Appearances can be deceiving

November 11, 2008

When we lived in California, our children wanted to visit Disneyland. As we entered the gates, it looked like a beautiful resort, but disappointment soon hit. Most of the vegetation was plastic. The lineups for the rides and attractions looked short, but their coiling length was hidden inside their entrance gate. While the children enjoyed themselves, I felt somewhat cheated. Appearances can certainly be deceiving.

My husband tells of meeting a woman when he was in his single days. She was about as perfectly attractive as a woman could be. He was dazzled – until she opened her mouth. Again, appearances can be deceiving.

In Mark 11:12-14, Jesus curses a fig tree. I’ve never understood this story until this morning. The passage says, “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, ‘Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.’ And His disciples heard it.”

My study Bible tells me that fig trees are harvested twice a year. While it was not the season for figs, that particular tree had lots of leaves. The notes say that the figs grow with the leaves, so this tree was in leaf and ahead of season in that department. It should have had figs along with its leaves but did not. In other words, its appearance was misleading.

With this, the Lord reminds me of the times that I’ve caught myself in church putting a big smile on my face and trying to look joyful when I was not. What was I trying to do? I have to admit that I wanted others to think that I was spiritual when I was anything but. Appearances are so deceiving.

Jesus cursed the fig tree for its “hypocrisy” and gave an object lesson to His disciples, me included, about the seriousness of faking it. True spirituality produces fruit. Faking it produces what might look like fruit, but Jesus knows what is and what is not genuine and I know it too. Such nonsense is merely leaves.