The Great Inpsection

Deconversion, deconstructing, exvangelical are some common words that are being thrown about. You may have heard these terms used in the last several months. So what is going on in this phenomenon. Why are people questioning the faith? I don’t know exactly, but I do have some ideas. We have a culture that is offering a competing story that is enticing and captivating. Who wouldn’t want to be whoever you want to be. Why would anyone want to place themselves in a different story that demands something from you. That says you are to stand out. That you are to do things in a radically different way. The problem is that One of the sad realities of the church is that we have gotten complacent, and have lost some of the Biblical story and we have begun to adopt some of the story lines that aren’t from the bible. When we adopt the story lines of the culture, and lose the gospel story, we lose what makes the gospel distinct. This affect is that people no longer feel a draw to the truth of Christianity because we lose our witness and distinctive when we forget the story.

Relevance is one of the ways we have taken the story of the culture And brought it into the church. When we look at church, we try to make it appeal to people so the music becomes a concert, and the sermon becones a Ted talk and we don’t talk about sin because that might offend people, and we don’t celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week. And we don’t talk about theology because that is not relevant.

The gospel is so beautiful and Jesus is so amazing it should compel people to follow him. Not everyone. Not all are called to be saved. But one of the ordinary ways that God does compel people to see the story of grace is through the church being the church. To be distinct.

Big Idea: The people of God, Christians, are expected to bear distinctive fruit.

Triumphal Entry

Jesus and his disciples have made the 18 mile Journey from Jericho up, about 3000ft. elevation difference to Jerusalem. They are heading there to celebrate the passover feast. They are accompanied with a large group of pilgrims. Those who are journeying to the temple to celebrate. This was a big deal for Jews. Full of jubilation and celebration.

Jesus seems to have prearranged this. This isn’t like a scooter rental in downtown Tempe. This isn’t a complementary colt on your entrance to Jerusalem. And this action if significant because most of the pilgrims would be entering on foot. They would be walking, not riding donkey. As a reader, and as someone who was there, this would stand out.

So there are several significant features going on here that we need to take a look at and they all point to Jesus being the great king, the messiah, anticipated in the old testament.

Fulfilling Zech 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus is fulfilling Scripture. Telling the people around that this passage is about me. I am the the king, I am the bringer of salvation.

The way Jesus enters Jerusalem is significant. How so? How should it inform our posture and Christians?

He is not on a war horse looking to lead a rebellion against the Roman Empire.

The church never lead a war, a protest, or rebellion against the Roman Empire after words. They were a faithful people, patient, enduring hardships. They never sought to overthrow the Roman Empire. In fact, they offered a better story than the Roman Empire which is why so many people ended up becoming Christ followers. The Roman story for example with how they responded to a great plague offered a push away from their story, and the Christian’s response offered a pull to their story. The pagans response was to turn to oracles and offer the correct sacrifices to appease the gods or erect a statue of Apollo armed so he could shoot the plague away. Christians on the other hand responding to a plague in 250’s by not only caring for those in their community, other Christians, but by caring for the pagan Roman neighbors. This is what one pastor encouraged his people to do in the midst of this crisis.

I know that some pagans have been involved in persecuting you. Pray for them; “pray for their salvation,” and help them. You are God’s children: the descendent of a good Father should prove the imitation of is goodness.

Do you see the difference there? This is how Jesus comes. Not as a warrior against an empire but as a gentle and lowly servant Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

Jesus the kings is an unexpected king. There is little doubt this passage is saying that he is a king. That he is worthy of all the praise and adulation that he receives in this moment.

There is a sense of excitement and elation, as the crowd around him shouts for joy and spontaneously shows him signs of honor. To spread cloaks on the road was a gesture of homage before a newly crowned king (see 2 Kings 9:13). Mark’s description evokes an occasion some two centuries earlier, when Simon Maccabeus and his followers entered the city after their successful revolt “with shouts of jubilation, waving of palm branches … and the singing of hymns and canticles, because a great enemy of Israel had been destroyed” (1 Macc 13:51). The crowd chants from Ps 118:25–26: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! This psalm, originally a royal song of thanksgiving for a military victory, was one of the great hymns sung by pilgrims processing into the temple for a festival Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2008), 221.

But they don’t fully understand…They anticipate the kingdom, but don’t quite recognize who Jesus is yet. We as readers after the fact now the end of the story so we can see what is going on with a clearer perspective. After Jesus enters Jerusalem we have an interesting sequence.

He goes into the temple and he looks around at everything. You need to understand that the temple had important religious significance. It was a the centerpiece of their religious activity.

It would be the New York City if you want to see a musical. It is the Hollywood for film. It is the Washington D.C. for politics, it is the Augusta National for golfers, the Nashville for Country music.

You get the point. The temple is the really the centerpiece for the OT people of God.

Here Jesus fulfills Malachi Malachi 3:1–3 (ESV): And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.

Jesus goes there and looks around. The word for look around, is really to be on the lookout for, to hunt. So Jesus enters the temple and begins to look intently around and leaves. He returns to Bethany.

Why was Jesus looking around? We’ll see in the following verses what Jesus was up to.

Fig Tree

So the next day Jesus is back on his way to Jerusalem and sees a fig tree in distance. This fig tree looks healthy on the outside. It has a lot of leaves so as Jesus looks at the tree and finds no fruit, he curses it. Then Mark adds a little note, it was not the season for figs. In other words Jesus should not expect to find any fruit from the tree because it is not the right season for it. So why does Jesus curse the fig tree. Is he some unhinged man with too much power. Does he not have control over his emotions. IF that is the case, then you have missed the point of what Jesus is trying to teach his disciples and us.

Why would Jesus curse a perfectly good tree if it was supposed to be bearing fruit anyway.

This is what is known as a prophetic sign act. Jesus as a prophet, (He is a prophet, priest, and king,) is symbolizing his message, his teaching.

The tree has all the appearance of fruit, yet it is absent. There is no fruit on this tree.

We are going to be redoing our yard pretty soon and when we are deciding what to do, it can be complicated. And on the east side of our house, we have these citrus trees that will have flowers, but never see any fruit being born. And we are so tempted to just get rid of them. But the landscaper we are working with asked if we had fertilized them, and we said, no. Then how can you expect them to bear fruit. But what is interesting is that often times when it is time to bear fruit, we see flowers, and we think that it means, well at least I do, that we are somehow going to get citrus. Our tree is “going through the motions.”

How do balance God’s desire for his people to bear fruit, and the idea that we are saved by grace through faith?

Now we have a Markan Sandwich and if you recall what that means is that Mark will write something, then he will interrupt it with another story, then we will finish the first story. The interruption is usually the main point of the lesson. And we do see the interruption here don’t we.

What does Jesus do? Like the cursing of the fig-tree, Jesus is acting out a parable by his actions. In other words, he is is not “cleansing” the temple in order for the temple to go back to its proper operations. He is not correcting the temple practices to continue. By his actions he is pointing to something deeper and more significant. He is using his actions to symbolize that the Temple would undergo judgment.

But why? What was wrong with what Israel was doing? How were they missing the mark.

There were a lot of things, but in this specific instance, image with me if we brought a bunch of different animals. We had ourselves a little petting zoo around here. Some goats over there. Some pigeons over here. Maybe a cow or two in the back. Oh yea…and don’t forget that you have to pay admission to the petting zoo too. So there is a bunch of noise, and bunch of distractions.

This is what the Temple was like for those who were Gentile. That means that you were a convert, but did not have Jewish heritage. So someone from Persia, who had their eyes open by the God of Israel to follow him, would be able to go to the temple to worship God, but they could only go to the court of Gentiles. If we are looking at Amadeo, in here would be the court of Israel, then the course of the women a little further back, then the court of the Gentiles in the coffee shop. That is where all of this would take place. Now how can you pray and worship God with all of that going on?

The temple was meant to be a place of pray for all peoples. It was never meant to be just for Israel. Isaiah 56:7 “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.””

If the temple and the Jewish faith is meant to be an ingathering of people, then what is going on here is the opposite. They are impeding the way to gathering. And Jesus calls them out. You have taken this house and have made it a Den of Robbers. Jeremiah 7:11

Jeremiah 7:11 ESV

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.

What Jeremiah is referring to hear is a prophesy against Israel. They thought they could do whatever they wanted and because they had the temple. For them, the temple served as a validation for what they were doing. They thought they could do whatever they wanted.

According to Isaiah 56:7, what was one of the features of the temple? How was 1st Century Israel falling short?

Jesus and the Victory of God (iii) Jesus’ Action in the Temple

For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

Here you are, trusting 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 safe!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?

Jesus’ action is a critique on Israel and he is stating that they will be judged.

Now Jesus to explain what the meaning of the Fig Tree symbolizes.

He is not saying that if you trust God, you can say to San Tan Mountain, go into Saguarro lake. Thats a parlor trick. That is not what Jesus and the gospels are about.

The mountain is referring to the temple mount. But Jesus's words have a meaning rooted deeply in the Old testament.

This is one of the reasons why I encourage you to know your Old Testaments as well as your New.

He is rooting his teaching in Zecharaiah 1-8.

Jesus and the Victory of God (b) Say to This Mountain …

is all about the return from exile, the restoration of Jerusalem, the return of YHWH to Zion, and the rebuilding of the Temple; and, not surprisingly, about the coming anointed ones, the priest and the king. Zerubbabel is the Davidic figure on whom the prophet rests his hopes for the rebuilding of the Temple, despite all opposition; and, to symbolize that opposition, he uses the image of the great mountain, perhaps (as in other passages in Zechariah 1–8) echoing Isaiah 40, which speaks of the mountains and hills being flattened at the coming of YHWH:

He said to me, ‘This is the word of YHWH to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says YHWH of hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’

I suggest, therefore, that the saying about the mountain has a double thrust.

Jesus is essentially saying there can’t be two temples and the current one is opposed to the what Jesus Christ is all about. So it will will be cast aside to make way for the true temple. Jesus is the one who by faith in His Father casts the temple to the see in judgment.

This the point in cursing the fig tree. Jesus is using Old Testament illustrations to point to the fact that the temple will be toppled. Micah 7:1 “Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.”

So here is the point. Israel has lost their first love. Jesus Christ, their messiah has come, the exile which they had been experiencing was ending, the Kingdom of God was in their midst and they rejected it. They were stuck in their own ways. They would rather go about their own ways, stick the the tried and true methods that they thought would work, versus following the way of Jesus. They did not want to repent! They did not want to turn and follow Jesus. They would rather kill him, than follow him. Why????

So the disciples are going to have a radical experience. Somehitng life altering. And they need to continue To trust in God. They will still be able to pray and be heard without the temple.

So what does this mean for us? How does the story of Jesus enacting prophetic judgment on an institution from 2000 years ago bear any relevance for us?

I think it is extremely relevant for a few reasons. Although we live on the other side of the resurrection, we have the full revelation of God contained in the Scriptures, and we are baptized in the Spirit, we face a similar temptation that the 1st Century people of God did, and that is following the ways of God versus the ways of the world.

We live in into the reality of the resurrected Christ. If you are a persons of faith, you have received Jesus, which means you are whole and being made whole. And by His Spirit you begin to live into it By bearing his fruit.

In a world that is more connected than ever, but more lonely than ever, how do we break the cultural norms and extend holistic hospitality. Be present, put the devices away and look someone in the eyes to really listen to what they have to say.

In a world that says you can choose whatever gender you feel like being, is there a way that we can radically love and protect them from harassment and abuse while offering that person a better story than what the world gives them. Russell Moore says, “If we do not love our mission field, we will have nothing to say to it.”

In a world that thinks it is okay to end the life of a baby in a mothers womb, which by the was is not new. The Roman empire would discard unwanted babies after they were born. Do you know what the early church did in response? It wasn’t a protest, they didn’t tell the Romans how evil they were for doing such a thing. I’m not saying that you should or shouldn’t do those things. But what the early church did, was they would go to those areas and rescue these little ones made in the image of God. What if, in addition to legislating and advocating, we opened our homes and our lives to those who don’t think they have anywhere to go!

This is what it might look like to follow Jesus in the 21st century. Are we willing to extend ourselves out of our comfort zones and display the fruits of Jesus.

What is the fruit you are bearing? What if our culture sees us as a bunch of fig trees that are bearing little to know fruit. Why would they want to be follow Jesus, if what they see is radically different than who he is.

Application:

How can taking some time at the end of each day to reflect give you opportunity to repent and walk more in line with the calling to follow Jesus?

I’m going to invite you to join me in a simple, yet important practice that I think will help us think more deeply about what it means to be the church, what it means to follow Jesus in these ways. And that is to participate in a practice called the daily examen.

You can take some time at the end of your day. Find a quiet place, and spend some time just being quiet before the Lord and look over the past day and thank God for what he has done. Show some gratitude for how God has been with you. Review and recognize failures and ask for God’s forgiveness and healing And pray about the next day.

This is how we as the people of God, can live out of the grace of God. You see we take time in to be quiet and still before the Lord, allow the light of His Word and Spirit convict us, and ask for God’s grace to bear distinctive fruit of His kingdom.