believers experience his power when they like to build the kingdom of God and to prepare the roads for the Lord. If you want to be a faithful worker of Jesus, and if you wish to establish the kingdom of God on earth, and to straighten all the crooked things so that there are good roads for the Lord to come, you'll be a Christian who experience miracles by prayer.
) -->
There must not be any doubt. First, the doubt is about Jesus' ability. However, believers hardly have such kind of doubt. All Christians believe that Jesus is the Almighty God. But some Christians have another kind of doubt. 'Am I praying for what God admits?' - the lack of confidence. This is a cry of doubt that your conscience makes to you when you pray for something selfish and greedy. 'I'd like to buy a 100 million-won car and drive it. Is it allowed to pray for such a wonderful car? Will God hear my prayer or not?‘ My beloved brethren, you'll never have such a doubt if you have a definite religious reason to pray for a 100 million-won car. The reason why such a doubt arises is that you've prayed to satisfy your greed, which is an imperfect faith. My brethren, let us not doubt the power of God who works miracles. Let us not doubt the love of God who loves us and gives us the best things. Let us not give God prayers that our religious conscience objects against. If your faith is mature enough, all your prayers will be in Jesus, then all doubts will disappear from you, and at last the miracle will be done for you. You'll become a warrior of prayer. You'll become truly a man of great and strong faith. And you'll become a giant stronger than Samson who can throw a mountain into the sea.
) -->
I hope you will become one in heart and will with Jesus, and experience great miracles.
) -->
Chong Tack Kim
- Dongtoma Sunshine Church -