That tender fig branch in today’s gospel reading has me captivated. Jesus says, “as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near…” (Mark 13:28-29). Jesus, of course, is referring to himself as the Son of Man. Usually, the fear inducing darkened sun, failing moonlight, and stars falling are what get my attention, transfixing my mind (and we will get to that in a moment), but this time around, the image of that tender branch has me captivated instead.
It makes me think of breaking off tender branches as a kid and whipping them around, listening to the whizzing sound as we whipped them back and forth. We were told to “whip those things outside,” of course. That would be the safe and respectable thing to do; but the fact that I remember being told to do it outside leads me to suspect that we were not always safe and respectable when we were little kids.
In either case, I remember my mom once showing me why those little branches whipped around like that when other branches would just break and shatter. She bent it and peeled back the bark a little bit and showed me the green layer inside.
“This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive,” my Mom taught. “If you planted it in the ground with lots of water, it would grow into another tree.”
“This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
“This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
Whenever this memory wanders into my brain, I repeat those words again and again, because, in them, resides the gospel truth.
It might all look dead to us, but the truth, the good news, is that it is actually alive.
Of course, my mind goes immediately to Jesus as he gives his last breath on the cross and is buried in the tomb. Now, does he stay in that tomb? Of course not, on the third day he rose again. “This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
My mind also wanders to that sin-filled criminal who hangs next to Jesus on the cross. The criminal admits that he has lived a life that is dead and full of sin. He admits that he deserves the bloody and deadly end to his life that is the cross.
“Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom,” he prays to Jesus (Luke 23:42). Jesus looks at him with love and responds, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). “This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
I also think of that little girl who was sick and died, Jairus’ daughter is how she is known. Jesus comes along, looks at the dead body, and does not give up saying, “Well, I guess it is too late.” Instead, Jesus looks at the dead girl and says, “The child is not dead but sleeping.”
Where we despair because we see death, Jesus delights because he sees life. Jesus sees the green below the surface of the bark. “Little girl, get up,” he says, and she gets up. “This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
Because of the power of Jesus, what looks very much dead to us can actually be very, very alive. This is the truth. And, I mean it. It is the truth of all truths. Death, sin, and destruction seem to be the truth…death and taxes, right? But, they are not the truth of the world. The power of Jesus, who raises us from the dead and recreates us, breathing new life again and again, is the truth.
The only problem is that sometimes we just do not see it. The forces of death and destruction overcome our vision and cloud our imaginations, and we just cannot see where Jesus is actively present, creating new life. We look to the darkening sun and see the moon failing to give its light. We stare at the stars falling from heaven and despair that the powers from on high are shaken. We see the type of world that we have known and trusted in the past crumbling into confusion and literal ash and dust. We see the forces of de-creation at work and we fail to see Jesus.
De-creation is an actual term in biblical interpretation circles, by-the-way. It refers to Bible stories in which the seven days of creation are somehow reversed, and all that God created is literally taken away: the sun darkens and the moon loses its light. De-creation is being talked about right in this Bible text, but we do not need to read the Bible in order to see it at work in our lives.
Just the other morning, the morning of my 48th birthday actually, I woke up with super stiff joints. This had never happened before in my life, and I sang to myself, “Happy Birthday to me!” But, you know what I am talking about. It is the literal de-creation of my body. At age 47 and 364 days of age I had perfectly working joints. One day later at age 48, my joints were suddenly toast. It is like the warranty suddenly ran out.
I make fun of my own de-creation because to think too hard about it and look around at others de-creating agony too closely would just start to bring us to tears. The sun darkening and the moon dimming is all too real for some of us, sin and death invading our lives and our bodies in devastating ways. And, that is where we get stuck staring and anxiously worrying. We cannot bring ourselves to peel back the bark in the fear that we would not see any green.
Of course it is there. Of course, Jesus has the power to recreate and rejuvenate our lives in new ways, but sometimes we just do not dare to look and we just cannot see. Sometime our eyes are closed and we drift to sleep. Sometimes, we fail to keep awake. Sometimes, we fail to keep awake to what Jesus is doing.
Do not worry if I just described you. I know that I just described myself. But, if I am too rotten of a person with whom to keep good company, there are others you can join: the disciples for example.
Jesus directly instructs the disciples, “Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly” (Mark 13:35-36).
And, in just the next chapter of the gospel of Mark we see Judas betraying Jesus in the evening. He is asleep to what Jesus is doing.
After that, as night falls in what the ancient people saw as midnight, the disciples literally fall asleep while Jesus prays. In their groggy state, they lose Jesus to the soldiers and revert to ways of violence instead of peace. They are asleep to what Jesus is doing.
At cockcrow, as we famously know, Peter denies knowing Jesus, completely asleep to what Jesus is doing. And, at dawn Jesus is put on trial, and the disciples are nowhere to be found. They had already fled. They had all stared at their crumbling surroundings, transfixed by their fear, and they could not see what Jesus was doing.
But, my Mom’s voice rings once again in my ear, “This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
Under that tomb of dead bark is life. Death has nothing on Jesus. De-creation causes no fear within Jesus. His heart-rate does not increase and his hands do not become sweaty. Jesus knows that tombs are not the end. Jesus knows that the shaking of this world’s foundations are simply the clearing of the way for something new, something wonderful, something holy and awesome. Jesus knows that dead branches can actually be alive and he invites us to shake the sleepiness from our eyes so that we can see it!
Jesus shouts, “What I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
All of us are called by Jesus to keep awake to what he is doing. This is something that we do together. He said it to “all” after-all. When I am falling asleep, drifting off into despair, wake me up! Remind me to look carefully so that I can see what Jesus is doing. And, I promise to try to do the same for you. After-all, because of the power of Jesus, what looks very much dead to us can actually be very, very alive.
“This branch might look dead, but it is actually alive.”
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