"'Cause You Had a Bad Day"

Good morning! (or afternoon or evening. . .) I'm glad you dropped by today!


Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Weds, Jan. 28: What does the fool say in his heart? (Ps 14)
Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

And here's the question of the day:
Thurs, Jan. 29: Jesus tells the disciple a story about a father and two sons. Which son did what the father wanted? (Matt 21)


And here's the reflection of the day:
"'Cause You Had a Bad Day"
On a recent season of "American Idol," they used a song by Daniel Powter to play when those who were voted off the show were leaving. (Here's the link if you'd like to see the video: http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--14168054) Part of the chorus is this: "You had a bad day, the camera don't lie, You're coming back down and you really don't mind, You had a bad day, You had a bad day." You know what a bad day is like: everything that can go wrong does go wrong and a foul mood descends over you and beats your spirit down to a pulp. That's what this song is about. And as I was reading the little episode of Jesus and the fig tree, that's the song that popped into my mind! (Matt 21:18-22)

It seems like Jesus was having a bad day when He ran into that poor, unsuspecting little fig tree. He was hungry and it had no figs. So He made it wither, never to bear fruit again.

Seems pretty shocking, doesn't it? Nonsensical even. We know there's a reason for everything Jesus says and does, but this is likely to stump us for a while. But friends, this is where the beauty of the Year of the Bible comes in. The answer to what is going on in this little passage isn't found in the passage; it's found in the verses surrounding the text. And since we are reading it straight through each book of the Bible, we have all the pieces we need to finish putting this puzzle together. So let's get to it!

This isn't the first display of Jesus', umm, shall we say "spiritedness," in Matthew 21, is it? Starting in verse 10, Jesus "cleanses" the temple, driving out "all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves." Jesus does this not because he is upset by the business itself (animals for sacrifice during worship were mandated)--really it's the location of the business that bothered him. They brought commerce into the house of worship, making the house of prayer a "den of robbers" (cf Jer 7:9-11). They have ruined the sanctity of the temple, and this is a foreshadowing that God's judgment on Israel will include the destruction of the temple.

Verse 22 is the link between these two passages: "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Those who had been frequenting the temple, and engaging in business with the money changers, were short on faith in God which is a prerequisite of effective prayer. They had more faith in the sacrifices they were making than in the God they were sacrificing to. In the withered fig tree passage, Jesus says, ". . . if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to the mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done" (v21).

So Jesus and the withered tree in verse 19 is really trying to tell us two things: first, it implicitly represents the judgment of God's unfruitful (unfaithful) people; and second, at the same time, it represents the power of prayer. Jesus is using the tree as an example, a lesson for the disciples (and us!) to learn. It actually has nothing to do with being hungry or having a bad day. It was about what Jesus was always about: teaching people who God is and what faith is about. Consequently, this is what we should always be about: getting to know God better and sharing what we know with others.

When it comes to faith and prayer, it's important to remember four things (well, I'm sure there's more than four but these are the four I'm going to mention :0) . . .
1. Just because we pray with great frequency and fervor doesn't mean we're going to get a "Yes" from God. All of our prayers should be subject to Matthew 26:39 where Jesus himself says, "Not my will but thine be done."
2. You don't need to have perfect faith for your prayers to be acceptable to God. Faith grows step by step, sometimes over a lifetime.
3. Ordinary Christians can move mountains. You may think it's the Billy Grahams or Joel Osteens or Joyce Meyers of the world who move mountains; but it's not just them. It's the rest of us too. When we are brought to our knees by impossible circumstances and find the strength to persevere through prayer, we can do things we never thought we could--for with God, all things are possible! (Matt 19:26).
4. And finally, "And if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" (I Cor 13:2).

Does that make sense? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Allison

PS Mark's gospel also contains this story but in a slightly different order within the chapter. Five bonus points (like the points on "Whose Line is It Anyway?"!) if you read and compare and contrast Matthew's version with Mark's in 11:12-25. Does the interpretation seem the same?

PPS I would like to thank Douglas R.A. Hare and his commentary on the gospel of Matthew for his help in figuring all this out!