Fig Tree Sandwich

July 9

Read: Mark 11:12-25

Fig Tree Sandwich

“When (Jesus) 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.” (v. 13,14)

Why would Jesus curse a fig tree for being barren of fruit when it was not the season for figs? What was he expecting to find when he walked up to this “fig tree in leaf”? (v.13) This episode is definitely and odd one! One thing that this fig tree does is provide a reference point that the Lord then sandwiches another story between it. We see our fig tree here in verses 12-14, then again in verses 20-21. This fig tree becomes an object lesson and illustration for the greater truth that is sandwiched between it… it is a sort of “fig tree sandwich”.

What is it that Jesus does in the middle… between these “tree encounters”? He cleanses the temple of “those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.” (v.15) These people and their actions had effectively turned the temple into a detestable place… they had transformed the temple in its function and purpose. The temple was no doing what it was designed to do. Jesus says as much: “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.” (v.17) So what does this have to do with the fig tree?

The old testament prophets had spoken to this very phenomenon that Jesus had come to overturn. The the people of Jerusalem - including the leadership, both kings as well as priests and scribes - had forgotten the Lord and abandoned his ways. They had become greedy and usurious. God had sent Jeremiah to declare that there would be a reckoning for their actions. They were described as a “fig tree bearing no figs”:

“Therefore I will give their wives to others

and their fields to conquerors,

because from the least to the greatest

everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

from prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

when there is no peace…

When I would gather them, declares the LORD,

there are no grapes on the vine,

nor figs on the fig tree;

even the leaves are withered,

and what I gave them has passed away from them.”

(Jeremiah 8:10,11,13)

The corruption of the people and actions of Jerusalem are likened to a fig tree that bears no figs… and Jesus comes upon an actual fig tree before walking into Jerusalem and bringing a reckoning to those in the Temple. The allusion is now coming to life! Micah the prophet declares the same idea… likening the people of God to a barren orchard and fruitless fig tree. He laments the erosion of character in the people of God:

“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.

The godly has perished from the earth,

and there is no one upright among mankind;

they all lie in wait for blood,

and each hunts the other with a net.

Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;

the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,

and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;

thus they weave it together.”

(Micah 7:1-3)

But Micah also gives us another clue - “the first ripe fig”. (cf. 7:1) You see, fig trees in Jesus time (and fig trees in general) have an odd cycle of fruit bearing. There are two different seasons… two different crops of figs. One crop is a sort of “first fruits” crop that actual happens on last years structure before the second crop comes on the newly formed structures of the plant. The leaves come between this “first fruits” and this second - more substantial - second crop.

When Jesus looked at this fig tree from afar, he saw it as “in leaf” giving him hope that those first fruits… the earliest crops of the fig tree… would be present and there for the eating. Jesus was hungry to eat of the early fruits and efforts of the tree. When he got there… despite the leaves and outward appearance of “fruitfulness”… he found nothing. Only disappointment.

I can’t help but wonder if Jesus looked past the fig tree to the outline of the Temple and was about to experience the same thing a second time? Did he see in the distance the “outward appearance” of “fruitfulness” in the city of Jerusalem and the Temple? Was he excited to taste of the “first fruits” of God’s work through Israel… the early efforts of worshipping God in the temple? The fact is, he was about to draw closer only to discover that it was barren of real fruit just like the tree. He was about to walk into Jerusalem / the Temple and find it just as Jeremiah and Micah had forewarned. Jesus cursed the fig tree for not bearing fruit… but even more so for having the outward signs of having fruit but actually being barren. Jesus was about to curse the Temple as well… in fact he goes on to declare that the Temple would be “torn down”. (cf. Mark 15:29)

When Jesus and his crew walk back out (after turning over tables and “cleansing the temple”) they find the fig tree withered. Peter calls it out, somewhat stunned. I guess they didn’t really expect Jesus’ words to come true… the same way those before them doubted the words of Jeremiah and Micah! Jesus’ response:

“Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

What can we learn from eating this “fig sandwich”? Well, one thing is that God will always keep his word, and what he says will happen does indeed happen. There is great power and effectiveness in the words of God. Likewise, there is nothing in the end but destruction for those who abandon Gods instruction and who take advantage of others. There is no life or “fruitfulness” to be had in greed, usury, manipulation, abuse, and/or indifference to those people around you. (Go back and look at the description in Jeremiah and Micah.) Maybe the most obvious takeaway is this: Jesus will curse those who masquerade as having “fruit” … who falsely display outward signs of fruitfulness… who hypocritically “look promising from afar” but upon closer inspection bear no real fruit ! The fig tree and the Temple had both ceased to do what they were designed to do. They both looked good from afar, but had no real substance… nothing to offer but disappointment… once you got close to them! Jesus will turn over your tables and run you outs town for living like that! A “fig tree” that functions like that must be pruned, torn out, destroyed and the soil used for a productive plant. Jesus pruned that tree with word of faith / the utterance of a curse.

There are times and seasons for “fig bearing”. There are seasons of rebuilding… seasons of growth… seasons of “first fruits” and seasons of “bumper crops”. Whatever season you are in - may the Lord come to you and find that the appearance / what is being displayed on the outside matches what is actually happening! May our appearance and our fruitfulness be in line with one another. May the Lord come to us and find that we are bearing out the work he has called us to… we carry on our branches what is right for our season! Love you guys! - JDP