The Parable of the Fig Tree? Mark 13:28-30

Text: “NOW learn a parable of the fig tree; when her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that the summer is near.  So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.  Verily (truly) I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.”

Mark 13:29-30. 

Good morning, expectant Christian!  Having been filled by God with faith and the Holy Ghost, you and I are seeking to be obedient to our Lord and Saviour, King Jesus Christ, and to take diligent heed of what He is teaching us in His inspired (God-breathed) Word.  You do well, beloved brother!  You do well, beloved sister!  Obedience is better than sacrifice!

“And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold (look, and fully understand) to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken that the fat of rams.”  (1 Samuel 15:22)

In our Bible selection for today, we find the Lord Jesus teaching His disciples – and through His teaching, instructing you and I also – the signs of the times.  There was trouble, big trouble, ahead for Christ’s disciples in the aftermath of Christ’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven.  If one searches historical facts, one finds the startling truths of how each of Christ’s disciples died martyrs, but for John the Revelator, who in his lifetime, was boiled in oil, and exiled to the island of Patmos, where he received the Revelation visions.  Big trouble for Christ’s immediate disciples – big trouble ahead for you and for me. That is why we Bible-believing Christians must be ready at all times for what must surely come upon us, and upon this world of increasing apostasy, anti-Christianity, and vile sin.

Bible Logic:  The Lord Jesus, knowing how dull mankind’s mind can be at times, made His messages very clear by using simple logic, easy-to-understand lessons from life all around us, incorporating natural biology as examples of what He was seeking to portray.

A fig tree does not seem to be much of a teaching tool, but the Lord Jesus in this section of Mark’s God-inspired Scriptures, uses the knowledge His disciples had of the natural growth pattern of fig trees to make His vital point.  “When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye KNOW that summer is near.” (V.28) I can almost see the disciples gathered around, and nodding their heads at this common logical fact.

The Lord Jesus then continues to make the important analogy: “So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things (the events just mentioned prior to this Bible selection in verses 5-27) come to pass, KNOW that it is nigh, even at the doors (it is about to happen).” (V.29)

“Verily (truly) I say unto you, that this generation (after the events described are in evidence) shall not pass, till all these things be done.” (V.30) Christ was sounding the warning in clear and obvious terms so that there would be no mistake at all when the events He prophesied occurred. This was a Messianic prophecy which had a dual significance – it was for the times of the disciples, and for you and I in these ‘end days’ times; and therefore, we must be ready and prepared at all times for such happenings.  Christians today must awaken from our Spiritual sleep, and win elect souls while it is still the day of God’s Sovereign grace.

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“This part of our Lord’s prophecy on the Mount of Olives is entirely unfulfilled. The events described in it are all yet to take place. They may possibly take place in our own day. The passage therefore is one which we ought always to read with peculiar interest.

“Let us observe, in the first place, what solemn majesty will attend our Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming to this world. The language that is used about the sun, moon, and stars, conveys the idea of some universal convulsion of the universe at the close of the present dispensation. It reminds us of the apostle Peter’s words, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” (2 Peter 3:10) At such a time as this, amidst terror and confusion, exceeding all that even earthquakes or hurricanes are known to pro­duce, men “shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”

“The second coming of Christ shall be utterly unlike the first. He came the first time in weakness, a tender infant, born of a poor woman in the manger at Bethle­hem, unnoticed, little-honoured, and scarcely known. He shall come the second time in royal dignity, with the armies of heaven around Him, to be known, recognized, and feared, by all the tribes of the earth. He came the first time to suffer, to bear our sins, to be reckoned a curse, to be despised, rejected, unjustly condemned, and slain. He shall come the second time to reign, to put down every enemy beneath his feet, to take the kingdoms of this world for His inheritance, to rule them with righteousness, to judge all men, and to live for evermore.

“How vast the difference! How mighty the contrast! How startling the comparison between the second advent and the first! How solemn the thoughts that the sub­ject ought to stir up in our minds! Here are comfortable thoughts for Christ’s friends. Their own King will soon be here. They shall reap according as they have sown. They shall receive a rich reward for all that they have endured for Christ’s sake. They shall exchange their cross for a crown. Here are confounding thoughts for Christ’s foes. That same Jesus of Nazareth, whom they have so long despised and rejected, shall at length have the pre-eminence. That very Christ, whose Gospel they have refused to believe, shall appear as their Judge, and helpless, hopeless, and speechless, they will have to stand before His bar. May we all lay these things to heart, and learn wisdom!” (J.C. Ryle’s Exposition of Mark’s Gospel)

Thought: Christianity in this 21^st Century is steeped in apostasy, self-importance, and Biblical unbelief.  Banal RELIGION has overcome true Bible belief. Christ comes soon to put all this apostasy under His Holy foot.  Get ready, be expectant, true Christian!