Many people believe that it is one of the most bizarre stories in the Bible. Jesus is in his final week of ministry. According to the gospel of Mark the day is Monday, just one day after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On that day with his stomach growling, Jesus got off to an early start and slowly made his way toward Jerusalem with his disciples for a busy day of ministry.
As they approach Jerusalem. Jesus notices a fig tree with abundant foliage along the roadside. Looking to quench his monstrous appetite, Jesus reaches up into the tree to search for some fruit only to discover that the tree is barren. The tree had no fruit. There wasn't one Fig Newton in the entire fig tree!
Now surely you can imagine how extremely disappointed Jesus must have been. He probably noticed that tree from a half-mile or more down the road. For a good five or ten minutes as he took one step after another, his imagination must have just worked on his famished appetite. You know how it is. You see a billboard as you're driving which says, "McDonalds, 12 miles." Before you even get there you are already sinking your teeth into a juicy Big Mac.
Anyhow, the fig tree was barren and totally fig-less. It had absolutely no fruit on its branches. So Jesus reacts and in an act that infuriated the tree-hugging environmentalists of his day, the gospel writers tell us that Jesus nuked the tree! He curses the fig tree in Matthew 21:19 (NIV) saying, "May you never bear fruit again! Immediately the tree withered."
Now on the surface it appears that Jesus is perhaps having a bad day. What else could explain his violent outburst? What else could explain his withering curse on some poor old innocent fig tree? What else could explain his seemingly childish waste of supernatural power on an inanimate object that failed to produce a little fruit for breakfast?
Well you will be pleased to know that Jesus was very much in control of himself. Throughout his entire ministry Jesus never once acted impulsively or selfishly. Likewise, on this day Jesus was conducting himself with dignity and great intention.
Upon closer inspection you will notice that Jesus timed the cursing of the fig tree with his visit to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The night before Jesus cursed the fig tree, Mark tells us that Jesus went into the temple in Jerusalem and looked around at everything, but since it was already late he went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.
That night in the temple Jesus saw something that triggered his divine wrath. That wrath found its expression in the cursing of the fig tree the next morning. What could Jesus have possibly seen in the temple that night? Or perhaps a better question is what didn't Jesus see in the temple that night?
I would suggest that Jesus approached the fig tree searching for physical fruit and was turned away with an empty stomach. Likewise, when Jesus entered the temple looking for religious authenticity he too went away unsatisfied andwith an empty spirit.
Jesus was looking for authenticity in four critical areas.
Jesus was looking for spiritual reverence.
In Matthew 21:12 (NIV) Matthew tells us that when Jesus entered the temple he,"...drove out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves."
It is obvious that the people of Jesus' day had degraded the temple by turning its outer courts into a highly profitable business. Merchandisers had set up their money tables to exchange Gentile currency into Jewish currency, for a profit of course. Merchandisers had set up benches where they regularly sold doves and other animals that would then be offered as sacrifices in the holy temple. The high priestly families had gained great wealth by learning to control the temple's fiscal affairs and had become guilty of unbelievable corruption. In fact, the great secular historian Josephus, himself a contemporary of Jesus, called the high priest Ananias the great procurer or consumer of money. Such profane, commercial activity was an intrusion on the sacred purposes and sacred spaces that were to be used for Jewish and Gentile worship.
This money changing in the temple so infuriated Jesus that in Matthew 21:13 (NIV) he refers to the temple as a, "den of robbers" or a hangout for thieves. David Garland says, "A den is a place where robbers retreat after having committed their crimes. It is their hideout, a place of security and refuge."
After cheating the people in the outer courts, the Jews thought that they could retreat back into the temple to find forgiveness and fellowship with God. But what they failed to realize was that God was every bit as attentive with what went on in the outer courts of the temple as he was with what went on in the innermost sacred spaces of the temple. Their irreverent acts in the outer court nullified their most pious acts of devotion and sacrifice within the temple.
And I think that there is a very relevant application for us in this text. We must never lose sight of the holy one in our lives. Whether we are in the temple or in the outer courts of the temple, we must never forget that we are always living in the presence of God. We must live our lives and conduct ourselves everywhere in a way that shows proper respect and reverence for the holy God who we serve. God is hungry for our spiritual authenticity. He doesn't want this church to become a den of robbers. He doesn't want us to become a place where ungodly people retreat and presumptively cheapen God's grace and create a false sense of security for themselves.
Jesus was looking for spiritual unity.
In Matthew 21:13 (NIV) after he finished overturning the tables and benches of the merchandisers Jesus declares, "My house will be called a house of prayer." In Mark 11:17 (NIV) Mark has Jesus adding a critical phrase. "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations."
When Jesus entered the temple he was hungry for prayer and spiritual conversation. Jesus was hungry for the unified collective prayers of both Jews and Gentiles. In these verses Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 in a passage in which God declares his desire to gather all the nations together under one house of prayer. God's vision was for all his people, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, to join together and freely relate to himself through heartfelt prayer. God's vision was to tear down the walls. His vision was to remove the barriers.
But when Jesus entered the temple he saw great resistance to God's vision. He saw racial prejudice, segregation, Jewish-Gentile animosity, hatred, and disgust. Instead of a temple that embodied inclusive love, Jesus found a temple that excluded everyone who was not ritually pure or physically whole. There was no place for interracial couples, for Moabites, for Ammonites, for half-breeds, aliens, or sojourners. There were signs barring Gentile entrance into the temple, threatening that any Gentiles who violated such temple rules would be put to death.
Today we must never lose sight of God's vision for his Church. As God's people we are to be a unified house of prayer for all nations and all peoples. We are to be a people who dismantle barriers and walls. We are to be a people who cross social, economic, and political lines to reach out and accept those who Christ died for.
All prejudice, hatred, and animosity must be cast aside to accomplish this. We are to be a people through whom our global God unites his creation in prayer. Anything less than this falls short of God's vision.
Jesus was looking for spiritual worship.
In Matthew 21:14-17 (NIV) we read, "The blind and the lame came to him (Jesus) at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' they were indignant. 'Do you hear what these children are saying?' they asked him. 'Yes,' replied Jesus, 'have you never read, 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise?' ' And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night."
When Jesus entered the temple he was hungry for spiritual worship, for praise. It is ironic that the children in the temple were among the first to appropriately respond to Jesus in heartfelt worship. They danced and leaped around and shouted praises to Jesus Christ, acknowledging the spiritual kingship and kingdom that he came to establish. As their sincere, heartfelt, uninhibited praise echoed throughout the temple courts, Jesus found the very thing the temple had been lacking the night before. Their jubilant praise drowned out the indignant criticisms of the vengeful Jewish leaders.
But the Jewish leaders themselves totally missed the messiah. They missed Christ! Here the creator of the universe, God almighty, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the king of the universe, is standing in their midst. He is restoring people's sight, restoring the lame, and doing all these things in the very temple that was built for his honor. And the leaders remain indignant!
We stand to learn a lot about worship from these children in Jesus' day. Christ's hunger for worship was satisfied by the praise of children. They saw the obvious. They recognized the Christ. They praised God. Their sincere, authentic worship refreshed the spirit of the living God.
Jesus was looking for spiritual confidence.
After Jesus left the temple, Matthew says that Jesus was teaching his disciples. In Matthew 21:21-22 (NIV) Jesus says to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go through yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
I believe that Jesus entered the temple hungry for spiritual confidence. Jesus was looking for a confident, trusting faith that anticipated results. If you believe, you will receive what you ask for in prayer.
Jesus wants us to have confidence when we approach God in prayer. In Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV) Paul models spiritual confidence when he prays, "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
When we pray, what kind of God are we praying to? A tiny God or an almighty God? When you pray, do you believe that God can heal your cancer? Your disease? Your impairment? Your disability?
When you pray, do you believe that God can break the power of sin in your life? When you pray, do you believe that God can crush the rebellious spirit of your son, or daughter, or teenager, or spouse, or ex-spouse, or angry neighbor, or coworker? When you pray, do you believe that God can intervene in your life circumstances and touch your life and rejuvenate your spiritual enthusiasm and refresh your soul?
When you pray, do you pray with confidence, expecting God to answer? Because I know what a lot of you are thinking. You are saying to yourselves, "I know that God can do these things, at least in theory, but I doubt he will!" Every time you doubt like that, you do God's kingdom and yourself a disservice.
When the temple was built it was built to remind people of God's greatness. Its massive stones, its enormous courtyards, its ornate gold and silver trimmings, its massive pillars, everything was designed to lift the peoples' imaginations to the heavens and to the very throne room of God. The temple was designed to incite confidence and a sense of expectation in people. The temple was designed to remind people of a God who is eager and willing to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
Jesus says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Jesus is hungry for people who will trust in him and who will have total confidence. He wants us to cast aside our doubts and fears and be people who eagerly anticipate answers to prayer. He wants us to be a people who eagerly anticipate God's working. When Jesus pronounced a curse on the fig tree, his goal was to stimulate our faith.
Christian charades.
This week I read an excerpt from psychologist and author Dr. Perry Buffington. In his 1999 article entitled "Playing Charades," he says research psychologists have found that there are at least three situations when we are not ourselves. First, the average person puts on airs when he visits the lobby of a fancy hotel. Next, the typical Jane Doe will try to hide her emotions and bamboozle the salesman when she enters the new car showroom. And finally, as we take our seat in church or synagogue, we try to fake out the almighty God that we've really been good all week.
As Christians we cannot miss the lesson of the fig tree. The lesson is that Jesus Christ cannot be fooled in any way by our charades. He is always approaching us on his way to Jerusalem. Every day he reaches into our lives searching for the kind of spiritual authenticity that will quench his famished appetite.
And this morning you need to ask yourself a question. Is Jesus finding in your life the kind of fruit he is looking for? Will he find the spirit of reverence? Will he find a spirit of unity? Will he find a spirit of worship? Will he find a spirit of confidence?