This morning, we continue in our march through the final week of Jesus’s ministry. Last week, Jesus came from the mount of Olives, entered the east gate of Jerusalem, took a quick look inside the temple, and then left. I pointed out, then, that this quick entrance and exit was a foreshadowing. Jesus did not approve of what he found there, even late in the evening. Today, we see why. Let’s read Mark 11:12-26. From this text, see three points: The Symbolic Tree, the Sacrilegious Temple, and the Sure Prayer.
First, from verses 12-14, see the Symbolic Tree. On Monday of his last week, Jesus and his disciples head out again from Bethany to Jerusalem, and along the way, they decide to stop for some breakfast. Jesus walks up to a fig tree, and finding no ripe fruit on it, curses the tree, saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” At face value, this little tale seems like a bad look for Jesus. It appears as though he is “hangry” and rushes to find the nearest fruit-bearing tree, and when he finds nothing, he acts in anger to curse the tree. But, as usual, there is far more going on here. Fig trees were not just any other tree; they were a symbol of God’s abundant blessing and of the severity of his curses on Israel. During Solomon’s reign, the success of his kingdom was measured by the fact that, according to 1 Kings 4:25, everyone had their own fig tree and grapevine. And, Israel hoped for those blessings again, under the rule of the Messiah. Micah 4:4 promises that when the Messiah comes, every man will have his own vine and fig tree. Fig trees were also used to measure Israel’s faithlessness and God’s judgment. Jeremiah 8:13 says, “When I would gather them… there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree.” Joel 1:12 warns, “All the [fig trees] of the field are dried up, and gladness dried up from the children of men.” So, this is not a story of Jesus’s unreasoned anger, but of his act as the greatest of prophets. Like Jeremiah and Hosea, who were told to act out their prophecies, so now, Jesus is using this tree as a symbol for God’s impending judgment on the nation of Israel.
So what is the problem with this fig tree? First, it did not have ripe fruit. This would have been the Palestinian fig, which would put on leaves in March and April. Then, in April and May, small, unripe figs would appear, which would not be ripe until August or September. We know that it is sometime in late March or early April, because Jesus is in Jerusalem for Passover. And, Mark tells us that the tree had leaves, but it did not have fruit. If it did have any fruit, it would have been inedible at this point. As a symbol, this fig tree is like the nation of Israel because it had the appearance of health, but no fruit. The Pharisees were meticulous in their obedience to the law, and yet they were hypocrites because they were not obedient from the heart. The Sadducees kept the temple rituals, and yet they did not even believe in God’s promise of eternal life. The Herodians paid for the construction of a beautiful temple, and yet they were the perverse and corrupt puppets of the Romans. The Zealots claimed to want to purify Israel, and yet, in a moment of war, they would just as easily defile the temple by shedding blood within its walls.
Second, the fig tree was cursed because it was not ready when Jesus showed up. Now, one might argue, this was not the fig tree’s fault. If Jesus had simply come back in August, I’m sure he would find plenty of food. But, Jesus is here, now, and it is not ready. So it was with the people of Israel. As John 1 says, “he came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Isaiah 53 prophesied that he would be despised. Though a star marked his birth, a voice from heaven confirmed his baptism, the demons quaked, and death fled from him, even still, the religious leaders ignored him where they could, and when they could no longer ignore him, they set traps and plotted his death.
So now, Jesus curses the fig tree in preparation for cursing the temple and the whole of the religious establishment. But, in this fig tree, I find a warning for us today. There are many today who have the appearance of life, a semblance of fruit, but who do not bear the fruit of faith that Jesus requires. Be careful, lest you be like the Pharisees, whom Jesus compared to white-washed tombs (beautiful on the outside but dead on the inside). Be careful, lest you be like the Sadducees, faithful to ritual, but believing in nothing. Be careful, lest you be like the Herodians, culturally Christian, and yet personally corrupt. There are also many who would not be ready for Jesus’s return today. There are so many who put off coming to Jesus, put off baptism, put off faithfulness, because they say, “I have time for that later. That’s an old man’s hobby, but I’m young now and want to get the most out of life.” Or, “I only have so much time with my kids, and I need to maximize that while they are young.” Be careful, lest you be like Israel, who was not ready when the Messiah came and were judged for it.
That brings me to my second point: the Sacrilegious Temple, from verses 15-19. Mark tells us that Jesus goes on to Jerusalem and enters the temple, again, and there he finds a sacrilegious scene. In the outer courts of the temple, which was known as the court of the Gentiles, he found money changers and merchants. Enraged, he began to drive them out. In John’s version, we are told that he made a whip and drove them out. Here, it says that he overturned the tables and barred them from reentry. After clearing them out, he begins to preach, saying, in effect, “This is supposed to be a place of prayer for all peoples, and you have made it a den of robbers.” So, we need to answer the important question of why Jesus is so enraged by what he finds. That answer will explain the fig tree, but it will also prepare us for the rest of the Gospel, especially chapter 13.
First, to understand Jesus’s rage, we have to understand what the temple is. A temple is not defined by its walls or its contents. A temple is defined by the presence of God. Where do we find the first temple in the Bible? We find it in Genesis 2. Eden was the first temple. We are told in Genesis 3:8 that the Lord God walked in the midst of the Garden. The design of the tabernacle, given in Exodus 25-30, is modeled after the garden, with its firmament, its trees, its vestments of every kind, and its attendants, the priests. Even after Eden, God was still faithful to meet with his people. Abraham built an altar in Shechem and on Moriah. Jacob built one in Bethel. At these altars, the Patriarchs would offer sacrifices, and God would meet with them. When God called the people of Israel out of Egypt, he did it so that they might worship him. God promised to be with them through their wilderness wonderings and in the promised land. So, he gave them the design for a tabernacle, which was just a glorified tent. When the people of God lived in tents, God pitched his own tent right in the middle of them. Then, the people conquered Canaan and came to dwell in safety, building houses for themselves. So, Solomon built the Lord a house, too. That temple was eventually destroyed by the Babylonians, but God had not left his people. He promised to be with them in their exile, and that he would bring them back to rebuild the temple, which they did under the leadership of Ezra.
Recognize in all of this that the place, the materials, and the rituals were not what made the tabernacle and temple holy. These were not talismans that contained spiritual power. They were sacred because God dwelled there. This leads me to my second reason for Jesus’s rage. This was the place where God would dwell with his people, and it was to be the place where all nations would experience the one true God. God promised Abraham, in Genesis 12:3, that he would make him a blessing for all the nations. Psalm 67 calls on all the nations to be glad and sing for joy in the Lord. Isaiah 2 sees a day when all nations will flow to the mountain of the Lord. Yet, when Jesus walks into the court of the Gentiles, the place where the nations could come to learn about the Lord and pray to him, he steps in goat dung. He cannot teach because of the cooing of doves, the rattling of money, and the murmur of salesmen. Instead of welcoming the lost, the people of Israel had put up barriers in the form of commerce.
So, Jesus drives them out so that he might teach the true purpose of the temple. In clearing the temple, it is important to recognize that he is not cleansing the temple, though this is what we often call it. The fig tree is a prophecy for this temple and these people who would defile God’s presence. Jesus was not trying to purify the temple, he was expelling the wicked from the presence of God so that his people might draw near.
Finally, we come to my last point: The Sure Prayer, in verses 20-26. The next day, Jesus and his disciples take the same route, and the disciples are amazed to see that the fig tree had already begun to wither. No doubt, they understood that Jesus’s curse was prophetic, but they had not expected it to have a real, physical effect on the tree. When they point it out to Jesus, he teaches them a lesson on faith. At first glance, this lesson doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the fig tree, Israel, or the temple, but I think it has to do with all of it. And, if we understand what Jesus says in light of the fig tree and temple, we can escape some poor interpretations of this passage. You see, many people pluck this teaching out of context and say, “See, Jesus says that if you have enough faith, you can move mountains. And, if you pray with enough faith, God will give you whatever you want.” I think that is a poor understanding of what he is saying because this teaching is directly connected to the fig tree. There is something about this tree that made Jesus think, “I need to teach them about prayer and faith.” So what is that? This fig tree is a prophecy of what will happen to Israel and the temple. 40 years from the date of this prophecy, the Roman general, Titus, would lay siege around Jerusalem, and he would ultimately tear down every last block of the temple. In the process, he would kill over one million Jews, totally displace the Jewish people from Jerusalem and in their place, bring in people from all over the world. Because of Jesus’s prophecies in Mark 11-13 and the persecution that came before the siege of Jerusalem, the Christians would flee well before its destruction. It was the literal withering of the fig tree, right before their eyes. So, what would Christians living through those times need to know? Faith and prayer will not only sustain you through such times, but it will remove barriers and provide what you need in the midst of it all. God is especially near to those who face persecution and trial, and he will prove himself in the midst of it. So, believe, and do not doubt. Ask, and expect to receive.
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