Matthew 21:18-22

Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:16-25

Introduction

I Feel like I Say this a Lot…

But it’s Important to Understanding Scripture:

In the Scriptures, Nothing is Random or Out of Place

Sometimes You’ll Run Across Verses, Passages, or Stories…

That Seem like They Don’t Belong/Make Sense in Their Context

It Seems as if the Author Just Arbitrarily Placed in There…

For No Particular Reason

I can Promise You that’s Never the Case

If it’s Within a Context…

I Guarantee You it Fits the Context

It May Just Take a Little Extra Digging to Figure Out How

Our Text this Morning is One of Those Texts…

That Seems Random & Out of Place

But By No Means is that the Case

Matthew Strategically/Purposefully…

Placed this Story Exactly Where it is Within the Context

Matthew 21:18-22

We’re in the Final Week of Jesus’ Mortal Life

He Made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Sunday

Then He Went to the Temple & Took a Look Around

Then He Left for Bethany & Stayed the Night There

On Monday, He Re-Entered Jerusalem…

And Performed the Prophetic Act of Cleansing the Temple

But Mark Tells Us…

That Jesus Performed Another Prophetic Act…

Before He Re-Entered Jerusalem

Matthew Also Tells Us about this Prophetic Act…

But He Presents it as if it Happened After the Temple Cleansing

Why?

Where Mark Does More Chronological Story-Telling…

Matthew Does More Thematic Story-Telling

Matthew is Going to Use this Prophetic Act…

To Set Up Jesus’ Telling of 3 Parables…

That will Elaborate Upon the Meaning of the Act

In a Nutshell:

Matthew Saves this Prophetic Act for After the Temple Cleansing…

Because He Wants it to Be Fresh on the Readers’ Minds…

When We Read the 3 Parables that Follow

Lord Willing, We’ll Look at Those 3 Parables Next Week

Alright, Let’s Check Out the Prophetic Act in Our Text

Matthew 21:18–19 (NASB95)

18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

On Monday Morning, Before the Temple Cleansing…

Jesus was Leaving Bethany & Heading Toward Jerusalem

He was Hungry…

And Happens to See a Fig Tree in the Distance

Mark Tells Us that it wasn’t Fig Season Yet…

But the Tree was Nice & Green…

So Jesus May have Been Expecting to Find…

What the Arabs Call “Taqsh” (tash):

Little Buds of Young Figs that can Be Eaten

But When Jesus Got There, There was No Taqsh…

Which Meant, this Tree wouldn’t Produce Any Figs All Year

So Jesus Curses the Fig Tree and Says:

“May You Never Bear Fruit Again!”

Then the Fig Tree Dries Up & Dies

What’s Going on Here?

Does Jesus have a Bad Case of Being Hangry?

No, that’s Not What’s Going on Here

Jesus Didn’t Cleanse the Temple Out of a Fit of Rage…

And He Didn’t Curse the Fig Tree Because He was Hungry & Irritable

Jesus is the Prophet

He was Performing a Prophetic Act…

That was Pointing to a Much Bigger Reality

The Tree Represents Israel & Israel’s Religious Leaders

They’re Just like the Fig Tree

They Look Good from a Distance…

But When You Get Closer…

You Find that They’re Bearing No Fruit

On the Outside, They Look Holy/Righteous/Devout…

But Inwardly, They’re Empty/Hollow

There’s No Holiness/Righteousness/Devotion to Be Found

In a Word, They’re Hypocrites

Jesus is Going to Talk a Lot about that in Chapter 23

Jesus is Pronouncing Judgment Upon Jerusalem & Her Religious Leaders

They are Cursed By God…

Because of Their Hypocrisy

They are Rejected By God…

Because They’ve Rejected His Anointed King

Next Week, We’ll Look at Jesus’ 3 Parables…

That Elaborate Upon this Prophetic Act of Cursing the Fig Tree

The 2nd Parable Comes to Close with These Words:

Matthew 21:43 (CSB)

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.

The Jewish Leaders were Producing No Fruit

So the Kingdom will Be Taken from Them…

And Given to Those Who are Producing Fruit

This Prophetic Judgment of Jerusalem & Her Leaders…

Would Be Fulfilled in the Year 70 AD…

When the Romans would Destroy the Temple

The Jewish System of Worship would Come Crumbling Down

God’s Kingdom would No Longer…

Exclusively Be the Blood Descendants of Abraham…

But All Who Love/Serve/Bear Fruit for God

Matthew 21:20–22 (NASB95)

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Mark Tells Us that it was Actually the Next Day (Tuesday)…

When the Disciples Saw that the Tree was Dead

They Wanted to Know How the Fig Tree Died so Suddenly

(As if They’ve Never Seen Jesus Work Miracles Before)

So Jesus Saw this as an Opportunity to Teach about Faith

“Truly I Say to You”

That’s Jesus Way of Saying:

“Listen Up, Because I’m About to Tell You Something…”

“Very Important & Very True”

“If You have Faith and Do Not Doubt”

“If You Trust & Don’t Doubt…”

“You’ll Do Even Greater Things than this”

“You’ll Be Able to Do the Impossible”

God Answers the Prayers of Those Who Trust & Don’t Doubt

Jesus isn’t Telling His Disciples:

They can Have/Do Whatever They Want…

So Long as They Believe

It’s Not the Faithful Who Move the Mountains/Do the Impossible

It’s God Who Moves the Mountains/Does the Impossible…

Through the Faithful

He’s Telling Them:

If They Trust God & Don’t Doubt His Power/Ability…

He can/will Do Great Things Through Them

Faith/Trust is Not about Us Achieving Great Things

It’s about God Achieving Great Things Through Us

Praying to God in Faith…

Is an Expression Our Powerlessness & Dependence Upon God

If We could Achieve it Ourselves…

We wouldn’t Need to Pray

Prayer is Saying:

“God, I’m Not Able…”

“But I Know that You are”

“I Trust in Your Ability to Grant My Request…”

“And I Do Not Doubt You”

The Weaker We Realize We are…

The More We’ll Rely Upon/Trust Him

The More We Rely Upon/Trust Him…

The Greater His Power will Be Shown Through Us

Listen to Paul Make this Point:

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul Wanted God to Take His Weaknesses Away

Had God Taken His Weaknesses Away…

Paul would have had Faith in/Trust in/Relied Upon His Own Strength/Power

But God Wanted Him to Realize…

That God’s Power Works Through the Weaknesses of His People

Paul then Began to Embrace His Weaknesses

Because When We are Weak…

We have Faith in/Trust in/Rely on the Strength/Power of God

That’s When Mountains are Moved

That’s When the Impossible Becomes Reality

That’s When the Walls of Jericho Fall

That’s When 300 People Defeats an Army of 135,000

That’s When the Young Shepherd Boy Defeats the Giant

If You Want to Do Great Things in the Kingdom of God:

Recognize Your Lack of Power/Strength to Do Anything Worthwhile

Have Faith in/Trust in/Rely Upon God’s Power to Do the Impossible Through You

Ask God to Use/Work Through You to Do Amazing Things for His Glory

Pray for His Power to Work Through You…

And then Submit Yourself…

To the Opportunities that He Presents to You

He’ll Provide You with a Ministry/Service in His Kingdom

And He’ll Do Amazing Things Through You…

If You Serve in Humility & Weakness…

And Place Your Trust in His Ability & Not Your Own

Application

Why Did Jesus Curse & Kill the Fig Tree?

Because it Wasn’t Producing Any Fruit

What Did the Cursing of the Fig Tree Represent?

The Cursing & Destruction of National Israel & Their Religious System

Why?

Because They were Producing No Fruit

Like the Fig Tree, They Looked Fruitful…

But They Weren’t

And for that They were Cursed/Judged

What about Us?

Judgement is Still Coming for Those Who Look Fruitful But Aren’t

Matthew 7:15–23 (NASB95)

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

It Doesn’t Matter if You Look the Part

It Doesn’t Matter if Call Jesus Your Master

If You Produce No Fruit, You’ll have No Place in His Eternal Kingdom

What Fruit Does Jesus Want Us to Produce?

We could Make a List a Mile Long if We Wanted to Get Specific

But, Thankfully, Paul Wrote a Wonderful & Concise List for Us

Galatians 5:22–23 (NASB95)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

This is the Fruit of Following the Master

This is the Fruit of Setting Your Heart/Mind/Will Upon Serving Him

This is the Fruit the Spirit Produces in Someone…

Who has Set Their Heart on the Gospel of Christ

The Fruit that Jesus Desires/Requires of His People…

Are the Characteristics of a Heart…

That’s Been Renewed/Transformed By the Gospel

Has Your Heart/Spirit/Life Been Transformed By the Gospel?

Are the Fruit of the Spirit Evident in Your Life?

Or are You Masquerading as a Spiritual Person…

Whose Actually Following the Desires of Your Flesh…

Instead of the Desires of God?

Surrender/Submit to God By Imitating Jesus…

Following After the Spirit Instead of the Flesh

Bear the Fruit of a Citizen of the Eternal Kingdom…

As We Wait for Our Kings Return