19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “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. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 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 11:20-21

The third part to this passage relates to the cleansing of the temple courts and the initial cursing of the fig tree. Israel had ample opportunity to repent of their ways. They were to be fruitful and produce good fruit. Instead they were withering on the tree, much like the barren fig tree.

Jesus then pivoted to telling His disciples about what it takes to bear fruit: faith, prayer, and forgiveness. Seems simple enough. How hard could it be? Well, it’s harder than most people realize since it involves action and tenacity. For instance, it’s easy to pray a day or two about something but much more difficult to pray for a year about the same thing, and yet, God wants His people coming to him. Similarly, it takes just as much faith to believe that God will answer that prayer after that year has passed.

And forgiveness? Example: “They’ve done me wrong 12 times, how could I possibly forgive them 13?” Well, that’s what it takes. By the way, God forgave Israel countless times so there is precedent for it. Would God forgive Israel again? Most certainly. Did they deserve His forgiveness?

Do we?