[evultrole]

That's an odd reply.

Mark 4, Jesus basically says he doesn't want everyone to be saved so he's confusing on purpose.

Matthew 15, he scolds Pharisees for not killing children like god commanded

Matthew 21, he goes on an anger induced rampage in the temple

Mark 11, Jesus killed a tree because he was mad that it didn't have fruit when it was out of season

Do you think these things don't count?

[reitanqild]

> Do you think these things don't count?

First of all, good point!

More people should read what the book actually says. It can be downright scary at times even if I have found it very useful.

That said, while 3 and 4 are definitely interesting I think most agree 3 was a good thing.

1 and 2 are interesting in this context only because in one case you seem to lack context and in the next you either haven't read it carefully or are deliberately misreading it.

[waynecochran]

Wow the level of dishonesty and misuse of any context is horrific here.

Mark 4: Jesus is quoting Isaiah who is speaking of a people who have the Scriptures and yet have continually ignored God and will eventually murder Him. God is under no compulsion to be clear with them. It is the sobering truth of Matthew 13:12.

Matthew 15 : I have no idea what you are talking about here.

Matthew 21: The house of God is being used to turn a profit and exploit the poor. Yeah -- that angers God.

Mark 11: You seriously can't see the bigger symbolism here? Are you really concerned about a tree?

[jmcqk6]

not the GP, but the greater symbolism of the fruit tree is very interesting.

If you believe the stories, god created everything, including the tree, and the tree is 'behaving' exactly how it was created. For this, god cursed it.

I suppose this is something programmers can really identify with, but I think the greater symbolism is applying the same thing to humans.

When god created adam and eve, he created them with them with curiosity, and it was that curiosity that led them to eat the apple. For that, they were cursed.

IMO, the greater symbolism is just demonstrating the story of Eden all over again.

[waynecochran]

Interesting -- so you would say curiosity triggered the fall of man.

Most see the rejection of contemporary Jerusalem (Matt 23:38, Luke 19:43,44) and the house of the scribes and Pharisees, which produced no fruit, was about to be left desolate. In AD 70 Titus and the Romans would demolish Jerusalem and the Temple. The cursing of the fig tree, I infer, is the foreshadowing of their doom. The fig tree is used again in Matt 24:32 as an indicator of the soon return of the Son of Man.

In any case, saying Jesus hates fig trees, is missing the point.