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Scripture Reading: Mark 11:1-26
In this message we shall continue to consider the preparation of the Slave-Savior for His redemptive service. In the foregoing message we saw that the first step of His preparation was entering into Jerusalem in a glorious way and receiving the acknowledgment, the approval, of the people.
In 11:12-26 we have the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple. The Lord saw the fig tree with nothing on it except leaves, and in verse 14 He said to it, “May no one eat fruit of you forever!” After cursing the fig tree, He entered into the temple and “began to cast out those who were selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling the doves” (v. 15). Then He said, “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).
These two actions — the cursing of the fig tree and cleansing of the temple — indicate that the entire nation of Israel, which had been chosen by God for His purpose, had become fruitless and corrupt. The fig tree cursed by the Lord had leaves, but no fruit. It had outward glorification, but it did not have any fruit. It did not have any reality. It had nothing that could satisfy God’s desire.
The temple, which should have been a house of prayer for all nations, the Gentiles as well as the Jews, had become a den of robbers. In the sight of God, those worshipping in the temple were robbers. God’s house on earth actually had become a den of robbers. Therefore, after cursing the fig tree to end its life, the Lord cleansed the temple in order to eliminate the corruption.
As the Lord was doing these things, no one dared to oppose Him outwardly, for He had already received the people’s approval. Concerning this, verse 18 says, “And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and they sought how they might destroy Him, for they feared Him, for all the crowd was astounded at His teaching.”
The cursing of the fig tree signifies the terminating of the life of Israel as a nation. From that time onward, the nation of Israel was finished with God’s New Testament economy. In addition to cursing the fig tree, the Lord also cleansed the corruption from the house of God.
In the first ten chapters of the Gospel of Mark the Lord was kind, merciful, and compassionate. But here in 11:12-26 it seems that He is very different, first cursing the fig tree and then cleansing the temple, even overturning the tables of the moneychangers. According to verse 16, “He did not permit anyone to carry a vessel through the temple.” The Lord was very bold, strong, and even severe. He seemed to show no mercy at all.
We need to see that the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple were part of the Slave-Savior’s preparation for His redemptive death. He prepared the way for the Pharisees and scribes to put Him to death.
It was late in the day when the Lord cleansed the temple. Verse 19 says, “And when it became late, they went outside the city.” It is likely that during the night He lodged in Bethany.
Mark 11:20 says, “And passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.” Remembering what the Lord Jesus had said the previous day, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered” (v. 21). The Lord answered by saying, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, that 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 happens, it shall be to him” (vv. 22-23). Then the Lord went on to speak about prayer. In particular He pointed out our need to forgive others: “And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, that your Father who is in the heavens may also forgive you your offenses (v. 25). Here we see that to forgive the offenses of others is the ground for our heavenly Father to forgive us. This is especially true in our prayer time. Strictly speaking, we cannot pray with a heart that holds anything against anyone, that is, with a heart that feels offended by anyone or remembers another’s offense.
The matter we are emphasizing with respect to the cursing of the fig tree is that this indicates that God had determined to give up the nation of Israel and to go to another people, the church. The church is composed of those who have been brought into the death and resurrection of Christ in order to participate in the full enjoyment of Christ. This people includes both Jews and Gentiles.
Mark 11:12 says that the Lord was hungry. This signifies that He was hungry for fruit from the children of Israel that God might be satisfied. The fig tree, however, did not have any fruit. We have seen that this fig tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel (Jer. 24:2, 5, 8). The fact that it was full of leaves but fruitless signifies that at that time the nation of Israel was full of outward show, but had nothing that could satisfy God.
In 11:12-26 the Slave-Savior’s cursing of the fig tree and His cleansing of the temple are merged. This indicates His dealing with the corrupted and rebellious nation of Israel in different aspects at the same time. The fig tree was a symbol of the nation of Israel, and the temple was its center in its relationship with God. As a fig tree planted by God, it did not bear fruit for Him, and as the center of its relationship with God, the temple was filled with corruption. Hence, the Slave-Savior cursed the fruitless fig tree and cleansed the contaminated temple. Such a dealing may be considered a harbinger of the destruction foretold in 12:9 and 13:2.
In His ministry for the spread of the gospel in Galilee in 1:14—10:52, the Slave-Savior’s work was to preach the gospel, teach the truth, cast out demons, and heal the sick. In that work, His human virtues with His divine attributes were expressed as His qualification for, and beauty in, His divine service rendered to sinners for God. In His preparation in Jerusalem (11:15—14:42) for His redemptive work, His major work was to confront the opposing Jewish leaders, who were supposed to be the builders of God’s building (12:9-10), but actually had been usurped by God’s enemy Satan and instigated by him to plot to kill the Slave-Savior. In this confrontation, under their subtle and evil questioning, testing, and examining, His human dignity was expressed in His human genuineness (11:15-18), and His divine wisdom and authority were expressed in His human conduct and perfection (11:27—12:37), so that eventually His fault-finders became His quality-provers. This paved the way for Him to point out to these blind opposers that He, the Christ, as the Son of David was the Lord of David, the very God (12:35-37), so that they might know His deity in His humanity, that they might know that He was God living in man.
In dealing with the opposers, the Lord’s human dignity certainly was expressed in His human genuineness. While He was being examined by them, He expressed His dignity in His genuineness. Furthermore, at the same time, His divine wisdom and authority were expressed in His human conduct and perfection. As a result, those who came with the intention of finding fault with Him had to become those who could prove His qualities.
In 11:1-26 there are three main points: entering into Jerusalem and lodging in Bethany, cursing the fig tree, and cleansing the temple. These three things all must have come as a great surprise, even as a shock, to the followers of the Slave-Savior. Peter, John, James, and the other disciples had been following the Lord Jesus for three and a half years. During those years, they had observed how the Lord conducted Himself, how He did things, and how He treated people. They had come with Him from Galilee, a despised region, to Judea, even to the city of Jerusalem, the most important place in the country. Jerusalem was the place where the temple was located and where the Sanhedrin, the great council of the Jews, met. There were many important people living in Jerusalem. Now into that great city came a group of despised Galileans led by a carpenter.
When the Lord and His disciples “came near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sends two of His disciples, and says to them, Go to the village opposite you, and immediately, entering into it, you will find a colt tied, on which no man has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it.” These disciples obeyed the Lord’s word without saying anything. They had been trained not to express their opinion. If the Lord had made such a request earlier, they might have asked Him why He wanted them to do such a thing. But now that they had passed through so many things, especially the healing at Jericho, they simply obeyed the Lord when He told them to go into the village and untie the colt and bring it. This indicates that the training rendered to the disciples in the foregoing chapters was effective. The Lord gave the two disciples an unusual command, a command that most people would not believe or accept. However, having been trained by the Lord, the disciples did not express any opinion about what the Lord commanded them to do.
Mark 11:7 says, “And they bring the colt to Jesus and throw their garments on it, and He sat on it.” In a foregoing message we pointed out that when blind Bartimaeus heard that the Lord was calling him, he threw away his garment. Here we see that the disciples threw their garments on the colt. This signifies that they no longer cared for position. They were willing for the Lord to have all the position. The disciples were absolutely for the exaltation of this One.
Verse 8 says that “many spread their garments in the road.” We may say that the crowd followed the disciples in casting aside their garments. The people then proceeded to give the Lord a great welcome, crying out, “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!” (vv. 9-10).
The disciples must have been surprised by the welcome given to the Slave-Savior. To be sure, they never imagined that the Lord Jesus, a carpenter from Galilee, would be so warmly welcomed by the crowd in Jerusalem.
The disciples must also have been surprised by the Lord’s cursing of the fig tree. The Lord’s Galilean followers may have said to themselves, “We have been following the Lord for three and a half years, and we have never seen Him do such a thing. Why did He curse the fig tree? The fig tree is a symbol of our nation, and we have a high regard for this symbol. Yet, the Lord cursed it. His behavior certainly has changed. It is much different now from what it was in the past.”
After cursing the fig tree, the Lord entered the temple and began to cast out those who were selling and buying there. He even overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves (v. 15). Imagine what the disciples must have thought when they saw this. They may have said to themselves, “Is this our Teacher? He has always been kind, gentle, and compassionate. What is He doing?” Of course, the disciples did not dare to say anything to the Lord.
We have seen that by cursing the fig tree and cleansing the temple the Lord was making the necessary preparations for His redemptive service. In particular, His cleansing of the temple stirred up the chief priests and the scribes, who sought how they might destroy Him (v. 18). Actually, the Lord’s cleansing of the temple caused His opposers to speed up their efforts to put Him to death. This work of preparation, hastening the activity of the opposers, insured that the Lord would die on the day of the Passover. Therefore, the cleansing of the temple certainly was a preparation for the Lord’s redemptive death.
Suppose the Lord Jesus had come into the temple and simply looked around, behaving Himself in a very polite manner. Then His followers might have said, “Lord, everything is excellent. Let us go somewhere to rest.” If this had been the situation, I do not think that the opposers would have been as serious in their efforts to put the Lord Jesus to death. They might even have let Him go for a long period of time. In that case, the Lord would not have been crucified on the Passover. Hence, the Lord prepared the situation by cleansing the temple, and in so doing He stirred up the opposers so that they put Him to death at the time appointed by God.
The Lord prepared not only His opposers but also His followers. No doubt, the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple made a deep impression on the Lord’s followers. Of course, they did not understand the significance of these things when they took place. But later, after the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection, they must have recalled these things. Then they began to understand why He cursed the fig tree and cleansed the temple.
In chapter eleven of Mark, we can see that Peter, John, James, and the other disciples were very much under the influence of tradition. To them, Jerusalem was blessed by God, and the fig tree was a symbol of the nation of Israel, a nation chosen by God. Their minds were filled with the traditional understanding. They must have been shocked when the Lord cursed the fig tree and cleansed the temple. Now we need to realize that in doing this the Lord not only stirred up His opposers that they might put Him to death, but also impressed His followers that God was absolutely through with the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel was cursed, condemned, and soon-to-be overthrown.
On the day the Lord Jesus cursed the fig tree and cleansed the temple, the disciples did not have much understanding of what had taken place. But later they no doubt began to recall these things and were able to understand that God had given up Israel. Hence, the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple were a preparation for those who were to put the Lord to death and also for His followers, that they might take His death and receive His resurrection.
The scene in chapter eleven is very different from that in chapters one through ten. In the first ten chapters of Mark the Lord Jesus is meek, merciful, gentle, and compassionate. But in chapter eleven He behaved in an altogether different manner. The Lord’s purpose in this chapter was to prepare the environment, the situation, the opposers, and His followers for the great event of His redemptive death.
This work of preparation lasted for six days. We may compare these six days to the six days in which God created the universe. During the six days before His death, the Lord prepared the environment and everyone involved for His death. He did this work of preparation not by teaching, preaching, or explaining. Rather, He did it by His actions.
While the disciples were lodging in Bethany, they must have talked with one another about what the Lord had done in cursing the fig tree and cleansing the temple. Peter may have said to John and James, “Why did the Lord curse the fig tree and cleanse the temple? The fig tree is a symbol of our nation, but He cursed it. Then He immediately went into the temple, stopped all the traffic, and overthrew the tables. He even said that they were making the temple a den of robbers. What is the meaning of all this? It is better that we not ask the Lord. Let’s wait until tomorrow and see what happens next. We don’t know what else He will do.” I believe that the disciples had some private conversation like this.
If you had been with the disciples, would you not have talked with them about what had happened? If I had been there, I doubt if I would have had the heart to eat or sleep. I would have gone to the others and asked them their impression of what had happened that day. Furthermore, I certainly would have been eagerly awaiting the next day, wondering what the Lord would do. My point here is that the Lord in an unusual way was preparing all things and all people, especially His followers, for His death.
When many Christians read the Bible, they take things for granted. They may read about the Lord’s entering Jerusalem, His cursing of the fig tree, and His cleansing of the temple without inquiring into the meaning of these things. Let us learn to study the Bible without taking anything for granted. We need to delve into matters, consider them, and seek to understand them. As we consider the significance of the events recorded in 11:1-26, we see that the Lord was making preparations to carry out the greatest act in the universe — His redemptive death.
