496
The Desire of Ages
held accountable for their abuse of these gifts. The privileges of which
they boasted only increased their guilt.
Jesus had come to the fig tree hungry, to find food. So He had come
to Israel, hungering to find in them the fruits of righteousness. He had
lavished on them His gifts, that they might bear fruit for the blessing
of the world. Every opportunity and privilege had been granted them,
and in return He sought their sympathy and co-operation in His work
of grace. He longed to see in them self-sacrifice and compassion, zeal
for God, and a deep yearning of soul for the salvation of their fellow
men. Had they kept the law of God, they would have done the same
unselfish work that Christ did. But love to God and man was eclipsed
by pride and self-sufficiency. They brought ruin upon themselves by
refusing to minister to others. The treasures of truth which God had
committed to them, they did not give to the world. In the barren tree
they might read both their sin and its punishment. Withered beneath
the Saviour’s curse, standing forth sere and blasted, dried up by the
roots, the fig tree showed what the Jewish people would be when the
grace of God was removed from them. Refusing to impart blessing,
they would no longer receive it. “O Israel,” the Lord says, “thou hast
destroyed thyself.”
Hosea 13:9
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The warning is for all time. Christ’s act in cursing the tree which
His own power had created stands as a warning to all churches and
to all Christians. No one can live the law of God without ministering
to others. But there are many who do not live out Christ’s merciful,
unselfish life. Some who think themselves excellent Christians do
not understand what constitutes service for God. They plan and study
to please themselves. They act only in reference to self. Time is of
value to them only as they can gather for themselves. In all the affairs
of life this is their object. Not for others but for themselves do they
minister. God created them to live in a world where unselfish service
must be performed. He designed them to help their fellow men in
every possible way. But self is so large that they cannot see anything
else. They are not in touch with humanity. Those who thus live for
self are like the fig tree, which made every pretension but was fruitless.
They observe the forms of worship, but without repentance or faith.
In profession they honor the law of God, but obedience is lacking.
They say, but do not. In the sentence pronounced on the fig tree Christ
demonstrates how hateful in His eyes is this vain pretense. He declares