Steve Webb 0:00
It will be done for you.

Steve Webb 0:09
Well, hey, how are you today? Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring! One Year Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast where we’re reading through the entire Bible in a year and it’s Gospel Saturday. Our reading will be Mark 11 and 12. Today’s title is "No Figs Here." And just a reminder that tomorrow is Sunday. If you have a need that you’d like the Lifespring family to pray with you about or if you have a praise to share, let me know at 951-732-8511 or go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. I will pray for you in my personal quiet time, and we’ll pray together on tomorrow’s show. Of course, as always, if you’d like to remain anonymous, all you got to do is let me know. Now before we read, let’s pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, how we thank you for your Word. And we ask that you bless our time together today. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, let’s begin.

Steve Webb 1:14
Mark, chapter 11. When Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus gave two disciples a task, saying to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘Its master needs it, and he will send it back right away.’” They went and found a colt tied to a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some people standing around said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it. Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields. Those in front of him and those following were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve. The next day, after leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. From far away, he noticed a fig tree in leaf, so he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves, since it wasn’t the season for figs. So he said to it, “No one will ever again eat your fruit!” His disciples heard this. They came into Jerusalem. After entering the temple, he threw out those who were selling and buying there. He pushed over the tables used for currency exchange and the chairs of those who sold doves. He didn’t allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He taught them, “Hasn’t it been written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you’ve turned it into a hideout for crooks.” The chief priests and legal experts heard this and tried to find a way to destroy him. They regarded him as dangerous because the whole crowd was enthralled at his teaching. When it was evening, Jesus and his disciples went outside the city. Early in the morning, as Jesus and his disciples were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered from the root up. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look how the fig tree you cursed has dried up.” Jesus responded to them, “Have faith in God! I assure you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea’—and doesn’t waver but believes that what is said will really happen—it will happen. Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. And whenever you stand up to pray, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings.” Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or human origin? Answer me.” They argued among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But we can’t say, ‘It’s of earthly origin.’” They said this because they were afraid of the crowd, because they all thought John was a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”

Steve Webb 5:11
Mark, chapter 12. Jesus spoke to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. When it was time, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But they grabbed the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again the landowner sent another servant to them, but they struck him on the head and treated him disgracefully. He sent another one; that one they killed. The landLord sent many other servants, but the tenants beat some and killed others. Now the landowner had one son whom he loved dearly. He sent him last, thinking, They will respect my son. But those tenant farmers said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this scripture, 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes'?” They wanted to arrest Jesus because they knew that he had told the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away. They sent some of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you’re genuine and you don’t worry about what people think. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay taxes or not?” Since Jesus recognized their deceit, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin. Show it to me.” And they brought one. He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” His reply left them overcome with wonder. Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a widow but no children, the brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman; when he died, he left no children. The second married her and died without leaving any children. The third did the same. None of the seven left any children. Finally, the woman died. At the resurrection, when they all rise up, whose wife will she be? All seven were married to her.” Jesus said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you are wrong, because you don’t know either the scriptures or God’s power? When people rise from the dead, they won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like God’s angels. As for the resurrection from the dead, haven’t you read in the scroll from Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to Moses,I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living. You are seriously mistaken.” One of the legal experts heard their dispute and saw how well Jesus answered them. He came over and asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus replied, “The most important one is, 'Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You will love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these.” The legal expert said to him, “Well said, Teacher. You have truthfully said that God is one and there is no other besides him. And to love God with all of the heart, a full understanding, and all of one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is much more important than all kinds of entirely burned offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered with wisdom, he said to him, “You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.” After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “Why do the legal experts say that the Christ is David’s son? David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right side until I turn your enemies into your footstool." David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ so how can he be David’s son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight. As he was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.” Jesus sat across from the collection box for the temple treasury and observed how the crowd gave their money. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money. One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.”

Steve Webb 10:54
In chapter 11, Jesus had entered Jerusalem a day earlier to the cries of "Hosanna!" This was his last week on Earth. Near the end of the day, he went to Bethany with his disciples, the Twelve. Now, during his return trip from Bethany to Jerusalem, Jesus was hungry, and he saw a fig tree in the distance with leaves on it. And because fig trees usually have fruit before the leaves appear, Jesus expected there to be fruit on the tree. But when he approached the tree, and he didn’t see any fruit, he cursed it. It’s interesting that fig trees often bear two or three crops of figs in a growing season. And depending on climate and growing conditions, fig trees can bear fruit ten months out of the year, so it was clearly reasonable to expect fruit on a tree that had leaves on it. Symbolically, fig trees are often used in Scripture to represent Israel. Now, after Jesus cursed the tree, he went directly to the temple where he threw out those who were selling and buying. The cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple had great spiritual meaning. It was a criticism of the spiritual condition of Israel and how they were worshiping. And I think we can extrapolate that criticism also to those who profess to be Christians but who are bearing no fruit. A fruitful fig tree was a symbol of blessing and prosperity for the nation of Israel and a dead fig tree represented judgment. So the fig tree here in Mark 11 showed that Israel was spiritually dead. They had the outward signs of being religious with their sacrifices and such but their sin revealed the fact that they were in fact, spiritually dead. By cursing the tree and cleansing the temple. Jesus showed that he had the authority to bring judgment. Having the signs of religion or having leaves as it were, or going through the motions of religion is not sufficient. A religious life cannot save you. A religious life cannot bring approval from God, because as the Apostle Paul said, in Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin has to be paid for. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death. But Jesus came to take that death penalty for you and for me upon himself. And on the third day after he was buried in a tomb, he was resurrected, defeating sin and death. Jesus offers the gift of salvation to anyone who will believe in him. He said in John 3:16-18, "For this is how God loved the world. He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only son." Beloved, if there was any other way to be saved, to have peace with God, Jesus would not have had to die on a cross. But he said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one can come to the Father except through me." So there was no other way. And once we accept Jesus, we begin to bear spiritual fruit. Jesus said in John 15:5-8, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit. Without me, you can’t do anything. If you don’t remain in me, you will be like a branch that is thrown out and dries up. Those branches are gathered up, thrown into a fire, and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified when you produce much fruit, and in this way, prove that you are my disciples." And Galatians 5:22-23 tells us what the fruit of the Spirit is, it says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Notice that these are called the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at work bringing about fruit in the lives of believers. This is not something that is a result of human effort. An apple tree doesn’t try to grow apples, does it? It just grows apples, naturally. It’s what an apple tree does. A Christian in whom dwells the Holy Spirit just begins to bear the fruit of the Spirit. That is what the Holy Spirit does in the believer. As we yield ourselves to him, he begins his work in us. So how are your branches looking? Is there some fruit there? Tell me your thoughts. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511 or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com or email me at steve@lifespringmedia.com. I read every comment and there’s a good chance I’ll play your audio comment or read your comment on the show. I want to hear from you. Tomorrow will be Epistle Sunday and we’ll read 2 Corinthians, chapters 1 through 3.

Steve Webb 16:03
Timothy LaFontaine came in today with his monthly $20 donation, as did Anonymous who came in with their weekly $22.22 donation, and Michael Haner, with his weekly $7.77 donation. That makes three Associate Producers in one day. Thanks very much to each of you. I very much appreciate your consistent support. It means a lot to me, and it truly is a help. God bless you guys. Value-for-value is acknowledging that the show is contributing some value into your life and returning some of that value in the form of time, talent, or treasure. And it’s what allows the Lifespring! One Year Bible to keep showing up in your podcast app each day. There’s no corporate money, no advertisers, no one but the Lifespring family to pay the bills that keep the production going. Your support is 100% necessary. And you know value-for-value is not a new concept. The phrase "value-for-value" might be a relatively recent thing, but the concept goes way back even to Old Testament times. Paul, in writing to the church in Corinth, said this in 1 Corinthians 9:7-11, "What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep, and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? Am I expressing merely a human opinion? Or does the law" - and Paul here was referring to Deuteronomy 25:4 - "or does the law say the same thing? For the law of Moses says you must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain." Paul continues, "Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both accept a share of the harvest. Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink?" So, Beloved, I’m asking you to prayerfully consider what value you’ve received and are receiving from hearing the Bible read each day and maybe the thoughts and comments contributed by yours truly. After you do that, go here: lifespringmedia.com/support. I will thank you and I believe that God will bless you.

Steve Webb 18:34
Thanks to Kirsty, Denise, Michael Haner, Scott Snider, and Jason Paschall. God bless you guys. Until tomorrow. May God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

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Transcribed by https://otter.ai