Mark 11:12-21 The Fig Tree and the House of God

Gospel of Mark  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church

From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text

Jesus’ Ministry Travels

Pray

Background

Approaching the end of Jesus earthly ministry
First part was Him establishing His purpose for God’s people - that He/the Son of God, has come to save His people from their sins
Next, He is focused on the work He must do at the Cross
He continues to teach God’s will
He continues to address the cost of discipleship
He continues to explain His mission to save His people
He continues to prepare His followers for what will happen in Jerusalem
Now in Jerusalem, He is now engaged in the work that will inevitably lead Him to His death
Today: Jesus provides a practical lesson on what He expects of His church
Mark 11:12–21 ESV
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. 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 tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 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. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
Pray

Introduction:

Jesus activities over the two days discussed in this text actually happened. On the surface, they include yet another proof that Jesus was both man and God, a miracle, and His first public rebuke (correction) to the Jewish religious leadership at the Temple
On a deeper level, this text tells us where the Lord stood not only on the organization of the Jewish religion, but the dangers that would face His Christian church in times to come.

Firstly, another proof that the Lord was really a man

We read “He was hungry”
Jesus had our nature and bodily makeup - He was like us in all things, except sin
Could weep, rejoice, suffer pain, be tired and need rest, be thirsty and need drink, be hungry and need food
This shows us how Christ, in a very physical way, came down to our level
It’s wonderful to think about
The eternal God, the one who made the earth and all in it, the one who gave us all that is in the earth - the fish, birds, animals - He created them all
Yet, He was happy to suffer hunger when He came to save sinners
A great mystery - this kindness and love are beyond understanding. Rarely see this with people, if ever
The apostle Paul was amazed - Eph. 3:8 “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,”
Christ is able to sympathize with His followers on earth
Knows their sorrows - knows how their pain and illness feel
He has suffered Himself the most severe sufferings a man can be subjected to
Tasted pin, weakness, tiredness, hunger and thirst
When we share our prayers with Him, He understands - He is no stranger to human troubles
Jesus is the perfect saviour and friend for poor, aching, groaning human nature

The danger of shallow and unfruitful religion - Cursing the fig tree

Everything Jesus did and that was recorded in the Bible, is for our teaching
His cursing of the fig tree may be difficult to understand, but since the Lord passed it down to us, we need to try to understand
Jesus teaches a lesson here not by speaking, but through His actions
When He came to the fig tree, searching for fruit, He found nothing but leaves
He levied a curse: May no man eat fruit from you again
We are told that the next day, the fig-tree was withered from the roots up.
This is most likely a symbol of spiritual things, a lesson full of meaning in actions, rather than words
Who is this lesson of the fig tree for? It has three applications - speaks to the consciences of all believing Christians
Though withered and dried up, the tree has a message for the Jewish Church
That church was rich in tradition and ceremony, but barren of all the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” )
The Jewish church was in real danger at this time; if it could only have seen the peril it faced
There is also a warning for all branches of the Christian church, from then to now, in every part of the world
The warning is against an empty profession of faith, empty of sound teaching and holy living
The Christian churches would do well to take this to heart
The tree is a warning for all worldly, hypocritical, false hearted Christians
Anyone who is happy to call himself Christian, but lives a life of a practical atheist - remains dead in sin, should see themselves in these verses
We should each take a lesson from this fig-tree
baptism, church-membership, participating in the sacraments - the outward appearances of Christianity cannot save our souls
All these things are beautiful leaves, but only leaves - no fruit; remember, Adam and Eve clothed themselves with fig leaves, but it could not hide their sin from God - the leaves will not give us the courage to stand before the Lord on the last day
We must bear fruit, or be lost forever
Fruit in our hearts/fruit in our lives/fruit of repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ - true holiness in our lives
Without fruits, our claims to be Christian will only sink us lower into hell

Finally, we need to have respect for the places that are set aside for public worship

The Lord’s conduct in the Temple shows this to us in a striking way
Mark 11:15-18 “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 tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them,
Warrant of Scripture: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.”
This action by Jesus was typical of Him
We have to have respect for places set apart for the service of God - there is no room for careless, corrupt or silly behaviour
This was a place of prayer, and this is why the Lord purified it
Every house of prayer should be treated with the same respect
Church buildings should be different from other public buildings - they are to be set aside as holy and sanctified
The priests and Pharisees were angry because Jesus disrupted the money they made from the businesses they let operate in the Court of the Gentiles
In the opposite way, we should not let the need to finance churches and their facilities to corrupt the teachings of Christ or the holiness of the place
We need to have a respect for the places where Christ is preached, people are born again
The mind of Jesus, in this passage is very plain - He notices our behaviour in places of worship, and all profaneness is offensive to Him

Bringing it home

We need to keep these verses in mind when we go to the house of God - we need to be serious and not offer the sacrifice of fools.
Let’s remember where we are, what we are doing, why we are there, and who we are worshipping
Let’s be careful about paying lip service to the Lord, while we think and talk about worldly things
Leave business and money at the office or at home
The Lord still lives, who threw out the buyers and sellers in the temple - when He see this kind of activity, He is displeased

The Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Romans 10:9 ESV
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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