Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area.
He looked around at everything and, since it was already late,
went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf,
he went over to see if he could find anything on it.
When he reached it he found nothing but leaves;
it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”
And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem,
and on entering the temple area
he began to drive out those selling and buying there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers
and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples?
But you have made it a den of thieves.”
The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it
and were seeking a way to put him to death,
yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.
Early in the morning, as they were walking along,
they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look!
The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer,
believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance,
so that your heavenly Father may in turn
forgive you your transgressions.”

When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!”

This again is a greek literary technique, they would wrap one story with two other stories in order to make a point. In this case the fig tree story before and after the cleansing of the temple. But all three stories in this case tell the same story, the fall of the jews from right worship, and the consequences for their infidelity.

The parable of the fig tree is one of the more enigmatic teachings in the bible. It does not make sense to modern ears that Jesus would condemn a tree. But as all things that Jesus taught there are deeper meanings to the teaching. The Fig tree is a symbol of all of Israel, there was no fruit on the tree, just like all of Israel. Over all the years, the Jews had only succeeded in creating a system of their own making. They had a usurper, Herod, as the king; pharisees were in charge of the temple but they were not levites, and the people were lost in a mire of man made laws. Thus, Jesus curses the tree, as stand-in for the whole of Israel.

The fig tree then serves as a sign of what He is going to do next. His condemnation of Israel, is thus fulfilled by the cleansing of the temple. As Isaiah 66 foretold, the outer court of the temple (called the court of the gentiles), was designed as a place of worship for all nations. God wanted the temple to be a place that all nations, not just Jews, could come to worship the one true god. But instead, because the jews hated the gentiles, The pharisees excluded “all of the nations” from participating in any part of the temple, and they did it in one of the most offensive ways possible, they turned the outer court (the court of the gentiles) into a marketplace for buying and selling temple sacrificial offerings.

This reality, was foretold in Jeremiah 7:11 when he wrote that the temple would become a “Den of Thieves, and that God would not protect it.” So when Jesus used the Jeremiah’s words here, the Pharisees in the temple, recognized it immediately and were deeply angered, because they were being associated with Jeremiah’s prophecy. I cannot emphasize enough how this quote would have enraged them, it could not have been more volatile or controversial, because they were once again shown to be the hypocrites that they were.

And indeed God would no longer protect the temple…, and it was destroyed by the romans 40 years after that day. And so, we come to the end of the parable, and the last bookend to this story. Jesus reminds us of what the prophets told us, he cleanses the temple of the evil doers, and he give us a sign of his prophecy about the destruction of the temple in that we see that the Fig tree is thus withered and dying as they leave. Mark is a master of this writing style and it is beautiful when you see what he is doing. Now I ask you, are you bearing fruit? Are you living up to what God wills for your life? If not why not, that is your call today…, don’t let Jesus remove His protection the way that He did from the Jews.

Oh lord, help me to live my life in a way that honors you, and pleases you, help me not to be like the pharisees, that put their wishes above your own. Amen.