What kind of figs do you have?

By Darrien DeFederico

Mark 11:12–17 (NASB95)

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.”

Devotional

Anyone that has ever been to the grocery store shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables knows the importance of inspecting produce before purchasing it. Unsuspecting customers who chose poorly may end up going home with rotten food, only to be discovered when attempting to eat or cook with it. The deep shame and regret when realizing lunch might be missing strawberries or blueberries while dinner could be missing potatoes or carrots is enough to cause someone to double check their purchases next time in order to ensure gratuitous trips to the store are not necessary.

Holy Monday is when Jesus Christ cursed the fig tree (Matthew 21:18–22, Mark 11:20–26), cleansed the temple (Matthew 21:12–13), and responded to the questioning of his authority (Matthew 21:23–27). During this eventful day, it would be an underestimation to say it did not go well. Much like ourselves, Jesus was expecting ripe, edible fruit after an arduous morning. However, to Jesus' surprise, he finds nothing but leaves (indicating their should have been fruit there). This event is coupled with the temple cleansing, where religious leaders allowed the selling of animals and merchandise in God's house which was reserved for worship alone. To the surprise of no one, these corrupt leaders rejected the authority of Jesus to cleanse the temple, and instead sought to question him as much as possible.

The common thread throughout these stories is while Jesus was expecting to find sincere worship at the temple and righteous character in the religious leaders in Jerusalem, he was instead met with arguings about prices, and with rejection and evil works. Even when passing by a simple fig tree, Jesus was unable to find anything there, only the empty promises of the leaves. As a whole, this tree represented all of Israel (Hosea 9:10). They were religious and tried to do the typical religious actions, but they failed to produce any good fruit (changed character).

On this day, let us take to heart the words of Christ: "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." (Matthew 21:22). Instead of being like empty trees that only have a vain showing of religion, let us be faithful and trust in God, bearing good works and changed character. Christ stated that it is possible for us so long as we trust in Him.

Prayer

Father, help us to be fruitful with our works. Let us joyfully serve you and help others, not expecting anything in return. Let us live our lives in service to you, and not for ourselves. Remind us to live in faith, and to serve you in ways that honor you, and not only in ways that are convenient for us. Amen.