Jesus Judges Fruitlessness

Y. Edward Robertson, jr

On The Road With Jesus • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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The Cursing of the Fig Tree and clearing of the temple

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Introduction:

Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem. On that morning, He was hungry. So, when He saw a fig tree in the distance, with all its leaves, He went there to get some figs to eat. Fig trees generally produce two crops. The first comes in the Spring. Then the leaves sprout in March or April and produce fruit in May or June. Unfortunately, He found nothing but leaves. And He said to it, “may no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard it.

He proceeded to the temple. He saw that nothing religious was going on. He saw the exploitation of the poor. So, He drove out those who were selling and buying in the temple. He overturned the table of the money changers and the seat of those who sold pigeons. He did not allow anyone to carry their wares through the temple. He started teaching them saying, “is it not written, my house shall be called the house of prayer for the nations? But you have made it into a den of robbers.”

The chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy Him. They feared Him because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching. When evening came, He and His disciples went out of the city.

What does Mark want us to take away from these stories, the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple?

What we see in these two stories is this...

Jesus pronounced a curse on the temple and Jerusalem because of their spiritual bankruptcy. The fig tree represents the temple.

Because of its bankrupt religious practices.

Mark is conveying that the barren fig tree graphically represents the emptiness of the worship within the temple. The temple looked great and magnificent, but it did not bring any solution to the people’s spiritual hunger.

Just as Jesus was expecting some figs on the tree to satisfy His hunger but found nothing, the people came to the temple but left spiritually hungry. The temple had all the leaves and looked healthy from the distance but was bankrupt. It was empty. He inspected the fig tree just as He inspected the temple in . He found nothing. Jesus was looking for edible fruit but found nothing.

The temple was barren because it was a commercial enterprise that exploited the poor and vulnerable. The chief priests and scribes forgot the reason God asked for the temple to be built. The temple was constructed so that people would come to worship God.

We saw this in our study of the Reformation. The church was a huge commercial enterprise selling grace and salvation. It took a German monk to break away from this enterprise.

The cleansing of the temple:

“And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and He overturned the table of money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons (V. 15).

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple. He overturned the table of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

Each year, two weeks before Passover, money changers set up their tables for the exchange of Greek or Roman money to a special currency. This exchange required a temple tax to be paid. Every male adult paid this tax.

The selling of animals and the exchange of currency was taking place in the court of the Gentiles. The noise, the stench and the trading prevented the the Gentiles from worshiping God. The only place allocated for the Gentiles to worship God had been taken over by traders. By clearing out the traders, Jesus provided a place for the Gentiles to worship.

In cleansing the temple, Jesus was addressing hypocrisy within the Jewish religious system. He saw the pharisees, the scribes and the chief priests dressed up in the pious outfit, but their lifestyle did not produce the necessary fruit. It was all leaves but no fruit. It could not satisfy the spiritual hunger of those who came to celebrate the passover.

Jesus expelled everyone from the court of the Gentiles. This was radical because Jews felt that they were in the presence of God when they arrived at the temple. By expelling them, Christ was expelling them from God’s presence.

The selling of animals and the exchange of currency was taking place in the court of the Gentiles carrying out this transaction. The noise, the stench and the trading prevented the the Gentiles from worshiping God. The only place sat aside for the Gentiles to worship God was taken over by traders. So, the Gentiles could not worship. By clearing out the traders, Jesus provided a place they were allowed to worship.

In this expulsion, we see His compassion for people of all races. He was just as concerned for the Gentiles as He was for the Jews. His purpose of coming was to bring Jews and Gentiles into a relationship with God and with one another. In Paul writes, “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” The dividing wall may have referenced the court of the Gentiles from the rest of the temple. Christ brought it down. He gave Jews and Gentiles equal privilege before God.

We see Jesus

“And He would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple (V.16).

Those who wanted to take merchandise into the temple to sell were prohibited by Christ. The temple was not a market place.

Some of our churches today need to be cleansed because we have strayed away from the true worship of God. Some denominations have changed the Word of God, so that the god they worship today is an idol of their imagination and not the God of the Bible. For this reason, worship is not taking place. True worship takes place when we approach God on His terms. In some of our denominations, the gender of God has been changed to suit the culture.

And Jesus drove the money changers and those selling from the temple.

Some of our churches today needs to be cleansed. Because we have strayed away from true worship of God and are promoting our own agenda. Some denominations have changed the word of God, so that the God they are worshiping today, is an idol of their own heart and not the God of the Bible. In some of our denominations, the gender of God has been changed to suit the culture.

I read an article this week. This is the headline. “The Episcopal Diocese recently passed a resolution stating that it will eliminate, when possible, all gendered references to God. Their strategy would to alternate gendered titles when referring to God or to use a neutral language. Attempting to justify this change in their approach to God, Episcopal Reverend Linda R. Calkins stated: “If Episcopalian are going to be true to what El Shaddai means, it means God with breasts.”

El Shaddai means God almighty. We see this in . Any denomination or church that abandons the word of God will find herself in trouble. When Israel took her eyes from God’s Word, the worship was a mess.

And He began to teach:

“And He was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of robbers (V. 18).”

He was quoting from . Prayer is a very important part of worship. It was in the temple that the people came to talk to God. But the Jews turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. He was quoting ; by referring to this place as a den of thieves, He was not only stating that robbery took place here, He was also saying that this court yard had become a place where robbers hid. They found the temple as a refuge for their unjust exploitations.

In , we see God opening His arms to the foreigners who feared Him. The temple was to draw all nation to the true God. But the Jews were putting up obstacles to prevent people from coming to worship God.

Sometimes, our lives and actions serve as obstacles to others coming to Christ. The High Priests were supporting this corrupt enterprise that kept the Gentiles from worshipping God. The actions of the high priests were hindering the Gentiles’ worship. We too have to be careful how we live so that we do not cause unbelievers to blaspheme the name of God. Paul states in “For it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” The apostle Paul was challenging Jews who thought that they knew God and were teaching others while living a lifestyle contrary to what they were teaching.

To correct some of our sins, we must go back to Scripture. Jesus took the crowd back to Scripture. He showed them from Scripture why the temple had been constructed. He went back to the Old Testament to challenge the crowd. If we are to challenge ourselves and our congregation, the Word of God must be opened every time we meet. We must allow the Word of God to shed light on our lives, so that change can take place.

We have churches today who are no longer living in submission to the word of God. They are guided by the culture. Some of these churches are now calling on us to abandon the word of God and allow the culture to determine what is right or wrong.

“and the chief priests and scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared Him, because all the crowd were astonished at His teaching. And when evening came, they went out of the city (VV. 18-19).

The chief priests and the scribes wanted Jesus dead because of His growing popularity. Whenever He taught, it had an impact on the people. They marveled at His teaching. In we read “And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”

The chief priests and scribes and pharisees knew that if they did not kill Jesus, the people would be following Him. They were going to be looking to Him for leadership and religious direction.

That is the hypocrisy that Christ was addressing. The chief priests and scribes were seeking to take the life of Christ. Their plan was a clear violation of one of the Ten commandments, “You shall not kill.” But that commandment was not important to them.

“And when evening came, they went out of the city. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots (VV. 18-19).”

The apostle Peter was astonished. He was not astonished because of the miracle that transpired the morning before (Bartimaeus). He had seen several amazing miracles of Christ. He saw five thousand being fed. He saw Jesus healing the blind man. He saw Jesus raising the dead. But He was astonished at the speed of this tree’s destruction. Mark tells us that “he saw the tree withered away to its roots.” It was an indication of the fast judgment that was approaching the temple. In 70 AD, it was destroyed.

Conclusion:

The lesson here applies to the temple. Just like the fig tree cursed by Jesus, the temple worship had a lot of leaves but there was no fruit. Her worship was not exhorting God but had become a demonstration of hypocrisy. Just like the fig tree was cursed for not producing fruit, Israel’s worship was going to be judged by God for not being fruitful.

Let me make it a little personal. Are you bearing fruit? The problem for the fig tree was that it was not bearing fruit. It looked good from a distance. But after careful examination, one could see that it had nothing to offer. It was empty.

Sometimes our lives are like that folks. People will say, “Oh, we are saved by grace and that’s it.” I will agree with my whole heart with those who espouse grace for the believers. But if we claim to be men and women “graced with God’s grace” and are not producing fruit for others to see, we know that we are in trouble.

We bear fruit when we stay connected to Christ. In , Jesus says that when we abide in Him, then we will bear fruit. We can only bear fruit when we hold onto the vine. The lack of fruit in our lives is a verifiable demonstration that we are not holding onto Christ. To abide in Christ means to listen to His word and do it. We may hear His words through songs, through fellowship with other believers and through reading the Scriptures. The fruit we will bear because we are abiding in Christ will usually have a positive impact on others. And Christ will be exalted!

When we are in Christ, these are the fruits of the Spirit () that we will bear-love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Love

Joy

peace

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