I’ll explain this in more detail in subsequent posts, but it refers to when Jesus withered the fig tree in Mat 21:18-19 and Mark 11:20-21. At first glance it simply seems Jesus was in a bad mood and took it out on a poor fig tree! But with just a little Jewish cultural and historical background, one will see that this action meant 1000% more. Believe it or not, this simple feat was a metaphor for how mankind’s choice to have the knowledge of good and evil was a failure.
But first things first, who am I? My name is Randy Silva. I’ve been a Christian for 23 years. Up until around 3 years ago, I had no idea about the importance of understanding the Jewish culture in which Jesus lived. Oh I heard occasionally from the pulpit, “in the culture of the era…” However, it always pertained to passages which made little sense without knowing something about the time, like new wine in old wine skins parable.
A friend of mine introduced me to a man named Aaron Budjen of Living God Ministries. I haven’t gone to his church, I’ve only met him once for lunch, but I’ve listened to many of his archived radio programs. They’re all about providing an historic, Jewish cultural framework around passages in the Bible.
At first I thought, “Neat, these are cool additions to old stories!” Then, I realized I only had half the picture of the Gospel. I knew the Good News, but I didn’t know the Bad News. But soon it became more serious: things that I had believed for decades were being challenged.
To be continued…