Stranger Things: Figs and Fellons

I enter the store and immediately my eyes start watering from the lighting. It’s like the store is saying, “I’m make so much money, I don’t care if you go blind from my lights.”

I mean it really is not an enjoyable experience. People don’t even know which lane to pick anymore. And none of our local grocery stores are exempt from this. It is chaos. Especially at peak times.

Throw into the mix folks chatting on their cell phones and you can sit for significant amounts of time just trying to get a bag of crackers. I was walking down a utensil aisle one day and on one of the shelves was a package of frozen sausages. Why? I’ll go down the ends of the aisles looking down each one to contemplate whether it is even worth it based on the clientele talking up residence. Sometimes your stuck between two carts facing different directions. You look up and make eye contact with another shopper coming the other direction and you both know the chances are good you will die there, waiting to access a jar of baby dills. I even get dirty looks at grocery stores for trying to be polite. Sometimes I just feel like doing a hit to pass then dragging products off the shelves to make my escape.

The other day I just picked up one item and was going to use self check out. As I’m walking towards it I make eye contact with one of the clerks and he ha these big sad eyes. I don’t think he was sad, but an overwhelming sense of “I feel sorry for you.” came over me. And I went to him and had him wring in my one item. He was probably thinking, please go use the self checkout and let me have my break.

You may think I am exaggerating but just talk to Lisa about it. She’ll confirm my dislike.

I Had no idea grocery shopping could be a wonderful experience until I visited a Safeway in another city. Wow!. They have low lighting but still enough you can see, the store itself is quiet. Anyone with sensory issues would love shopping at Safeway. There is even a Safeway in Langley that turns down lights and sounds even more between 4-5 for folks with sensory issues. I’d be willing to pay a bit more for an experience like that. You go into one of the stores and think, this is the way shopping for food was meant to be.

The story we are looking at today is similar to my shopping experience but on a much more significant scale. It involves a fig tree, a curse, a temple, and an open air market.

Interestingly this is a bit similar to how people experience church. Some love that loud bright feel during a service, others like a subdued quiet experience. We all have a preference about how things should be. We all have likes and dislikes. We all have environments we prefer over others.

The story we are looking at today in our series Stranger Things, involves a different kind of environment. One that excluded those who were seen as less worthy of approaching God. It is one of the events in the life of Jesus involving an innocent fig tree and a bunch of felons.

It is an event recorded in all four of the historical accounts of the Life of Jesus. We are going to look at the one in Mark chapter 11 starting at verse 11.

I’m not going to give to much away about the book of Mark because we will be working through it starting in September, but Mark is a book of action showing Jesus taking decisive steps in front of his disciples and others.

After three years of touring Israel, sharing his message, Healing the sick, building into his disciples. Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem to face his eventual arrest and execution. On his last trip he takes a detour into the wilderness from the Sea of Galilee in the north. Walks down on trails that are still used today, stops over in Jericho and Bethany and as he heads to Jerusalem is greeted by crowds cheering him on. Before this encounter with a fig tree Jesus enters Jerusalem like a king. People were throwing their coats on the ground, waving palm leaves. Thinking Jesus is coming to take over Israel as the rightful king. But it is already a little late

Lets read the passage and then explore it a bit more.

Mark 11:11–22 NIV

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. 12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.

A little weird right? Why curse a fig tree that ins’t in season? So let’s ignore the fig tree for a bit and focus on what happened in the temple.

Have you ever gone into a child's room with the express intent to keep your cool but upon opening the door you feel righteous rage at the state of the room? “This room is to be a place of homework and sleeping, not Xbox, ants, and mold.”

Mark 11:11-

What Jesus does here is nothing like that. But maybe we get a little bit of his feelings here. Here was a place that was supposed to be functioning in a way that brought people in. Instead, it is keeping people out.

Let’s ignore the fig tree for a second and figure out what Jesus was doing in the temple.

So he comes in in the evening the night before, has a look around. Has some time to think about what he just saw, and is reminded again of his clearing of the temple almost three years earlier at the start of his public ministry. In the first instance he tells the folks in the temple,

John 2:16 NIV

16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

John 2:

He then has a conversation with the religious leaders about his death and resurrection. They didn't get it.

He comes back this time and nothing has changed. Having all night to think about his approach, Jesus again clears the temple.

Picture of the temple.

During the time of Jesus was the time of what was called Herod’s Temple. King Herod, not a nice person, was smart enough to know that having a nice temple would keep the people of Israel mostly happy. So he made them an amazing structure for them to offer sacrifices and offerings to God.

John 2:15–20 NIV

15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”

It was the second largest temple Israel had ever built and it was amazing.

Compared to Solomon’s temple who ruled Israelite at the height of it’s power, and we see that Solomon could have done way better.

This was an amazing place. So why was Jesus so agitated. To understand that we need to zoom in on the temple itself.

Jesus probably came into the temple through what was called Solomon’s Porch which would have placed him facing the entrance to the temple itself.

On the temple mount there were places only certain types of people could go.

There was the court of the gentiles, This was where the gentiles or non-Jewish people could gather to worship God. They weren’t allowed into the temple itself. So they couldn’t even offer sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of sins.

Zooming in a little more, we get to the temple itself. First we have the court of women. This was the furthest into the temple that a Jewish woman could go, again unable to present a sacrifice.

In front of the altar we then would have the court of men and the court of priests. These being the only ones who could bring an offering or sacrifice for sin.

So this exclusion alone would have been enough for Jesus to get upset.

The nation of Israel was supposed to be unique among the nations right from the start.

Here are just a couple of the commands that God gave them regarding foreign people:

Exodus 22:21 NIV

21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Leviticus 19:33 NIV

33 “ ‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.

Deuteronomy 10:19 NIV

19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Deut 10:

Numbers 15:15–16 NIV

15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.’ ”

We could stop there and understand why Jesus started to thwack people with a stick.

num 15:

The foreigner who came to worship God was to be given the same access to God as an ethnic Jew.

That wasn’t happening.

What take away can we have? There is no person or institution alive who can keep you from approaching God in prayer in worship.

But this was just one thing frustrating Jesus.

If we zoom out on the temple mount again there are a bunch of green squares and rectangles. Those were all markets during the time of Jesus. Add to that the buying and selling and exchanging of money in the temple and you basically have a big mall with a place of worship in the middle.

We used to have our junior high Sunday school off to the side here in what was called the choir room. In summer if was freezing in there and in winter it was freezing in there.

Now imagine trying to work through spiritual truths with 30 12-13 year old. Add on top of that the choir and music teams and speakers and anyone who had to use the bathroom from this side would use that as their walk way. Good times.

When we have limited time, we all like to follow the path of least resistance.

The fastest way from market to market and from North to South through the city of Jerusalem was a flat paved surface right in front of the temple.

It had become a noisy thoroughfare, where money was made and people were distracted from what they were there for. In the temple grounds itself it was’t permitted to purchase sacrifices with roman money, it had to be special money made for the temple. So before you bought your two doves which was what folks who were poor bought for their sacrifice, they had to exchange their roman money for temple money. There isn’t any indication that the people were being cheated but there are historical accounts outside the Bible that did not give the priests a good report card.

Jesus has been processing this and takes action. Quoting from he begins to teach the people.

I want o read a bit more of the passage Jesus was reminding the people of.

Isaiah 56:3–7 NLT

3 “Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’ 4 For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me. 5 I will give them—within the walls of my house— a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear! 6 “I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

Is 56:3-

This is what he says to the folks in the court of the gentiles. People who should know better ad people who desperately needed to hear this because they could never get close to God the way they were being shown.

Imagine, hearing these words for the first time. You are valued by God. Nothing these people say can change that. Today we can be encouraged by that. Honest seekers after the one true God will never be turned away and are invited in.

Then Jesus quotes from Jeremiah. This time speaking to the religious leaders and Jewish people:

Jeremiah 7:9–11 NLT

9 Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, 10 and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? 11 Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken!

jer 7:9-

This is a complete picture of God’s upside down kingdom. Foreigners are welcome and those who should know better are challenged.

I have a close friend in construction who detests doing business with some Christians. Don’t worry, not from Prince George. At first he thought that it was smart to work with folks who said they were Christians and went to church, but a number of experiences later and he realized that it was a bad business decision. He had run into the wrong people who had separated their business life from their supposed Christian life. These weren’t experiences where a Christian made a mistake, apologized and tried to make it right. These were situations were he was lied to, cheated, and abused.

If that has been your experience, I’m sorry. It shouldn’t be that way. Jesus, was saying to these people and to us, “You can’t do evil, embrace it, and call it OK. Then come here and think you are safe and secure.

Where do robbers go when the have finished thieving for the day, their hiding place. Keeping out the people they had back stabbed and stolen from out of the temple itself meant they didn’t have to deal with them. They could worship their God without remorse, or at the very least the eyes of the betrayed on them.

Jesus effectively shut down all commerce and travel through the temple mount that day. No trade no travel, just Jesus, teaching the people.

Naturally, the chief priests and teachers of the law don’t like what they are hearing, and begin a plot to kill Jesus. Their Den had been exposed, but they new better than to deal with Jesus with all of these people around, especially when his teaching was amazing.

The sense of amaze hear is being overwhelmed to the point of losing ones mental composure. For the folks who wanted to hear what Jesus was saying, this was a good thing. I imagine the priests were having a different mental battle.

Jesus was changing things, and bringing in a teaching and way of life that would produce fruit, where true believers would worship him in Spirit and Truth, and where love for God and love for others would be the distinguishing marks of one of God’s people. No a heritage, not a fancy building, not and ethnicity, but a transformed life.

At the end of the day, Jesus returns with his disciples to Bethany, and in the morning as they pass that same fig tree the disciples notice it is withered and point it out to Jesus.

Back to the fig tree. Fig trees are important in the narrative of the people of Israel. They were a picture of peace and prosperity, of rest and security.

For a people who followed God this would be true:

Micah 4:4

Micah 4:4 NIV

4 Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

Zechariah 3:10 NIV

10 “ ‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

For those who rejected God and yet said the were for God?

Jeremiah 8:13 NIV

13 “ ‘I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.’ ”

Jeremiah 5:13 NIV

13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”

jer

In this purely symbolic act in front of his closest friends ad followers Jesus presents them with a picture. Look at beautiful Jerusalem ad the temple. It looks so good, but it has no fruit. It is a beautiful mansion, but the dead live inside, and call themselves alive.

The fig tree with all it’s green leaves was Israel. It looked promising with it’s amazing temple and system of worship, but there was nothing to show for it.

In cursing the tree and having it withered the next day was a statement by Jesus that ancient Israel would be shown for what it was. Dead. in his closing statement Jesus was reminding his disciples that they were to have faith that God would bring this about, and around A.D. 70, the temple would be completely destroyed, never to be rebuilt.

So how does this speak to today?

lets look at a few passages that have changed the meaning of what the temple is today.

Ephesians 2:19–22 NIV

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

A picture is forming that Jesus brought in something new.

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 NIV

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Together, as followers of Jesus, we are that new temple. And God says, this new temple is sacred. It has nothing to do with four walls and a roof. We could just as easily be outside, or in a cube in the mall, or in a house, or in a jungle hut. The new temple is wherever believers come together in lifting up the name of Jesus. At this point in history we use this building to come together in unity.

1 cor 3:16-

But then the idea of temple is pushed even further:

1 Corinthians 6:18–20 NIV

18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NIV

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

As followers of Jesus we have the Holy Spirit living in us. God living in us. This was all made possible through a new sacrifice that only needed to be offered once. The sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of all humanity.

1 cor 6:18-

Hebrews 7:27 The Message

27 Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice.

1 John 4:9 The Message

9 This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him.

So what does this new way look like?

Romans 12:9–10 NIV

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

It is absolutely possible to externally fulfill all the commands that God ask of us. And it can look really impressive when we see it done. But God is not interested in that. He sees the fruit, or lack thereof. He sees this beautiful tree that looks like it can produce good things. He sees compliance but not trust. He sees the work we put in but he wants the relationship. He sees us work to appear like one of the chosen when he wants us to know that he chose us! That is what we live out of, making a way for others to meet Jesus.

Romans 2:4 NIV

4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

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