Welcome. I wanted you to be able to join us for a question-answer time in light of our series on the Gospel of Mark.

And so now I want to just be able to take some questions that have arisen, that you reflected on during our study of Mark's Gospel.

Mark's Gospel, of course, moves quickly, right? There's immediately, immediately, and there's

kind of a breathless pace, and I think sometimes I was moving immediately, and maybe I move too fast

at certain areas and places where you want to fill in. So feel free to ask any questions you

have. Yes, Ashley. So in Chapter 11, when Jesus curses the fig tree, it says that it wasn't the season for figs. So why is he upset to not find any figs if it wasn't the season for figs? Great question. A lot of people have that question. So why does, in chapter 11 of Mark, why does he, you know, when he goes up to this fig tree

looking for figs because he's hungry and he curses it because he finds no fruit, but then

Mark tells us that wasn't the season of figs because it's Passover. It's early spring, right?

So it seems a bit unreasonable. And so that tells us that there's something deeper and symbolic going on.

And so Jesus is looking from the fig tree for fruit. And of course, the fig tree was a symbol for

Israel. So in the prophet Josea, for example, Hosea 9, he refers to Israel as a fig tree. So I think part of what's going on there in Hosea 9, he refers to Israel as a fig tree.

So I think part of what's going on there in

Josea 9, verse 10 following, Israel is imaged as a fig tree,

and Jesus is coming to Israel looking for fruit,

but he's not finding it.

And he kind of plays on that a little bit further.

He's already thinking of the idea of looking for fruit. He plays on that just a little bit further he's already thinking of the idea looking for fruit

he plays on that just a little bit later in chapter 12 where he talks about a vineyard and the son who's sent to get the fruit but the tenants chase him off

and ultimately kill him and he can't get the fruit so this idea of coming and searching for fruit now in Isaiah chapter, which Jesus is referring to in that story of the

vineyard, in Isaiah 5, God plants Judah and Israel as his vineyard, and he looks for the fruit,

which is righteousness and justice. And they don't produce those fruits. So the idea of him looking

for fruit is, in a sense, he's symbolically, it's kind of a bit of an

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