“Long Term / Short Term”

Mark 11: 20: “And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.” You may notice that when St. Matthew tells this story he says that the fig tree withered “at once.” (Matthew 21: 19) Another error in scripture? More proof that the bible is “full of contradictions”? Of course not. Matthew told it his way to teach us how faith has the power to work instantly, and Mark told it his way to demonstrate the need of faith to work together with patience. (Hebrews 6: 12; 10: 36) The ironic thing here is that it is usually St. Mark who says “immediately” - forty times, to eighteen for St. Matthew. So we learn another lesson - be open to people surprising you!