Mark 11:12-21
Introduction
In this passage, we see Jesus cursing a fig tree because it was not producing fruit. And in the middle of this incident, we see Jesus cleansing the temple in Jerusalem. Is there a connection?
Bear this in mind as we examine the passage.
Verses 12 to 14
After an overnight stay at Bethany, Jesus sets out again for Jerusalem feeling hungry. So, He approaches a fig tree looking for some figs to eat. From a distance, Jesus could that the tree was in leaf. When a fig tree produces figs, it grows a rich foliage of leaves. On seeing this, Jesus knew that there should be some figs on it.
However, when He arrived at the tree, He found that there were no figs on it. When He finds no figs on the tree, He curses it so that no one will ever eat from it again. This is the only miracle in the New Testament that involves destruction.
In Verse 13 we are told that it was not the season for figs. So, Jesus cursed the tree for not producing fruit out of season. It wasn’t the season for fig trees to produce figs and yet Jesus curses it. Does that seem fair? On the face of it, no. It looks like Jesus is being vindictive towards this tree for not providing the food he needed. So, what is going on?
In Israel at that time the season when most fig trees produced figs was the Autumn. But there were some fig tree varieties that produced figs outside this season. So, you can’t determine whether or not there will be figs on the tree by the season. Jesus would have known this and He would have known that this was one of the varieties of fig tree that produce fruit outside the normal fig season.
The fact that we are told that it was not the season for figs is irrelevant. The important fact is that the tree was in leaf and it should have had figs on it. Jesus was right to be angry with the tree. Jesus cursed the tree because it was barren. Remember that.
But what was Jesus really doing by cursing the fig tree? He was exercising His prophetic ministry. As a prophet He was giving us a visual prophecy. The Old Testament prophets did the same.
We see an example of a visual prophecy through the prophet Amos. In Amos 7:8 we read, The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer.” In this prophecy God is using a plumb line to test Israel. The straight line of the plumb line was used to show how crooked Israel had become.
So, what is Jesus saying through His visual prophecy in today’s text? He was exposing the sin of hypocrisy. The tree had the outward appearance of fruitfulness but on closer examination it was empty or barren.
Jesus hates hypocrisy. We see this in His dealings with the Pharisees. On many occasions He called them hypocrites. See Matthew 23:27 for example. The Pharisees put on an outward show of spirituality and righteousness but they lacked the fruit of righteousness.
What can we learn from this today? Even today we sometimes find hypocrisy in the church. We sometimes see people in the church put on an outward appearance of righteousness through being religious but their bad behaviour or the things they say betray them. Can you think of any examples? In considering this matter we must take into account where a Christians is on their journey of sanctification or holiness.
Verses 15 to 17
In these verses we have an example of righteous anger.
Before we examine this event, I just want to give you some information about the temple. The temple was divided into 4 parts: the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of the Jews and the Holy of Holies. The largest court was the Court of the Gentiles. It was 500 by 350 yards and covered 35 acres.
Jesus in the Court of the Gentiles when He drove out the traders and the money changers? At that time the High Priests had turned the Court of the Gentiles into a centre of commerce. The High Priests made a lot of money from the sale of animals for sacrifice and from the money changing. The most profitable time was during the Passover when thousands of Jewish pilgrims came from all over the Roman world. For example, over a quarter of a million lambs were sacrificed in Jerusalem during the Passover. Those Jews coming from afar would buy the animals in the Court of the Gentiles.
The temple had its own currency and those who wanted to buy an animal had to use the temple currency. So, the Jewish pilgrims had to exchange their normal currency for the temple currency at extortionate rates. They also had to pay extortionate amounts for the sacrificial animals.
Try to picture the scene if you will.
So, why did Jesus cleanse the temple of all this commerce? Jesus tells us in Verse 17. The purpose of the temple had been corrupted. It was meant to be a place of prayer.
Notice how Jesus says that it is for ‘all nations’ and not just Israel. So, what was the effect of the High Priests turning the Court of the Gentiles into a centre of commerce? It stopped other nationalities (the Gentiles) from praying at God’s house.
This made Jesus so angry because Israel had been given the mission of proclaiming God’s truth to all people and not just the Jews. That’s why God had instructed the Jews to provide a place for the Gentiles to pray in the temple.
Bear in mind that the popular Jewish expectation at that time was that the Messiah would cleanse the Gentiles from the temple. How perverse was that. However, Jesus, their Messiah, cleansed the temple for the Gentiles.
Verses 18 to 19
Now we are told that, in response to what Jesus had done, the Chief Priests began to plot His destruction. Why do you think that, in this instance, the High Priests wanted to get rid of Jesus?
Verses 20 to 21
We see in Verse 19 that Jesus and the disciples have once again left Jerusalem. And then the next morning they pass the fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before. The fig tree had withered from the root upwards.
So, what is the connection between the fig tree story and what was happening in the temple? Remember how Jesus cursed the fig tree because in was fruitless. It looked like it should be fruitful but it wasn’t. It was the same with the whole rabbinical religious system of that time with the temple at its heart. It had all the appearance of being righteous but it was corrupt and rotten and was barren. In other words, it lacked the fruit of righteousness.
This was exemplified by the way the Court of the Gentiles had been corrupted. Prayer, which is a fruit of righteousness, was lacking in the Court of the Gentiles. It was barren, just as the fig tree was.
Woe to any part of the church today that fails to produce the fruit of righteousness. It too will wither and die just like the fig tree.