“And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.” Mark 11:14 ESV
Reflection: how many times did Jesus cleanse the temple?
I think we can all agree that God is very patient. Peter wrote “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 ESV. Perhaps the most significant display of His patience was with His people, who received and enjoyed a covenant relationship with God for thousands of years. But, as we know, they misused it, turned faith in God into a religion of works. What God had lovingly given them to care for and share, was not recognizable to Jesus. And, Jesus tried time and again to correct them, to tell them they were lost. One example of this is found in John chapter 2, v 13-22, where we read about Jesus “cleansing” the temple, turning over the money changers tables, etc. I’m sure you know the story. But, did you know that He did this again, at least a second time?
We read in Mark 11 of the same “cleansing” of the temple, but Mark puts this event right before Jesus suffering and death. John describes a cleansing event at the beginning of Jesus ministry, right after the wedding in Cana where He turned water into wine. So we see at least two times. Jesus was very frustrated with the religious leaders, who blocked access to God for the people, and therefore the covenant relationship He had established. He told them ““But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” Matthew 23:13 ESV. But even with Jesus’ repeated calls for correction, lovingly calling them to Himself, they would not listen, they would not have His correction.
And the story of the fig tree in Mark 11:12-14 is therefore representing the shift that was taking place. It is short, so let’s read it. “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.”Mark 11:12-14 ESV. It is not about Jesus being physically hungry, but His desire to see and “eat” the fruit from His people, from all the repeated attempts of correction, through prophets, and even Himself. So He announced a shift here.
As we read on in Mark, after this episode of the fig tree, Jesus again cleansed the temple, after which He said, “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.” Mark 11:17-18 ESV. And we read finally the conclusion of this story of the fig tree, “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.” And Jesus answered them,
“Have faith in God.”
Mark 11:20-22 ESV. This was the entire problem. They had turned away from faith in God, the only way they could have produced fruit, and instead turned into religion, which was all talk and no fruit, represented by just leaves on the fig tree. And, clearly this is also a warning to all who are enjoying the new covenant relationship with God, that Jesus established. That we are not a people of just religion, of all talk, but of faith in God. He is a patient God, but we also see here that He is looking for fruit. Jesus said
“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Matthew 3:8 ESV.
He is a patient God, as we see, but to a point. Long before this, Isaiah wrote ““Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”Isaiah 55:6-7 ESV. Let’s turn to the Lord while He may be found.
