It was not the season for figs.

Mark 11:1-26 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, ² and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. ⁵ Some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. ⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. ⁸ And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. ⁹ Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting:

“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; ¹⁰ Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!”

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

¹² On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. ¹³ Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; ¹⁶ and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. ¹⁷ And He began to teach and say 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 robbers’ den.” ¹⁸ The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, they would go out of the city.

²⁰ As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹ Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. ²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

Today’s text says:  Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.  On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.  Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.  Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.  And He began to teach and say 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 robbers’ den.” The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.   So, Jesus came into the temple and saw how things were, but He decided to wait and come back the next day, since it was already late.   I doubt whether Jesus waited because He was too tired at the end of the day. It’s more likely that He wanted to address with all of the chaos and inappropriate activity in the temple when it was in full swing. What if Jesus visited us in the midst of our chaotic lives? I wonder how Jesus might view the worship spaces in many of our churches today. Would He be displeased with the amount of merchandise in and around our sanctuaries?   Consider that 1 Corinthians 3:16 says:  Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?   How displeased would Jesus be with some of the things we allow to clutter our temples? We are called to repent and to be made new in Christ, but if Jesus overturned the tables and drove out what should not be in our hearts, would we set them back up and invite them back in?

Just as the cleansing of the temple happened over two days, so too the lesson of the fig tree is given over two days. The text says:  On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.  Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.  I think it’s important to recognize that it says that it was not the season for figs. Why then would Jesus curse the fig tree? It hardly seems fair.  In 2 Timothy 4:2-4 it says:  Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.   We live in those days when people will not endure sound doctrine. Surely in this time many teachers teach what people desire.  The fig tree bears according to the natural seasons. We are to be in sync with God’s time rather than the world’s time. We are expected to bear fruit even when it may not seem to be the natural season.

The text continues:  When evening came, they would go out of the city. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.  Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”  And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.  Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.  Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”   Jesus ties the results of the fig tree with faith. In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus says:  “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”   In John 14:12-14 He says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”   In the text Jesus reveals a key element of our ability to do the works that He did. He says: “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”   If we want to share in the authority of Christ, if we want to do the great works that He did, we must also share in the heart of forgiveness of Christ. We must forgive as He forgave. In Luke 23:34, when He was on the cross, Jesus said:  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”   Not only though is forgiveness the key to our authority in Christ, it is also the key to our very ability to receive forgiveness. In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”   If we do not forgive others we will be judged by our own unforgiveness.

When Jesus entered the city the text says the people shouted:  “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!”   I say Amen. Come Lord Jesus and cleanse my temple if necessary. Holy Spirit guide me that I might walk in step and in time with God; that I might bear fruit in His season. May I truly walk in the authority You have given me. May I do the works that You did and may it begin with the work of unconditional forgiveness to others. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.