The Temple and the Fig Tree
Mark 11:12-22
Introduction: Last
week was Palm Sunday in August at LBC... this week we look at the Temple
cleansing, intertwined with the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. We were
reminded last week that Jesus is the King. He came first as
the Servant-King, willingly laying down His life to make a way for fallen
humans to become kingdom citizens… At the end of that scene, we had an incident
reported only by Mark, when Jesus…
11 …entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. And when he had looked around
at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany...
What was He looking at as He entered
the Temple? What was He thinking? Jesus knew what was coming on Friday, He knew
what He had come to accomplish on our behalf. Jerusalem was the City of God,
and the Temple was the center of worship, the place where God had chosen for
His Name to dwell. It makes sense that the Messiah would appear there. It would
not have been expected that when He came the leaders would not recognize
the One for whom the Nation, and humanity, had so long waited!
Three times on this journey to Jerusalem Jesus had explicitly told His
disciples that He would be rejected, cruelly treated, handed over to the
gentiles and put to death, and then raised the third day. The conflict with the
leaders of the nation would reach its climax shortly. We get an idea of that in
the next scene, the next day, after the triumphal entry, as they return to the
city and the Temple.
This is not just a historical report of what happened back then. Nor is it
simply an indictment of the religious leaders of Israel of Jesus’ day. Mark
would also invite us, as readers of the Gospel, to examine our own hearts. As
Paul said to the Corinthians…
“16 Do you not know that
you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's
temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple…”
(I Cor 3:16,17).
He is talking about the church. Not a
building, but the assembly of believers in the city of Corinth... And the
gathering of believers in this place. That brings us to…
The BIG Idea: As followers of Jesus, we must live
by faith, and guard our hearts from religious hypocrisy.
I. Jesus, the Master, is constantly teaching us (12-14). We have heard Jesus teach in
parables, here we see Jesus essentially acting out a parable in the sight and
hearing of His disciples. He had recently healed a blind man; do we have
eyes to see?
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a
fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came
to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, "May no
one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.
One of the things that has impressed me as we have worked our way
through the Gospel of Mark is that Jesus is always teaching His
disciples. Through His words, His actions, and His example, He is constantly
seizing opportunities to open their under-standing to His identity, to deepen
their faith, and to prepare them for what would soon happen, and for the
mission that would be entrusted to them. And He is constantly, patiently, teaching
us as well. Yes, as we read and study the Word, as we meditate on what God has
said, the Spirit will open our understanding. It is also true that He works
through the circumstances of life to teach us, and to grow our faith.
Here, the Master, in His humanity, was hungry. He saw a fig tree in
leaf, which apparently would show it might have some edible early fruit on it. Finding
it fruitless, the Lord lays the groundwork for another “teachable moment.” Earlier,
according to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus had spoken a parable about a fruitless
Fig Tree. He said,
“A man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser,
‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I
find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let
it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit
next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Lk 13:6-9).
In the Hebrew Scriptures (OT) the Fig
Tree is often used as a picture of Israel. For example, we read in Hos 9:10
(cf. Mic 7:1-6; Jer 8:13, 29:17 etc.),
“Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on
the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers.”
Here, Jesus goes to a fig tree in
leaf, but the early fruit, which apparently could appear with the leaves long before
the later, sweeter and larger “in season” fruit, was absent. The absence of the
early fruit was a harbinger of what was to come. A fruitless fig tree. Luke 13?
Here, we have what seems to be an acted-out parable.
What is “hypocrisy”? According to Webster, it is “the professing of
qualities or character that one does not truly possess.” Jesus called the
Pharisees “white-washed tombs, full of
dead men’s bones.” Did you hear the story of the rather pompous-looking Pastor who was trying to impress
upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life? "Why do
people call me a Christian?" the man asked. After a moment's pause, one
youngster said, "Maybe it's because they don't know you." Uh oh! That
is not the answer he was looking for! Authentic faith will change us,
from the inside out.
In Hosea, as we’ll see literally happen here, the prophet said, “…their root is dried up; they shall bear no
fruit…” (Hos 9:16). The Lord used similar language as He spoke through
Jeremiah the prophet,
“When I would gather them, declares
the LORD, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the
leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them…” (Jer
8:13).
In the context, Jeremiah was warning
that lifeless religion would lead to exile. Israel’s religion had grown cold once
again. Jesus was prophesying the destruction of the Temple which was fulfilled
in A.D. 70. We are called to authentic, living faith. *As followers of Jesus we
must live by faith, and guard against presumption and religious hypocrisy.
II. Jesus is the Glorious One, and we must worship Him in Spirit &
Truth (15-17).
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive
out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the
tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone
to carry anything through the temple. 17
And he was teaching them and saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house
shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a
den of robbers."
You may recall from John’s Gospel that Jesus had a similar confrontation
in the Temple, but at the very beginning of His public ministry. That event is reported
only in John 2:13-17. Just before that, in Jn 1:14, “And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from
the Father, full of grace and truth.” In John 2, Jesus came like a prophet,
indicting the religious leaders for their wrong attitudes. And the disciples
remembered the Scriptures, considering, no doubt, where this confrontation
would lead. Back then, Jesus subtly alluded to the cross and resurrection in
the following verses:
18 So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these
things?" 19 Jesus
answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up." 20 The Jews then
said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you
raise it up in three days?" 21
But he was speaking about the temple of his body… (John 2:18-21).
Now, three years later, that prophecy
of Jesus’ death and resurrection was about to be fulfilled. He had walked among them all this time.
He taught them with authority. He did miracles that gave a glimpse into the
future, showing the multitudes and His disciples glimpses, vignettes of their
Hope. And now, again, Jesus is entering Jerusalem, at Passover, and will again clear
the “merchants” from the Temple. Our God is a jealous God, He will not tolerate
idols. He demands our whole-hearted devotion. That means, we take Him at His
Word. He has told us who He is. He has shown us the Way to Life!
Notice that Jesus quotes the Scriptures. Isaiah had prophesied that the
Temple of God would be “…a house of
prayer for all peoples…” (Isa 56:7). God’s plan included the nations.
When He spoke to Adam about the Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s
head, humanity, all nations, were included in that hope. When He promised Noah
not to destroy the world again by water he spoke to him as representing the
human race. He chose Abraham and promised him a Seed who would be a blessing
to all the nations. In case we miss what that means and how it would be
fulfilled, Paul told the Galatians plainly, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say,
‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ…”
(Gal 3:16). Israel is God’s chosen,
chosen as the ones through whom His written word would be given, and chosen as
the line through whom the Rescuer would come. But now that had allowed God’s
house to become a den of robbers (cf. Isa 7:11)!
Don’t read this passage and assume that God
is finished with Israel. Paul told the Romans that “blindness in part has come upon Israel until the fulness of the
gentiles comes in…” (Rom 11:25). There will be a turning back to Jesus as
Messiah by the Jews. We are also warned in that context not to be prideful or
complacent, that if God so chastened the natural branches, how will he deal
with those who have been grafted in? *So, the Big Idea here is that as
followers of Jesus we must live by faith, and guard against presumption, and
religious hypocrisy.
III. Humanity is divided over our response to Jesus (18,19).
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to
destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his
teaching. 19 And when evening
came they went out of the city.
Words and actions from OT prophets were rarely received well. Occasionally,
as when Jonah brought a word of God’s impending judgement of Nineveh, people
hear, are convicted, and repent. Not so with most of the leaders of the Jews at
Jesus’ coming. Jesus astonished the crowds, perhaps confusing them, perhaps
leading them to wonder if He was about to restore the Kingdom to Israel.
The leaders were only driven further in their commitment to destroy Him.
The words and works of Jesus brought division. Some heard and believed.
Others would not receive Him. Jesus expected as much. He said in Mt
10:34, "Do not think that I
have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a
sword.” At issue is the response of people to Him. We read in Jn 3:18, “Whoever
believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” A
little further down in that same chapter we read in John 3:36, “Whoever believes
in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God remains on him.” Belief or unbelief, condemnation, or
life. John summarized it in his prologue when he said in Jn 1:11-12,
“He came to his own, and his own
people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
What will you do
with Jesus? Have you trusted Him as your only hope of salvation? If you have, you are called to follow Him. That
is the BIG Idea: *As
followers of Jesus we must live by faith, and guard against presumption, and
religious hypocrisy.
IV. Jesus is Lord, and we must take Him at His Word (20-22).
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to
its roots. 21 And Peter
remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has
withered.” 22 And Jesus
answered them, “Have faith in God…”
Jesus is revealed in these interconnected events as Prophet, Priest, and
King. He entered the city as the promised Messiah. He cleared the Temple of its
corrupt worship. As a prophet he foretold God’s chastening hand coming
against Jerusalem. Sovereign, Son of David, and Son of God. And He is our great
High Priest, the one mediator between God and man, a priesthood typified by
Melchizedek. Only Jesus ultimately fulfilled all three offices. As they
passed by the fig tree the next morning, Peter almost seems surprised, “Rabbi look! The fig tree that you cursed has
withered!” What he didn’t yet see was that that Fig Tree was a picture,
symbolizing something much bigger.
Jesus’ final rejection by the religious leaders was at hand, and His
judgment of their false worship was coming. The story would unfold exactly
as He predicted. The rejection by the leaders would soon reach its climax.
Jesus had prophesied three times on the trip to Jerusalem that He would be
rejected, mistreated, handed over to the gentiles, tortured and killed.
Seemingly, the disciples could not grasp what He was saying. Much less did they
understand the promise that He would be raised on the third day!
The final word in v.22 is a call for response: “Have faith in God.” Mark has been presenting Jesus, the Son of God,
and helping us to understand what He came to do. The call throughout the Gospel
is to believe, to take Him at His word, and to follow Him. Religious ritual or
tradition, if it has become rote and empty, will not make us right with God. Our
only hope is salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. David
said,
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be
pleased with a burnt offering. 17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God,
you will not despise… (Psalm 51:16,17).
David knew he had sinned, and he
realized that getting his heart right was essential before any sacrifices would
be meaningful. Jesus said, “Have faith in
God.” He is not simply talking about the need to pray in faith. In the
context it there is a contrast between those who come to God on His terms, and
put their trust in Him, and those who are relying on their own religious
efforts to stand before God.
Faith means believing Jesus is who He claimed to be, and that He
accomplished what He came to do. The leaders of Israel would not
believe. Their traditions and their religious system had blinded them to such a
degree that they did not recognize their own Messiah, even as He was in front
of them. Ironically, their rejection of fulfilled their own Scriptures, confirming
His identity. What will you do with Jesus? Who is Jesus? Mark showing us who He
is. He has been telling us why He came. Will you follow Him?
What is God saying to me in this passage? As followers of Jesus we are called
to live by faith, guarding our hearts against presumption and hypocrisy.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? You probably know well the leading
excuse of many unbelievers: “There are too many hypocrites in the church!” What
some may mean by that is that they know the people who go to church are not
perfect, that they still sin. In that they are correct! We are not yet
what we will be, but, by the grace of God, we are forgiven!
1) Look in the mirror: How then should we live? Remember how
often I Peter spoke of our “manner of life” before the world? Let’s not give an
excuse for the world to not believe! We
want to be sincere, authentic, followers of Jesus. He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me…”
We want to be serious about our faith, pursuing holiness, seeking to know
God intimately and to walk in the Spirit. How?
2) Look up: Don’t you know that you are the Temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwells in you? That means you have what you
need to follow Him! You have Christ in you, the hope of glory! We are
not yet what we will be, but we are changed! We have been set free from bondage to sin
and Satan. With His presence and
power we can say “no” to sin. Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit and you will be
no means fulfill the lusts of the flesh!” As we walk with God, people will,
over time, see a difference!
3) Look out to the world: Think about this: Even in the OT, the
nations were invited to come to the God of Israel. God has always been, and is
still, concerned with the world. What has changed is that the nations we
invited to come, we are called to go to the world, and to make disciples of all
nations. We all have a part in God’s global mission! Will you follow Him? It starts right where you
are, where God has sovereignly and strategically placed you. And it continues right
here where we are as a church! We need to adapt to our changing neighborhood
and hold forth the Word of Life! AMEN.
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