One bad day?

When you think of Jesus, what’s the first image that springs to your mind?

I don’t know about you, but probably the first picture that springs to my mind is this one: Jesus holding a lamb. Never mind that we don’t have any stories in the Bible of Jesus actually holding a lamb, but that’s one we often think of.

Maybe others of you had this picture in mind: Jesus blessing the little children.

Or this one of Jesus at the last supper or on the cross.

How many of you, though, had this picture pop into your mind? Probably not very many. I mean how often do we think of Jesus acting like this, especially in the temple? But today we’re going to look at not just one, but two stories where Jesus seems to go a little crazy in one day. And the question is why?

Did he just happen to have a bad day? Or was there a reason behind it? Let’s take a look at Mark chapter 11.

As we start this chapter, Jesus’ day actually starts pretty well. He is making the final leg of his trip to Jerusalem, coming down the Mount of Olives. And as he does, he does something unusual. For his entire three-year ministry, he tried to avoid publicity, especially any kind of publicity that would proclaim him as Messiah, the promised King and Savior of Israel. Time and again, after he had healed people, he told them, “Hey, don’t tell anyone what I did for you.” And when Peter recognized him as the Messiah, Jesus told him and the other disciples, “Don’t tell anyone.”

But for the next few hours, all secrecy goes out the window. First, he has his disciples borrow a donkey, and for the first time ever, we see him riding instead of walking. Why was riding a donkey significant? The main reason is found in Zechariah 9:9, where the prophet talks about Israel’s king, Israel’s Messiah, entering Jerusalem on a donkey.

And as he comes down the mountain, all his disciples, not just the twelve, but all those with him, are shouting out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (11:9-10). Those words come from Psalm 118, and they were often sung by pilgrims entering Jerusalem during Passover season.

But if you look at Luke’s gospel, the people go even further. They’re shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” Now, the religious leaders hear this, and tell Jesus, “Hey! Do you hear what your disciples are saying? Shut them up!” And Jesus tells them, “If they shut up, the stones will start crying out.” (Luke 19:38-39)

Then according to John’s gospel, people from Jerusalem come out to meet them, and they start joining in all the shouting as well (John 12:12-13). Imagine how Jesus’ twelve disciples felt. They were probably thinking, “See, Jesus. You were wrong about being rejected and crucified. Look, everything’s great!” And if you just looked at things from a distance, everything did seem great. But then Jesus came into Jerusalem and took a closer look. Take a look at verse 11.

He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. (11)

Curious words don’t you think? Jesus goes into the temple, looks around, and then walks out. But Jesus wasn’t just looking around like a tourist. He was coming as Lord of the temple. As the King of Israel doing an inspection. What was going through his mind as he made his inspection? At this point, we don’t know. But with the day winding down, and the temple probably already emptying out, he decides to hold off pronouncing his judgment. Why put it off? Probably because he wanted to do it when the greatest number of people would be there to see it. And so he returned to the temple the following morning to pronounce his judgment. But before he did, he gave a very special “preview” to his disciples.

Take a look at verse 12.

The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” (12-14)

Pretty bizarre story, don’t you think? It seems totally out of character for Jesus. Cursing a tree because it didn’t have any figs, even though it wasn’t the season for figs? What’s going on? Jesus sounds totally irrational. But look at Mark’s next words.

And his disciples heard it. (14b)

Why does Mark go out of his way to say, “And his disciples heard it”? Of course, his disciples heard it. They were walking with him. I think Mark added those words to make something clear: Jesus’ actions were not just a sudden loss of temper, a sudden loss of control on his part. It was a deliberate response to make a point. My guess is that if his disciples hadn’t been there, Jesus would have walked right on by without another thought. But in seeing the fruitless fig tree, he saw an opportunity to illustrate what he was going to do in Jerusalem, and why.

What was Jesus’ point in cursing the tree? It was a sign of God’s judgment that was going to fall on Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, God compared Israel to a vineyard. And God made clear to Israel, “I want fruit from you. The fruit of love, righteousness, and true worship.” But time and again, God told Israel, “I can’t find any good fruit from you” and he warned them that judgment was coming (Isaiah 5:1-7; Micah 7:1-4). Eventually, that judgment came when Babylon invaded Jerusalem and Israel’s beautiful temple was utterly destroyed.

Now Israel’s history was about to repeat itself. They had a new and beautiful temple. The people seemed to be serving God. They were doing all the sacrifices God had commanded. They were keeping the Sabbath and celebrating all the religious festivals. And as we saw at the beginning of the story, many people were welcoming Jesus as king.

So, from a distance, everything looked great spiritually. They seemed to be bearing fruit for God. In the same way, from a distance, the fig tree looked like it should be bearing fruit. But when Jesus came close for inspection, there was no fruit there.

I don’t know if Jesus could have “reasonably” expected fruit from the tree when it was out of season. Some Bible scholars say that even though it wasn’t the season for figs, there should have been at least some small green figs called paggim for Jesus to pick and eat. Being out of season, they’re not so delicious, but they are edible. Whatever the case, Jesus clearly expected something there to eat. And since he was the tree’s Creator, he would have known what was “reasonable” to find. But he didn’t find anything, and so he passed judgment on the fig tree. A lot of times when we think about the word “curse,” we think of it as some kind of magic formula to bring disaster on people. But when the Bible talk about God’s curse, it’s not talking about some magic formula. It’s talking about God’s judgment. And while God is patient, that judgment can come at any time whether we’re ready for it or not. Jesus came at a time when the tree wasn’t “ready.” And so it was judged.

But as I said, that was just the preview. Now we come to the main feature. Verse 15.

They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. (15-16)

Wow! Again, Jesus seems totally out of character here. Kicking merchants and buyers out of the temple. Knocking over tables, with money flying everywhere. Physically blocking merchants from carrying their goods through the temple area. But like with the fig tree, this was no sudden loss of temper. Jesus had been there the day before. He had seen everything then. So, all his actions were very deliberate. And he was making clear: This is what God thinks of what you’re doing in his house.

Why? What did he see that was so wrong? We find the answer in verse 17.

He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”

Jesus was quoting from two Old Testament prophets. The first prophet he quoted was Isaiah. And in Isaiah 56, God talks about how his temple would become a place for people from all nations to come and be accepted by him. That was hardly the case with the temple in Jesus’ day, though. The only place that non-Jews could enter was in the outer court, called the court of the Gentiles. And now, that court was being used as a marketplace for selling sacrificial animals and to do currency exchange so that people could pay their temple tax. Now, those were necessary services. But for years, that all used to be done on the Mount of Olives. Sometime during Jesus’ day, though, the high priest Caiaphas had transferred all that to the court of the Gentiles. And with all the noise from the money changing and all the animals there, it was hardly a place the foreign visitors could pray.

But there was a bigger problem. Jesus also quoted the prophet Jeremiah. And if you read Jeremiah 7, what you find is that the people in Jeremiah’s time had basically just been living as they pleased, stealing, murdering, committing adultery, breaking their oaths to God, and oppressing widows. But once a week they would come to the temple and say, “We’re fine. We’re in the temple. We’re doing all these sacrifices. We’re good with God.” And Jeremiah said, “You guys are like a bunch of thieves and bandits, committing all these crimes and then treating the temple like your own little hideout to escape punishment.”

And if you read the gospels, you find that Jesus essentially accused the religious leaders of many of the sins committed in Jeremiah’s day. They took advantage of widows (Mark 12:40), they found loopholes around their oaths to God (Matthew 23:16-22), they found loopholes around adultery laws by divorcing their wives so they could be with their lovers (Matthew 19:1-9). And in verse 18 of this chapter, you see them plotting to murder Jesus.

We often talk about this story as the cleansing of the temple. And in a sense, it was. But it was never Jesus’ intention to permanently cleanse the temple. Quite frankly, things probably went back to normal the next day. And Jesus didn’t do a thing about it. Jesus was making a point. He had made his inspection. And he was declaring that judgment was coming, just like it had in Jeremiah’s day. Just as the Babylonians had destroyed the first temple years before, the Romans destroyed this newer temple in AD 70. And it has never been rebuilt to this day.

That too was pictured by the fig tree that Jesus had cursed. Look at what happened the next day.

Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” (20-21)

That was the temple and the whole corrupt religious system it represented. Withered from the roots and beyond recovery. Jesus’ answer is very striking. Verse 22.

Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. (22-23)

There are two times in the gospels that Jesus talked about mountain-moving faith. The other is in Matthew 17:20. And there is some connection between these two stories. Because the first time, Jesus said, “You faithless and twisted generation. How long am I to be with you. How long am I to bear with you?”

Now he’s pointing to this fruitless fig tree as a symbol of that faithless and twisted generation. And he says to his disciples, “Have faith in God. If you do, you won’t be like this withered fig tree. Instead, you will bear great fruit for God. The kind of fruit that moves mountains, that changes this world for God.”

So what do we get from all this? God is seeking fruit from you and me. Is he finding it? God calls you and me his temples. The temple is no longer a building. Our bodies, our lives are his temple. God’s Holy Spirit lives within us. But when Jesus comes in for inspection, what does he find?

The fruit that he looks for the most is faith. When he sees you, is he finding a person walking each day in faith? What do I mean by walking in faith? A lot of that is things we’ve been talking about in recent months. Trusting God, believing he’s good. Trusting that he loves us. Trusting that he knows what’s best. Trusting that he desires our best. And because we believe that, we walk in daily submission to him, doing things his way.

But that’s not always easy, is it? Sometimes we have dreams for our own lives. And we hold so tightly to them, we can’t see what God is doing and what he’s trying to accomplish. Peter, James, John, and the rest of the disciples were like that. They were holding so tightly to their dreams of Jesus conquering Rome and giving them positions of power, that they couldn’t see God’s plans concerning the cross.

I’d criticize them, but I could say the same thing about myself. For a long time, I was so determined to stay in Hawaii, that I was blind to God’s call for me to come to Japan. And a large part of that was a trust problem. I didn’t trust that if God wanted me in Japan, that truly was best for me. It was only after coming here that I discovered, “Hey, I like Japan! God does know what he’s doing.” Can you say the same thing with equal confidence? Can you say, “God knows what he’s doing. He wants what’s best for me”? Or is there some doubt in your mind? Those doubts will keep you from bearing fruit.

For others of us, we have problems believing that God’s way is truly best when it comes to his commands. Ultimately, that was the problem with many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. And so instead of wholeheartedly following God’s commands, they were constantly looking for loopholes. Pastor Fumi talked about that a few weeks ago. How about you? Do you wholeheartedly follow God’s ways, or do you look for loopholes? “Well, I know God says to not neglect the fellowship of other believers. But what does that mean exactly? Surely, we don’t need to be legalistic about this and go to church every week, right? I’m not neglecting fellowship if I go 3 out of every 4 weeks, right? Or how about skipping Sunday service but going to Plant group that week. That’s good enough, right?”

Look, I’m not going to be your conscience for you. My family is actually heading off for Takamatsu for the summer holidays this week, so we won’t be here next Sunday. So don’t think I’m being legalistic. But if you’re hearing this, and you’re suddenly realizing there have been a lot of Sundays lately where you haven’t been in church, you might want to ask yourself, “Does God have my heart when it comes to time? Now, going to church isn’t an absolute indicator of whether God has your whole heart. It’s possible to go to church every Sunday and never give God another minute of your week. But your attitude toward church is often a barometer of your attitude the rest of the week. If you aren’t willing to consistently give him and the people he loves two to three hours on Sunday, does he really have your heart the rest of the week?

But getting back to my main point, searching for loopholes when it comes to God’s word is an issue of faith. If we truly have faith in God, we don’t look for the loopholes. Instead, we wholeheartedly obey. Because it’s our joy to obey! Is that you? Again, we can’t bear fruit the way we should if we don’t trust God. Do you?

But the most important sign of faith is recognizing Jesus as Lord. The one major difference between Jesus’ disciples and many of the religious leaders is that the disciples accepted him as Lord. The religious leaders didn’t. They trusted in their own righteousness. They refused to accept correction from their Lord. And like that fig tree, they withered, never ever bearing fruit for God. But Jesus can work with anyone who puts their trust in him, who recognize him as their Lord. Despite all his disciples’ faults, Jesus never gave up on them. And ultimately, they bore fruit for him. And if you’re a Christian, you will too.

My encouragement to you is to keep growing in your faith. As God shows you your next step with him, take it. It might be making church a priority in your life. It might be taking better care of the body God’s given you. It might be forgiving that person that hurt you years ago.

Not everything God asks you to do is going to be as life-changing as moving to another country. It might be something small. For me, one small thing God told me to do recently was to just hang around the dinner table longer. I usually finish dinner faster than my family. And before, my habit was to just split and go back to what I was doing. But I just sensed God telling me, “What’s your hurry? Spend a little more time talking with your family.” And so I have. You might think that’s a really small thing, like the small green figs, the paggim, we talked about earlier. But that too is fruit acceptable to God. Because it comes from a heart of faith, trusting that God’s way is best. So whatever God puts on your heart, whether big or small, obey him. And you will bear fruit.

As we close, I want us to read a passage from Jeremiah, because it perfectly encapsulates everything we’ve talked about today. First, we’ll read in English, then in Japanese.

Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind. He makes human flesh his strength, and his heart turns from the Lord…

The person who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.

He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green.

It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.

The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?

I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart, to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. (Jeremiah 17:5, 7-10)