The question was: “So what exactly is going on in Mark 11:12-14?“
Great question! It’s
always great to dig into Scripture!
So, first there always must be background and context. There are two big things that we need to keep
in mind:
- Triumphal
Entry – Jesus has just entered into Jerusalem
at the beginning of chapter 11. His
triumphal entry on Palm Sunday signaled the beginning of the Passion
Week. This also signals a big shift
in Jesus’ ministry. The big shake
up from “the way things were” is about to be upon us.
- Build
up – Mark has been building to this point.
If we look at the structure of the book, we can see that Mark is
marching the narrative toward Jerusalem
and the Cross. Indeed, the Cross
casts a shadow over the whole book.
We are picking up the story pretty close to the seminal event of
the book.
Let’s dive into the story.
It’s Monday of Holy Week, and Jesus is heading back into Jerusalem
after spending the night in Bethany,
which was just down the road. On his way
back into Jerusalem, Jesus is
pretty hungry. He sees a fig tree on the
side of the road and it’s in leaf.
However he doesn’t find any fruit there.
So he curses the tree.
A little later that day, Jesus heads into the
Temple
area. He sees merchants and money
changers selling to those in the courts.
They would be selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money since
the temple tax and offerings had to be paid in the local currency.
Their presence is understandable, but their
business practices are not. They would
frequently price gouge and engage in unethical/unfair practices to make extra
money. This is why Jesus refers to them
as a “den of robbers.”
So what’s a fig tree got to do with anything? The scenes at the Temple
and the fig tree are meant to be understood as parallel events because of their
close proximity to each other both chronologically and textually.
Let’s go back to the fig tree. For those of you that are not intimately
familiar with fig trees and their fruit production patterns, the text says that
it was not in season for figs. So it
wouldn’t be unreasonable for the tree to be absent figs. However, some fig trees do bear fruit out of
season. One of the primary signs that a
fig tree has fruit is the presence of leaves.
So in essence, the fig tree is falsely advertising that it is fruitful,
when it actually is not.
So if we understand that the point of the fig tree episode
is to point out hypocrisy, it’s easy to see the parallel with what happened at
the Temple. The Temple
is the designated spot for God’s chosen people to commune with Him. It is a holy site, and one that is supposed
to be a blessing to the people. It is
through the Temple that widows and
orphans are taken care of. Righteousness
and forgiveness were also supposed to be mediated through the Temple. Indeed, the Temple
had all the outward trappings of righteousness and holiness. But like the fig tree, the Temple
was not a place that had fruit. Those
who were wrapped up in Temple life,
Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious elite, looked impressive, but
ultimately were fruitless.
In addition, Jesus’ curse against the fig tree also goes
against those at the Temple. He now takes away the special place that the Temple
had. Rather, Jesus signaled the big
shift where our bodies have become Temples
for the Holy Spirit rather than a temple building (1 Cor. 6:19).
There is another parallel as well. The fig tree represents hypocrisy. We are all used to seeing hypocrisy in
others, especially in those outside of our circle of beliefs. The Pharisees and Sadducees thought that
their external righteousness was sufficient.
But even in the Temple, the
designated place for communion with God, there was hypocrisy and
unfruitfulness. We are like this as
well. We, who claim to be Christians, are
hypocrites. We do not obey God’s
commands, and arrogance and self-righteousness are often our calling cards.
But thank the Lord for the Gospel. Yes, Jesus brings judgment upon the
hypocritical fig tree and the hypocrites that he finds in the Temple. But just a little later on that week, he
brings judgment upon himself so that hypocrites like you and me might have
life.
Jesus is both judge and savior. His love is displayed through his
justice. We put on the
I-have-it-together face at church, at school, and everywhere else. But inside, we’re a mess. We all know it. We are hypocrites to the core. But it is for sinners that Jesus died. This passage gives us a great view of how
much God doesn’t like hypocrites, which also gives us pause to contemplate the
greatness of his love to send his only son to die for such as these.
I hope that was helpful.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Blessings,
~Frank
