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March26 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:21:18-22 IT SHALL BE DONE - His faith or the faith encouraged of these disciples is acting upon the fig tree. He hungers for fruit from a type of tree where there should be an over abundance. What then does this fig tree symbolize? In past parables trees, vines, wheat shafts that bare fruit have been used to illustrate faith; how it is rooted; what it is rooted along with; good tree good fruit; 30-60-100 fold; etc... Fruit has been the outgrowth of faith. We have seen good fruit and we have seen bad fruit. Now we are shown no fruit. Once support is removed from the fruitless fig tree it withers amazingly quick. The passage nearly suggests that those/some with fruitful faith have the power/responsibility to remove earthly support/continuance from the trees of those whose with fruitless faith, but at the same time they have a similar ability to move the unsurmountable obstacles to faith at the same time. Can both be asked for at the same time? That fruitless faith be ended and the voluminous task of fruitful faith begin? Too often we detach the first part of the teaching from the 'whatsoever ye shall ask'. Why then did Jesus not ask that the tree be made fruitful forever? Because only faith that abides in Him can be made to produce fruit, it is fruit that He Himself causes. The fruitless tree does not abide in Him and therefore cannot be made to bare His fruit unless made to abide in Him. Two trees perhaps within the same person and a mountain of difference between them. The faith of our Lord is shown here to hunger for one thing - fruit; good fruit, the type that the planter intended.

April1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Matthew:22:23-33 YE DO ERR - The Sadducees dict:easton Sadducee were largely defined by their non belief in the resurrection. They attempt the same brain twister on Jesus that stupefied so many a Pharisee. Unless one knows scripture dict:naves Resurrection which points to life after death and considers God's power kjv@Jeremiah:32:17 kjv@Philippians:3:21 one is left to fall into this conundrum of false logic. As to there being no marriage in the resurrection, I believe this is a new revelation or a composite of a larger base of scriptural doctrines. The Sadducee's case seems to involve more human logic than any particular scriptural knowledge, apparently they had not thought through the logic enough to have foreseen the logical resurrection confirming answer Jesus could use to easily escape their supposed trap with. We must be careful ourselves when scripture suggests something and our logic is spent exclusively attempting to disprove it; even more so when we cherry pick single scriptures to say what they do not. The Sadducee's are gone as a power by the time of the destruction of the Temple AD70, suggesting a change of public sentiment regarding resurrection and proof of Messiah hewing down the fruitless trees of that time. The faith of our Lord is rooted deeply in scripture and the sovereign omnipotence of God. It is also in the purpose to which He created man initially for. He is and will forever be the God of the living.

June14 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Mark:11:12-19 DEN OF THIEVES - Was the Temple in Jerusalem really as bad off as Jesus said or was He trying to making a bigger point? My guess is that it is far worse, that the Temple courts were just the most easily identifiable manifestation to the public of the darkness that dwelt within. He knows that like the fig tree what little fruit it does bare is not given to Him and is rotten to the core not of His liking; at this point He is just finished with it. Actions like these have targeted messages higher up. If this is the second temple event of this sort the message would be that "you've had time to think this through, we are back where we left off, now what are you going to do?". Notice that it is Jesus performing the action, He is not delegating to His disciples and not encouraging His crowd or other revolutionaries to do likewise. This is between Him and those with the power to make the decisions. Theoretically they have the choice to reform their Temple system or to try to destroy Jesus. Actually however, their choice has long been made, Jesus is just calling them to make it. The faith of our Lord knows of a time to calmly teach and instruct, convey and convince, but, also a time to curse fruitless fig trees and over turn money grubbing exchange tables forcing others to act upon the decisions that they've already made. It is not ever business as normal either way. People are astonished at His doctrine because His doctrine moves forward unafraid and unimpressed by fraudulent abusive power and principality; even in the den of thieves.