“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your sins.” (Mark 11:25 NIV)
It’s important to place this scripture in context. We are still in Jesus’ last week of ministry. He’d been to the Temple twice; once to assess and once to flip tables. He had stopped on His second trip to curse a fig tree. Yesterday we talked about how this was a type or indication of the corrupt and hypocritical religious leadership. On the third day, the third trip into town, the disciples pointed out (in awe) how the fig tree was withered.
Fig trees are difficult to kill. They are a notoriously hardy breed. In fact, a quick google search will reveal dozens of forum posts from people looking for ways to rid their yards of fig trees. Short story? Good luck. Apparently, you can cut a fig tree off at the stump and they almost immediately produce shoots. Trimming these shoots will only contribute to more prolific shoots: more pruning = more production. (I feel like we’ve read that in a book somewhere. 🙂 ) One poster had four fig trees in her yard and her chief motivator for removal was not the trees themselves, but the myriad of magpies that the trees supported. I read her post and thought of the scripture about the mustard seed growing into a tree large enough for birds to rest in it’s branches. (Luke 13:19)
We recall that Jesus was mad when He cursed the fig tree. He had been to the Temple the night before and seen the circus-like marketplace it had become. He was ready to uproot and expose the Pharisees for the crooked phonies they were. A bystander on His way to the Temple; the fig tree received His anger through His powerful spoken word (the same voice that spoke dark into light, dust into flesh, and the world into existence). By the time the disciples and their teacher passed by a second the, Jesus was at a place of peace. We know this because He spoke plainly about faith and prayer requests and forgiveness. That last bit about forgiveness initially feels a little out of place unless we remember the righteous anger Jesus displayed the day before. It’s from this experience that Jesus pointed out how unforgiveness hinders prayer.
Hold out here just a moment and remember the time and space in which our Savior was standing: the chief priests and teachers of the law were actively looking for a way to kill Him (Mark 11:18). The crucifixion time clock was ticking down loudly. Jesus would hang on a cross by the end of the week. He wasn’t ignorant of this, He was sovereign. He knew more about what the priests were about to do than they themselves day. Yet His prayer against the fig tree was effective because Jesus held no unforgiveness in His heart.
How many prayers does our unforgiveness hinder?
I think about Jesus ability to forgive a lot. For a week straight, He went to the Temple with the leadership glaring at His every move. He taught crowds with supposed holy men laying traps left and right. He traveled with a thieving, betraying treasurer. He was dragged out of prayer in the dark of night, falsely accused, beaten, whipped, stretched out on a cross to suffocate and spat upon as He died. None of this was unknown or unseen to Him and still, by the Tuesday before it all went down, He was walking in forgiveness.
Let’s bring this home. What about us? How many of our prayer requests are held back by the ugly in our own hearts? Pushing pain aside and pretending it’s not there is not the same as actual forgiveness. It’s avoidance.
I get it. Some offenses take a long time to let go of. But don’t leave it be. Don’t assume you’ll deal with it another day. Actively work at forgiveness. Partner with the Holy Spirit and respond to His leading in giving others the grace you’ve already received.
The Lord has entrusted me with some crazy-big opportunities to forgive. As months and years pass, I’m starting to see the after-affects of these offenses as soul-connection ties between me and my Savior. I mean, how can I really, truly know Him if I haven’t cultivated forgiveness as He has? It’s tough and it’s the reverse-messaging of the world we live in: why would we let sinners off the hook? But we are citizens of a different Kingdom, one that the Beatitudes describes as a little upside-down. I don’t know about you, but for me, the Kingdom of God is getting more real every day. I’ve got a good long ways to grow but forgiveness is one of the ways I’m getting after it.
“And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
(Matthew 6:12 NIV)
Lord, we see how unforgiveness interferes with our prayers. We learn from You that it’s okay to get angry – righteously angry – as long as we don’t stay there long. Help us to do the hard work of forgiveness. Teach us to let go of the throats of the people who have hurt us. Remind us of the forgiveness You’ve extended our way. Hear our prayers, please. Amen.