Yesterday we read about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey to crowds cheering Him and throwing down their garments and branches before Him. The disciples could have been wondering what He was going to do next. I would have probably been thinking that He needed to keep the crowd engaged, maybe do some more miracles, or preach another great sermon like the Sermon on the Mount.
We don’t see Jesus doing any of that, though. Mark 11:11 says, “So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.” It doesn’t say He hung around and talked to the crowds or anything you’d think He would do if He was setting up an earthly Kingdom. He looked around the Temple and headed back to Bethany for the night. Were the disciples wondering what He was doing?
The next morning when they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree that was full of leaves, so he went over to it but found no figs, there were only leaves. “Then Jesus said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat your fruit again!’ And the disciples heard Him say it.” (Mark 11:12 NLT)
This didn’t really make sense to me, so I read a commentary by David Guzik on this verse. He says, “The tree was cursed for its pretense of leaves, not for its lack of fruit. Like Israel in the days of Jesus, it had the outward form but no fruit. In this picture, Jesus warned Israel – and us – of God’s displeasure when we have the appearance of fruit but not the fruit itself. God isn’t pleased when His people are all leaves and no fruit.” Whoa!
After this, Jesus heads to the Temple where John 2:15 says He made a whip of cords and drove out the animals and money changers. He poured out their coins and overturned their tables. He told them in verse 16, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” Mark 11:17 says, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” He was not out to win friends and influence people. He was there to do Kingdom business. This doesn’t sound like, to me, the meek and mild Jesus that everyone points to, declaring He’s okay with whatever they want to do.
His actions didn’t come without consequences, though. The Pharisees questioned His authority to do all these things. He ends up questioning them in Mark 11:27-33, but when they couldn’t answer Him, He didn’t answer them. And then He tells the parable of the Evil Farmers in Mark 12. When they realized they were ‘the wicked farmers’, they wanted to arrest Him but were too afraid of the crowds.
There’s a lot here to think about. We get a glimpse and a warning about God’s heart when it comes to hypocrisy (all leaves and no fruit) and His house. We are now His Temple. Maybe we should be cautious of allowing things that shouldn’t be in our temple.
Lord, forgive me when I’ve just gone through the motions or put on a show, and haven’t really produced the fruit you call me to produce. Forgive me for allowing things to come in and take up places that should be clean and pure before you.
Debbie's Perspective 