We are continuing on our road to Easter by covering each of the days of the Passion Week—i.e., the week of Jesus’ crucifixion, and His resurrection from the tomb. Today, we’ll cover the early part of the Passion week—as described in Mark’s Gospel. Starting with Mark 11:11, we’ll follow Jesus on a short tour of the Temple that occurred late on Psalm Sunday. Here, we are told: “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the Temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.” Mark 11:11 (NIV) Jesus headed back to Bethany because it was the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. This was the very same Lazarus who Jesus had raised from the dead only days before. Jerusalem was abuzz with news of this marvelous miracle. It was beyond anything that had ever happened before. Little did they know that an infinitely more wonderous miracle would take place on the following Sunday morning when Jesus would be resurrected from the dead!
What Jesus observed when He toured the Temple did not set well with Him at all. In fact, it disturbed Him greatly. It made such an unfavorable impression upon Jesus that He searched for a good way to convey to His disciples the woe awaiting those who participate in the wicked things He had seen at the Temple. So, when the sun rose on Monday morning, Jesus could not wait to head back to the Temple complex to attend to some unfinished business. Apparently, He was in such a hurry that He didn’t even take time to eat breakfast.
Mark continues to describe the unusual events that happened: 12 “The next day [Monday] as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then He said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And His disciples heard Him say it.” Mark 11:12-14 (NIV)
I would have liked to have seen the puzzled looks on His disciples faces when Jesus scolded the fig tree for having no fruit. They must have wondered, “Why is Jesus looking for figs on a tree this time of year? Fig trees won’t be bearing any fruit for another couple of months!” His disciples knew that Jesus came from an agricultural area. He’d been raised in a small village surrounded by the rural countryside where fig trees grew. So, Jesus would have been well aware that fig trees don’t bear fruit until June at the earliest.[1] But, when Jesus approached this fig tree, it was still late March, or the first few days of April at the latest.[2] In fact, as we just read, Mark’s Gospel specifically states that, “It was not the season for figs.” (Mark 11:13)
After leaving the fig tree, Jesus headed back into the city where Mark again picks up the narrative. It is here that Jesus completed that “unfinished business” that came to His attention during His earlier tour of the Temple: 15 “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the Temple courts. 17 And as He taught them, He said, ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching. 19 When evening came, they went out of the city.” Mark 11:15-19 (NIV)
It’s hard to make sense of this without returning to that fig tree. And so, that is exactly what Jesus did on Tuesday morning on the way back to Jerusalem. Mark goes on: 20 “In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has withered!’ 22 ‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. 23 ‘I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.’” Mark 11:20-25 (NIV)
So, what’s going on with this story of the fruitless fig tree and the clearing of the Temple? What is Jesus teaching us? Well, it must be something quite important because these things happened on Monday and Tuesday of the Passion Week and, by Friday, Jesus would be nailed to the Cross. Jesus knew time was running out on His earthly ministry. Before His crucifixion, He wanted to pass along to His disciples one of His most important messages. This passage from Mark 11 provides one of those lessons. We can’t understand the significance of this without seeing how Jesus’ treatment of the fig tree relates to His clearing of the Temple. And, we don’t want to miss how these things relate to us today—for they surely do!
As mentioned previously, Jesus knew that fig trees did not produce fruit during this time of year. But, Jesus was using the fig tree to symbolize the religious practices He observed during his tour of the Temple. So, what did Jesus see during His inspection? We are told that there were people in the Temple complex who were “buying and selling.” Buying and selling what? Most likely, this involved the sale of sacrificial lambs and doves to those thousands of pilgrims who had come to the Temple during the great Passover celebration. These Jewish travelers had traveled great distances from all over the Roman empire. It wasn’t convenient or practical for them to carry lambs and doves on such long journeys. So, when they reached Jerusalem, they needed lambs and doves to offer to the priests for sacrifices in the Temple. These merchants provided a valuable service in making these lambs and doves available.
What about the “money changers”? What services did they provide? Again, since those Jewish people visiting Jerusalem for the Passover came from different countries, they brought with them coinage that was foreign to the coins used in the Temple to purchase the lambs and doves. Many of these foreign coins bore the images of pagan gods. It just wouldn’t do to allow such tainted money to be used to buy sacrifices that would go into the holy part of the Temple. To “cleanse” this foreign money, the money changers acted as exchange agents. They would take a pilgrim’s foreign coins and exchange them for the equivalent value of temple coinage that could be used to buy the lambs and doves. Of course, they charged a fee for their money-exchange services.
The other thing Jesus observed was that people were carrying “merchandise through the Temple courts.” Apparently, this transport of merchandise was not directly related to any worship or sacrifices that were going on as part of the religious activities in the Temple. But, with all the visitors crowding the narrow streets of Jerusalem, some of the broad areas within the Temple itself were more convenient for merchants to use in moving their goods from one market to another. Merchants pulling carts or driving camels laden with goods would frequently use a portion of the Temple courts as shortcuts to get from one marketplace to another.[3] Of course, this was disruptive to any worship and prayers services that were taking place. In some ways, it was similar to what we occasionally experience when a CSX train gives a long toot on its horn while passing by during our church services.
Now, apart from the random packs of donkeys or camels meandering through the Temple courts, why was Jesus so disturbed when He saw these things? The troubling thing was that many of the merchants and money changers were price-gouging and cheating the worshipers. Jesus knew this because He could see the sin that darkened the hearts of the men behind these commercial enterprises. He also knew of the sin that dominated the lives of those religious leaders who ran the Temple. For example, many of the businesses that were raking in all the money from their commercial booths in the Temple were owned by the family of Annas, the former High Priest.[4] So, yes—sin had crept into the Temple through these shady business practices that were going on in the most holy of places. This contributed to Jesus’ anger when clearing the Temple. In fact, these wicked activities in God’s House provided the basis for Jesus’ quote from Jeremiah 7:11 when He rebuked them by saying: “You have made [God’s House] a den of robbers.”[5] But, something else seemed to trouble Jesus even more.
A clue to this is found in the Scripture Jesus quoted from Isaiah 56:7. [6] It is that part where Jesus said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for ALL NATIONS’?” You see, not only was Jesus upset by the shady business activities going on in the Temple, He was more enraged by the fact that the “nations” were being denied access to God’s House of prayer. The “nations” refers to the Gentiles—all those people who are not Jewish—in other words, people like you and me. God’s love and salvation was supposed to be made available to everyone in the world who would believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. It was bad enough that the Temple had been constructed with a separate, walled-off Court of the Gentile—an area of worship to which the Gentiles were confined. In fact, there was a prominent sign between the Court of the Gentiles and the other Jewish Courts. It threatened the penalty of death to any Gentile who strayed past the warning sign. This was not what God had intended. God was quite clear in speaking through the Prophet Isaiah that the Jewish people were supposed to be a light to all nations. Israel was intended to be a beacon to people everywhere bidding them to come to the Temple and worship the One True God.[7] But, for the most part, Israel had let God down by turning from Him throughout its ancient history. Rather than attracting Gentiles to God, their poor examples repelled them instead. (Too often, we Christians act the same way today!) That’s what made Jesus so incensed when He observed what was happening in the Temple.
And, where do you think all those merchants’ booths were set up to sell the sacrificial lambs and doves? Where were those money changers’ tables located with their stacks of silver and gold coins? Where were the carts and camels hauling all that “merchandise” through the Temple? YES, IT WAS RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE COURT OF THE GENTILES!! Due to all this excessive commercial activity, the “nations” of the world were being denied what little room they had been afforded to worship the One True God! That is why Jesus said the Jews in the Temple had made His Father’s House “a den of robbers and thieves.” It was a theft of international proportions. As one New Testament scholar put it: “If we ask who was being robbed of what, we would have to say that God was robbed of the worship of the nations and the nations were robbed of their place in the House of Prayer.”[8]
So, what does this have to do with that withered “fig tree”? Actually, it has everything to do with it. Jesus wasn’t being unkind to fig trees or even tree-huggers. Rather, this particular fig tree served as a stern parable that sent a warning.[9] It was a warning to the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day. It remains a warning to us today as well. Jesus didn’t curse the fig tree because it failed to have any fruit on a morning that He happened to be hungry. No, He zapped it because its fruitless condition reflected the worship (or lack thereof) that was going on in the Temple. The fig tree was a picture of the Temple. The Temple was a big, leafy tree, but it wasn’t producing any fruit. The Temple was supposed to always produce fruit—whatever the season.[10] But, the Temple was “all show—and no go.” It had a lot of activities going on, but most of them were distracting from the worship of God. If the Gentiles went to the Temple to learn about the LORD, they were more apt to come away learning what it felt like to be fleeced of their money by dishonest merchants and shady money changers. The Temple had green leaves everywhere, but no spiritual fruit in sight. The message surrounding the fig tree was crystal clear to the Jews who ran the place: “Either shape up, or God’s going to ship you out!” But, they didn’t shape up. Rather, the Jewish religious leaders committed the most heinous, unjust and murderous act in the history of mankind. By the end of the week, they had crucified the Lamb of God! They had nailed Jesus to the Cross! No, they didn’t shape up, and so God shipped them out—but not immediately. They’d be “shipped out” about 40 years after this, in 70 A.D. For it was then, that the Roman soldiers destroyed the Temple and the Jews, as a people, were scattered to the four corners of the earth. Judgment eventually comes to those who fail to heed God’s warnings. Yes—they’ll end up with the same fate as that withered, dead fig tree. There’s a valuable lesson in that. But, there is another message as well that is relevant to us on a personal level.
Recall that Jesus said to those in the Temple: “If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23) The “mountain” Jesus was pointing to in His day, was the mountain of fruitless religious activity represented by the Temple. It is noteworthy that Jesus’ quote from Isaiah 56:7 included only the last part of that verse. The full text of Isaiah 56:7 states this: “These I will bring to My Holy Mountain and give them joy in My House of Prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My House will be called a House of Prayer for all nations.” (NIV) Jesus envisioned a fruitful mountain of worship and prayer, instead of the fruitless fig-tree that the Temple had become. So, if you paraphrased it, Jesus was encouraging His followers to abandon the Temple mount’s unproductive and lifeless worship and prayer for something much better. This anticipated the NEW COVENANT OF JESUS’ BLOOD that was about to be shed on the Cross. In effect, Jesus was telling the old, fruitless “holy mountain” of the Temple to “jump in a lake”—or, the sea! Yes, the Temple mount with its crooked commercial enterprises had become little more than a place of secular religion. Here, we find a lesson for us today—because we too live in a society that adores secular religion.
For those who practice secular religion, Jesus bids them to cast such secular mountains into the sea. Today, Jesus is speaking: To those atheists who worship themselves / To those whose only “gods” are power, wealth or fame / To those (both heterosexual and homosexual) whose “religion” is the practice of illicit sex. He is calling out: To those who bow down to the “gods” of meth, alcohol, pot or a host of drugs—whose only spiritual high comes from a crack pipe, a bottle or a pill. And most surely, Jesus is sending a warning to those who pretend to be Christians, but whose lives fail to bear any of the fruit mentioned in God’s Word. Jesus bids all of them to toss their useless “mountains” into the sea and come to Him!
Jesus wants you to have green leaves. But, Jesus also wants you to truly flourish. And so, He bids you to take a step farther and start bearing fruit. Why?—So, you’ll find your purpose in life. Those who find purpose in life understand that life has meaning. When life has meaning, it brings joy to life. It is the joy and peace that comes with knowing God and serving Him. Some people stumble through life without joy and peace because their lives lack meaning. But, Jesus wants you to have life and have it more abundantly.[11] But again, to do so as a Christian, you must bear fruit. Paul said, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV) But, as Christian writer, Terry Fullam, has pointed out: “The fruit of the Spirit grows only in the garden of obedience.”[12] Those who place their trust in Jesus Christ and surrender to Him as their Lord and Savior, will bear acres of good fruit. That is a blessed thing followed by a heavenly destination. But, a fruitless life, in the here and now, will be followed by a cursed afterlife in a lake of fire. With this in mind, the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel ring clear: 17 “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:17-20 (NIV) “Therefore, bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Matthew 3:8 (NASB)
So, how can you start bearing the “fruit of the Spirit” that Paul wrote about? How do you earn it? Well, these things cannot be earned. Many years ago, Christian writer, Susan Maycinik Nikaido, explained: “Too many of us fit into this scenario: We read . . . about the fruit of the Spirit. We then ask ourselves, which of these qualities is weakest in my life? Then we come up with a plan to ‘work on’ this weak area. We may even ask someone to hold us accountable. Guess what? Those who follow this pattern are destined for utter failure. Because love, joy, and all that other good stuff are the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of our efforts. We can’t produce them on our own. Period. The fruit comes only as we submit our lives and let the Spirit control us.”[13] I couldn’t agree more. Fruit will come when you let the Holy Spirit be the gardener.
In conclusion, think about the many times that “unfinished business” is being attended to here in Mark, chapter 11. Jesus handled unfinished business when He returned to the Temple and ran out the merchants and money changers. The Jewish religious leaders hated Jesus for that and committed themselves to the business of killing Him. They attended to that business toward the end of the week when they crucified Christ. But, God wasn’t finished at the Cross. He took care of unfinished business with the most amazing miracle in history: The Resurrection of His Son from the tomb! But, God wasn’t through at that point. He still has some unfinished business yet to come. One day soon, JESUS IS COMING AGAIN! He is going to finish the business He started when He took on His resurrected body and rose from the dead. There’s a resurrection waiting for you one day if you know Christ as your Savior—THAT IS THE MESSAGE OF EASTER! It’s a message we celebrate on one Sunday each year. But, for followers of Jesus, it needs to be celebrated every day of every week throughout the years. Those who treasure the message of the Cross and of the Resurrection will, indeed, have wonderful fruit in their lives.
Do you hunger for that fruit? Do you have some “unfinished business” of your own to attend to this morning? If so, now is the time to attend to it by coming forward and renewing your commitment to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the end, you don’t want to be a withered fig tree that’s chopped down and thrown into a Lake of Fire. Jesus doesn’t want that either. In fact, He died on the Cross to make a way forward for you—One in which you will not be merely a bunch of green leaves, but rather have a life filled with the delicious fruit of His love!
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
March 10, 2024
©2024 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] Richard C Blight, Exegetical Summary of Mark 9-16, An, (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 148.
[2] Justin Taylor and Andreas Köstenberger, “April 3, AD 33: Why We Believe We Can Know the Exact Date Jesus Died,” The Center for Biblical Studies (mbts.edu), https://cbs.mbts.edu/2020/04/08/april-3-ad-33-why-we-believe-we-can-know-the-exact-date-jesus-died/ (April 3, 2014).
[3] Richard C Blight, Exegetical Summary of Mark 9-16, An, (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 151.
[4] Barclay, William. "Commentary on Mark 11". "William Barclay's Daily Study Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb/mark-11.html. 1956-1959.
[5] Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.” (NIV)
[6] Isaiah 56:7 “These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (NIV)
[7] Isaiah 42:6 “I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, and I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, AS A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS.” (NASB) Isaiah 51:4 “Pay attention to Me, O My people, and give ear to Me, O My nation; For a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for A LIGHT OF THE PEOPLES.” (NASB)
[8] Ronald J. Kernaghan, Mark, ed. Grant R. Osborne, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 218.
[9] Exegetical Summary of Mark 9-16, An, (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 148.
[10] 2nd Timothy 4:2 “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” (NIV)
[11] John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NKJV)
[12] Leadership, Vol. 6, no. 3, cited in PreachingToday.com.
[13] Susan Maycinik Nikaido, “Who’s Afraid Of The Holy Spirit?” Discipleship Journal, Issue 91 (January/February 1996). NavPress, 1996.
