Show Don't Tell: Mark 11:20-26

Instead of saying "The fig tree had withered," see the parable completed. In the morning, as they go along, they see the fig tree withered from the roots—not just dried leaves but dead to the root. Peter remembers: "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" Jesus responds with a lesson on faith: "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." This mountain—the Temple Mount, visible from where they stand? "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Then the condition: "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mountain-moving faith and forgiving hearts—connected to the fruitless temple and its coming destruction.