Then said He unto the disciples, It is impossible but that
offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea,
than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves:
If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive
him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a
day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the
apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou
plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
{Luke 17:1-6} (KJV)
In Luke 17:6, Jesus taught His disciples about bitterness, and unforgiveness, and how to remove these evil forces from one's life. As
an illustration, Jesus likened these forces to the sycamine tree that was so
well known in that part of the world.
When you understand everything that is connected to the
sycamine tree, you'll know exactly why Jesus chose to use this tree as an
example of bitterness and unforgiveness in Luke 17:6. Keep in mind that Jesus
was speaking of getting rid of bitterness and unforgiveness. In Luke 17:3, He
told the disciples that they needed to forgive those who sinned against them.
He then took it to the maximum in Luke 17:4 by saying that even if a brother or
sister does something wrong seven times in one day and is each time truly
repentant, they were to keep on forgiving that offending brother. Forgiving once is already a challenge for most people. But
to forgive someone seven times in one day almost sounds impossible. It must have sounded preposterous to the disciples as well, for they
said, "…Lord, Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5). This statement was the
equivalent of their saying, "Lord, we don't know if we have enough faith
to forgive so many times in one day. You'll have to increase our faith if we're
going to do this seven times in one day!"
As you look at the four characteristics of the sycamine tree
listed below, you will comprehend why Jesus used this particular tree
in this context.
1) The
sycamine tree had a very large and deep root structure.
Like the
sycamine tree, bitterness and unforgiveness must be dealt with clear to the
roots, or they will keep springing up again and again. The roots of bitterness
and unforgiveness go down deep into the human soul, fed by any offense that
lies hidden in the soil of the heart. That hidden source of offense will cause
these evil forces to resurface in a person's life over and over again. It will
take a serious decision for that person to rip those roots of bitterness and
offense out of his heart once and for all so they can't grow back in the
future.
2) The
sycamine tree's wood was the preferred wood for building caskets.
In Egypt and the Middle East, the sycamine tree was
considered to be the preferred wood for building caskets and coffins. It grew
quickly and in nearly any environment, making it accessible in many different
places. Again, we can see why this illustration of the sycamine tree
is so ideal for portraying bitterness and unforgiveness. Just as the sycamine
tree grew very quickly, so does bitterness and unforgiveness. In fact, it
doesn't take too long at all for these evil forces to get out of control and
start taking over the whole place! When these fast-growing and ugly attitudes
are allowed to grow freely, they not only spoil the condition of your own
heart, but they ruin your relationships with other people.
Also, just as the sycamine tree grew easily in every
environment, so does bitterness. It doesn't matter where people are from, where
they live, what kind of cultural background they grew up in, or what level of
society they belong to - bitterness and unforgiveness grow in human hearts
everywhere, for they are universal in their scope of evil influence.
If you permit bitterness and unforgiveness to grow in your
life, it won't be long until these attitudes have killed your joy, stolen your
peace, and canceled out your spiritual life!
3) The
sycamine tree produced a fig that was very bitter to eat.
The sycamine tree, and the mulberry tree were very similar in
appearance; the two trees even produced a fruit that looked identical. However,
the fruit of the sycamine tree was extremely bitter. Its fruit looked just as
luscious and delicious as a mulberry fig. But when a person tasted the fruit of
the sycamine fig, he or she discovered that it was horribly bitter. Jesus lets us know that like the sycamine fruit, the fruit
of bitterness and unforgiveness is bitter, tart, and pungent. Like the fig,
most people who are bitter and filled with unforgiveness chew on their feelings
for a long time. They nibble on bitterness for a while; then they pause to
digest what they've eaten. After they have reflected deeply on their offense,
they return to the memory table to start nibbling on bitterness again, taking
one little bite, then another little bite, then another. As they continue to
think and meditate on their offense (hurt), they internalize their bitter feelings
toward those who have offended them. In the end, their perpetual nibbling on
the poisonous fruit of bitterness makes them bitter and sour.
4) The
sycamine tree was pollinated only by wasps.
It is very interesting to note that the sycamine tree was
not naturally pollinated. The pollination process was only initiated when a
wasp stuck its stinger right into the heart of the fruit. The tree, and
its fruit had to be "stung" in order to be reproduced. Think of how many times you have heard a bitter person say:
"I've been hurt by that person once, but I'm not going to be hurt again!
What he did hurt me so badly that I'll never let him get close enough to hurt me
again!" It is likely that people who make such a statement have been
"hurt or stung" by a situation that the devil especially devised to
pollinate their hearts and souls with bitterness and unforgiveness. When a
person talks like this, you can know for sure that they have been hurt and
bitterness has stung them!
Jesus said that in order to rid this nuisance from one's
life, a person must have faith the size of “a grain of mustard seed.” Jesus
uses the example of a "mustard" seed in this example. The small
mustard plant grows from a tiny, miniscule seed. By using this word, Jesus was telling His disciples that a
great amount of faith is not needed to deal with bitterness and unforgiveness.
Any person who has even a tiny measure of faith can speak to bitterness and
unforgiveness and command them to leave, if that is really the desire of their heart.
So, how do you get rid of bitternesss and unforgiveness?
Speak to them, and command them to leave you. The authority is in your mouth!
