<p>11:20 <em>And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots</em>- This meant the ground was cursed- the land of Israel. And the roots may refer to the ending of the Mosaic law. &quot;Ephraim 'fruitful' is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit... My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations&quot; (Hos. 9:10,16,17).</p><p>This incident of the withered fig tree is an example of where Jesus didn&rsquo;t want us to perceive Him as too different from us. The disciples are amazed at the faith of Jesus in God&rsquo;s power. He had commanded the fig tree to be withered- but this had required Him to pray to God to make this happen. As the disciples looked at Him, wide eyed with amazement at His faith, very much into the &ldquo;Wow&rdquo; experience, the Lord immediately urged <em>them</em> to &ldquo;have faith in God... <em>whosoever</em> and this was surely His emphasis shall ask a mountain to move in faith, it will happen... therefore I say unto <em>you</em>, Whatsoever things <em>you</em> desire just as Jesus had desired the withering of the fig tree, when <em>you</em> pray as Jesus had done about the fig tree, believe that <em>you</em> receive them, and <em>you</em> shall have them&rdquo;. I suggest His emphasis was upon the word <em>you</em>. He so desired them to see His pattern of faith in prayer as a realistic image for them to copy. How sad He must be at the way He has been turned into an other-worldly figure, some wonderful, kindly God who saves us from the weakness and lack of faith which we are so full of. Yes, He <em>is</em> our Saviour, and the &ldquo;Wow&rdquo; factor leads us to have a burning and undying sense of gratitude to Him. But He isn&rsquo;t <em>only</em> that; He is an inspiration. It is in this sense that the spirit of Christ can and does so radically transform human life in practice. Of course, we have sinned, and we continue to do so. For whatever reason, we are not Jesus. But our painful awareness of this and it ought to be painful, not merely a theoretical acceptance that we are sinners... shouldn&rsquo;t lead us to think that His example isn&rsquo;t a realistic pattern for us.</p>