Judgement, Destruction, and True Peace

Sacred Text: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

Introduction: You can open your Bibles to Mark chapter 11, and we will be in verses 12-21 today. But first, I want to begin by reading the first few paragraphs of a speech from Ronald Reagan, that he gave on October 27, 1964. “I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues confronting us cross party lines. Now, one side in this campaign has been telling us that the issues of this election are the maintenance of peace and prosperity. The line has been used, "We've never had it so good."

But I have an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity isn't something on which we can base our hopes for the future. No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income. Today, 37 cents out of every dollar earned in this country is the tax collector's share, and yet our government continues to spend 17 million dollars a day more than the government takes in. We haven't balanced our budget 28 out of the last 34 years. We've raised our debt limit three times in the last twelve months, and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world. We have 15 billion dollars in gold in our treasury; we don't own an ounce. Foreign dollar claims are 27.3 billion dollars. And we've just had announced that the dollar of 1939 will now purchase 45 cents in its total value.

As for the peace that we would preserve, I wonder who among us would like to approach the wife or mother whose husband or son has died in South Vietnam and ask them if they think this is a peace that should be maintained indefinitely. Do they mean peace, or do they mean we just want to be left in peace? There can be no real peace while one American is dying some place in the world for the rest of us. We're at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it's been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening. Well I think it's time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers.” Kind of sounds familiar, doesn't it? This speech goes on, but I wonder what Mr. Reagan would say today, given the state of our country, if he would give the same speech or not.

T‌he point here is that ever since the fall in Genesis 3, peace and prosperity have never been guarantee for any of us. We are currently in a time where there are rumors of wars, and economic hardships. Stocks are down, the price of gold is down, the price of the dollar is down, and so far, the recovery effort seems to be making things worse. But times of peace and prosperity are never guaranteed and most of the time it is short lived, if at all. I want us to keep this in mind as we walk through our text today, that peace and prosperity is not always guaranteed on this earth and it certainly is not something we should bank our futures on, but in Christ we have a peace and prosperity that can never be taken away from us.

Read the text: Mark 11:12-21

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.”

Context: Now remember that last week Jesus made his triumphal entry. Riding into Jerusalem on the back of a colt, people were laying their cloaks and palm leaves on the ground before him, and the people were shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!” Then Jesus made his way into the temple but, it was already late in the day and so Jesus and the twelve with him went into the small town of Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, to get some rest. Then our text this morning picks up in verse 12.

Jesus sets up a picture lesson

But before we get to that, I want us to understand the fig tree for a moment. The common fig tree could grow to be around 19 feet tall, and it normally produced two crops of figs, the first one is called the “breva” or the “early fruit” as it is seen in the OT, the other is one that comes in much more fruitful and later in the season than the other. The fig is also a valuable fruit in this time period, because it could be used medicinally, and it could also be made into a cake for food, it was also a sign of peace and prosperity in the land. You don’t have to turn there but I want us to see this about the fig tree. Lets look at Micah 4:3-4 (it should be on the screen for you) “He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.” And in Deuteronomy 8:7-8 “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,” And one more in 1 Kings 4:25 “And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.” In all three of those passages, there are two things in common, peace in the land and the fig tree.

I also want us to understand the peace and prosperity that the religious elites are experiencing. With the Roman rulers in charge of the lands, and their desire for peace and prosperity, they have enlisted many of the Jewish leaders to keep the peace in the streets. This is one of the reasons they want to get rid of Jesus, but with his growing popularity, they are afraid it will cause riots in the streets and then the Romans will have to step in. Remeber, we are entering the Passover season, so there are tons of people around at this point. And in return for their keeping the peace, the Roman rulers allow them some special privileges, that others do not get to experience. One of those privileges is money, a portion of the taxes, as well as whatever they manage to steal from others through things such as the temple tax, which we will see in just a little bit.

Now to our text, in verse 12, we see Jesus and his disciples are up early and on their way to the temple for the day and Jesus was hungry. Then in verse 13 we see Jesus approach a fig tree, and since this is happening during the passover, Jesus would have been looking for the early fruit on the tree but, he only finds leaves; no fruit. Verse 14 shows Jesus cursing the fig tree, that no man will ever eat fruit from it again.

But this leaves us with the question “Why does Jesus curse a perfectly good fig tree?” Well, Jesus is setting up a sort of picture lesson for the disciples, a picture lesson on faith and spiritual unfruitfulness. But this picture lesson primarily has to do with the temple, a place that should be known for it’s peace and fruitfulness in all seasons of life, but as we will see it has become fruitless. One commentator ends his thoughts on these first few verses by saying,

“A tree in full leaf at Passover is making a promise it cannot fulfill; so, too, is Israel. And just as Micah, speaking for God, described his disappointed search … for the ‘first-ripe fig for which I hunger’ (Mic 7:1), so Jesus on his initial visit to the temple has found all leaves, but no fruit.”

You see, God’s house, the temple and the Jews were very much alive, like the fig tree, but they were not producing any real fruit as they should have been. Which brings us to verses 15-16.

Jesus makes the house of the Lord clean once more

In verse 15, we see Jesus entering the temple once again, only this time what he sees is troubling. Before we get to Jesus’ reaction I want us to see why people are buying and selling inside the temple. The temple was built on this massive raised platform and inside the temple, there were several courts. Each court was for a specific group of people. The outer court of the Gentiles was a court that all people could enter, then as you walked forward into the temple you came to the court of women, made only for Jewish women to worship God, then the court of Israel for the Jewish men to worship while their sacrifices were burned, then finally the court of priests made only for the Jewish priests to make the sacrifices. Merchants were not allowed into any of the inner courts. So, the merchants had to setup shop in the outer court of the gentiles. But, why were there merchants in the temple? Well, every Jewish male 20 years or older had to pay the annual temple tax which was a half shekel and those that did not have the money for the temple tax were able to trade for it. Those that were foreigners were also allowed to trade currencies in order to pay the tax. The animals were most likely being sold and traded for annual sacrifices being made. Remember this is happening during the Passover, as people were coming from all over, so the place is crowded with people coming to worship and make their annual sacrifices. And most of these money changers, or tax collectors and traders, were most likely over charging for the temple tax and keeping money for themselves; robbing people.

Jesus sees what is happening and is described as “throwing out” those who were trading and selling. This word “throwing out”, in the Greek, is a strong word, and it is used elsewhere in the NT to describe the casting out of demons; Jesus was angry here. We also see Jesus overturning the tables and chairs. Then in verse 16, it is as if Jesus has completely stopped all activity within the temple and begins to rebuke all of those involved with what the temple has become. In verse 17 it says, Mark 11:17 “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.”

Now, before I continue on, we need to understand that this passage is not some sort of justification to go around flipping tables and being angry at everyone. There is a difference between a righteous anger and a sinful anger. Jesus was angry because the people had profaned the house of God, not because he missed breakfast and was a little hangry. We must remember that anger in and of itself is not sinful, but the reason we get angry and lash out at others can be sinful, so we need to be careful, and keep our hearts in check.

Back to verse 17, Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 56:7 in the first part of verse 17 which says, “these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The prophet speaking on behalf of God, says that God’s temple should be joyful, holy, full of prayer, and that it should be for all people of all nations; a place of peace. Even in the OT God was calling people, from all nations, to himself and building his kingdom. Then Jesus alludes to a passage from another prophet, Jeremiah, in the second half of verse 17 and he says, “But you have made it a den of robbers.”

I want us to turn there for a moment and read this passage, because it helps us to visualize what was going on here and why Jesus was so angry. Jeremiah 7:8-15 (again it should be on the screen for you) ““Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen all the offspring of Ephraim.” During Jeremiah’s time, this problem arose with the people, and it seems that it is a problem that has continued on into NT days. They were essentially living like the rebels they were, even worshipping other gods, and then coming to the temple for Passover, making their annual sacrifice for forgiveness, declaring their deliverance and then going right back to their sinful lifestyles, even worshipping other gods. They were not truly seeking the forgiveness of God, they were not truly repentant and turning from their sin. They were essentially “robbing” God of the worship that only he is due, and in his own house!

Now you might be asking, “how is the relevant for us today?” We don’t have temples, we don’t make animal sacrifices (and if you do we need to talk after service). But how many of us treat God this way? How many of us are living a life of rebellion all week and then come to church on Sunday mornings declaring that we are the children of the most holy God and forgiven of all our sins, and then turn around and go back to the very sins we say we are forgiven of? We think that coming to church will somehow garner some forgiveness from God and as soon as we walk out that door we are looking at our brothers and sisters and thinking “Man did you see so and so today? I can’t believe she wore that to church.” Or, “Did you see ol’ what’s his name come in smelling like a brewery? I can’t believe he would do that.” We come running to God on Sunday mornings, with hands lifted high, declaring our forgiveness, and rebelling against God as soon as we sit down and we look around to see who all showed up and taking mental notes of who all didn’t show up, while simultaneously shaking our heads in disbelief; I can’t believe they would miss church. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, because I’m guilty myself. But this is what the Israelites were doing and it is what Jesus saw happening in the temple. It is why Jesus was so angry.

We need to think about this. Through the incarnation, that is Jesus taking on flesh, God himself was visiting his temple and what he found was not pleasing to him. Sin angers God. Sin angers the very King who saved us and gave himself for us. And our sin should anger us, it should break our hearts. Not because we had some tiny little miss hap, but because we have sinned against our Holy God! And God does not take it lightly. God sent his only begotten Son to die for our sins, that is how seriously God takes it. What we see in these passages today, is that there is a coming judgement, not only for the temple, but for the people allowing the temple to be turned into a “den of robbers.” And this same thing is still happening today. Matthew Henry says in his commentary, “Christians are holy by profession, and should be pure and clean, both in heart and conversation. He is deceived who deems himself the temple of the Holy Ghost, yet is unconcerned about personal holiness, or the peace and purity of the church.”

Christian, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit lives in you. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 for a moment, it says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” You have been set apart from the world, called to be holy and transformed by the very Spirit of God that is living within you. Look at 1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” God has not called us and given us to Christ so that we might continue living as the world lives. God wants us, his temple, to be a holy people, set apart from the world. This is why the world will hate us, because we are not like them. We are to be in the world but not of the world. John 17:14-17 “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” In the world but not of the world. And if God takes sin seriously, then we also must take sin seriously. This may not be a popular message but it needs to be heard. Because far too many of us in the church today, believes that we can live with one foot in the world and the other foot in the church. We pretend to be holy on Sunday mornings and the rest of the week we live exactly like the world wants us to. And this is the message that Jesus was willing to die for. That we repent of our sins and live a holy life. Listen, Christ died for your sins, so that you can truly live in peace with God. Which brings us to verses 18 and 19.

A plot to kill

Verses 18 and 19, tell us that the Pharisees were now plotting a way to kill Jesus without the people knowing about it. Remember, the Jewish leaders did whatever the Roman leaders wanted them to do, in this way they were privileged and able to keep some of the tax money, so long as they kept the peace in the streets. But, the text says that the people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching here, and many of the people had already heard of Jesus or even seen Jesus perform miracles in person. So, the Pharisees are afraid that if the people found out that they were plotting to kill Jesus, the people would riot, and the Roman rulers would then have to step in and the peace and prosperity within Jerusalem would be over. And so the Pharisees begin to come up with a plan in private to kill Jesus and get rid of him quietly as not to disrupt the people. We also see here that Jesus and the disciples leave the town, most likely after dark, and head back to Bethany for some rest.

The disciples stand in amazement of the fig tree

Then on the next morning as Jesus and the disciples were making their way back to the temple for the day, Peter notices the tree that Jesus had cursed, and in shock Peter let’s Jesus know that the tree has now withered down to it’s roots. This tree is dead, all the way down to the roots, and it cannot be brought back to life; it will never bare the fruit of peace and prosperity again. In cursing this fig tree, Jesus has essentially, declared that times of peace and prosperity was officially over. Things are fixing escalate very quickly around the temple. This tree is representing the temple, and it’s eventual destruction, as seen in Mark 13:2 where Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple (it says) “And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”” The people have profaned the temple of God and so it will be destroyed in judgement against it. And there was a purpose for this, it wasn't just God being harsh with the people, God does everything with a purpose.

INVITE THE BAND UP

God’s ultimate purposes for the temple find their fulfillment in Jesus, the people of the church, and the new creation.

D. A. Carson

Conclusion/invitation: Unlike the temple, that was destroyed and never rebuilt, Jesus died, for our sins, and rose again. The people of God are being built into a new and better temple, a body, brought together by Christ himself. And one day all things will be made into a new creation, with a new temple, which is the Father and the Son, ruling side by side. We all desire peace and prosperity here on earth, but we must not be trusting in the temporal prosperity of this fleeting earth for our futures, or our children's futures, or our grand children's futures. And the truth is, we may never get it this side of Heaven. This world is a crazy mess and we can only pray that it gets better. But in Christ, we have all the peace and prosperity we could ever ask for and more, and one day we will live with our king. John 14:1-2 ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” The lack of peace and prosperity here on earth sometimes builds this fear and anxiety within us, but Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:6-7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” If you are a Christian then you are in Christ Jesus and this peace is your’s to have. All of your worries, and fears, you can go to God with those things, He wants you to bring those to Him. And He will guard your heart. If you are not a Christian, I pray that God gives you the strength to repent and the faith to place in Christ alone for your salvation. Jesus says in John 14 that no one comes to the Father but through Me. That means that there is nothing you can do to earn the justification you need to be right with God. Jesus did it for us and because he lives, we can live. As we do every week I’ll be in the back if you need prayer, or just need to talk about anything going on.

Lets pray: God, help us to remember that you did not call us to live like the world, even though we are in the world, we are to live a holy life. Help us to take our sin seriously. Continue to remind us of our future hope, that we will one day be in a new kingdom and sitting with you in glory. Lord, may we take seriously your life, death, and resurrection. Holy Spirit, guide us and protect us as we enter our week and help us to do all we that we do to the glory of God. I pray these things in the Sons name. Amen.