If Jesus’ “cleansing of the temple” (see Mark 11:15-17), as some call it, was the counterpart to His visiting the temple the previous day (see Mark 11:11), then the counterpart to His cursing of the fig tree (see Mark 11:12-14) would would seem to be verses 20-25 of that chapter.
In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Mark 11:20-25 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.11.20-25.NIV
As is often the case, I don’t know all of Peter’s motivations, but he did point out the results of Jesus’ earlier statement. The fig tree that Jesus cursed had withered: not just a little brownness on the leaves, but from the roots.
If, as I suspect, the fig tree represented those in Israel who were not producing fruit, then this may be related to other examples of Jesus being the vine or root and us being branches (see John 15:1-4, for instance). Perhaps a fig tree withering in the Gospel of Mark, and the pruning described in the Gospel of John, are both plant-based examples of the same thing: God’s people are expected to produce good fruit (albeit with God’s help), by remaining connected to the source of all good.
In response to Peter’s comments, Jesus teaches two things from this situation – what we might call an “object lesson”:
The first lesson is about faith. I know that some people can turn phrases like this into a license for selfishness, but if you really believe that there is a good God who has power over the entire universe, and you also believe that He not only knows what is best, but also loves us deeply, then why would you ask for anything outside of His will? And, when we don’t know His will, sincerely saying, “Your will be done” reminds ourselves that His will is best. I also suggest that if you truly believe that God will always give you things that are merely selfish (or that will be harmful to you), then your belief is incorrect, because it is placed in the wrong understanding of who God is.
Still, we need to remember that mountains can be moved. Now, if you told me to move a mountain, I could probably develop a plan to do so. It would take a lot of bulldozers, and probably some dynamite. However, there are things that I simply don’t know how to do. What is the right thing to say to someone who is grieving? How do I get rid of this bad habit? What does God want me to do next? Sometimes, our mountain is made up of rocks. Other times, our mountain is made up of something else. However, even those mountains can be moved with God’s help…and often, only with His help.
The second lesson (which might be tied to the first) is about forgiveness. This could be a short-term lesson from Jesus, as a reminder about what God expects from human beings. It might also be looking forward to when Jesus died (a few days after the events recorded in Mark 11 took place) for all of our sins, making it downright ungrateful for us not to be forgiving as well.
In either case, though, let’s make sure that we are producing good fruit, through both faith and forgiveness. Followers of Jesus have the advantage of the Holy Spirit, who can produce in us the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-26), if we will let Him. That’s much better than having to be cursed and wither up because we weren’t connected to the ultimate source of good (i.e., God, Himself).
And, let’s remember just how great God is, and pray to Him in faith. We can bring our own interests to Him, but let’s seek His will and pray for His work in bigger ways than anything we can achieve on our own, so that only He can get the glory for the results.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for November 16, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Mark, by Allen Black. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 