Obama and the Parable of the Fig Tree

As I was listening to Senator Obama acceptance speech tonight my mind was thinking that it certainly is a good speech but it also occurred to me that while it was nice to hear and pleasing to the ears it said little of nothing that has not be said or heard before. It was at this point that I was reminded of the Parable of the fig tree in found in the Bible in Mark, chapter 11. According to Mark, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem and was hungry. From a distance he saw a beautiful fig tree filled with lush green leaves but on closer inspection he found that the tree had no figs. That is unusual since a fig tree bears it’s fruit before it leaves and the leaves cover the young figs, protecting them from the harshness of the sun until they are mature and ripen. Figs are not usually harvested until the fruit is dried. However in this case Jesus did not find any fruit on the tree, only leaves. That was basically the content of Senator Obama’s speech. It was like a fig tree filled with leaves but no fruit. We know, given that the disciples heard his words, that Jesus said to the fig tree that no one will eat fruit from you henceforth and then went on.

After Jesus had gone to the Temple and cleaned out the money changers and others who were buying and selling there and let the folks know that he would not allow them to make the house of prayer a den of thieves, he left the city according to Marks account. On leaving the city Jesus and the disciples once again passed the fig tree and Peter, remembering the words that Jesus had said to the fig tree, responded, saying “Look here, the tree that you cursed is dead and dried up.” Jesus replied, “Have faith in God “and commenced teaching his disciples about faith and the results of faith.

That reminded me of the coronation, or should I say the nomination theatrics of last night. After all the grandeur put forth and all the flowery words were spoken which said little of nothing, did nothing to change the perception of Obama from "rock star" to ordinary guy it, like the fig tree, just dried up and withered. There was no real bounce as usually seen after a nomination speech and celebration, it just sort of did like the fig tree and withered away. After all the fireworks and the rockets blazing away across the sky had ended there was nothing left, there was no fruit to gather, no substance to strengthen the weary, cursed from the start by all the theatrics , it withered and died.

There is a lesson to be learned from this parable even in modern day and that is that while the tree may have lots of nice leaves on it but has no fruit it is destined to be cursed and wither and die. I suppose that given all of that and seeing the results of the convention over four days, that one can say to the Republicans, Have faith!