The Final Week for Jesus - Monday

The final week - Monday

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. Mark 11:12-14

Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay

Let’s be honest, there are some words or actions of Jesus that are a little hard to understand. The story of the fig tree is a story that raises more questions than it answers. Why did Jesus go to the fig tree if it was not the season for figs? And why would Jesus curse a tree for not having fruit? 

The answer to this puzzle won’t be found in just reading these three verses. Like all puzzling statements of the Bible, it is in looking at the whole story of the Bible that you can start to put the clues together.

So, let’s think about the day Jesus comes to the fig tree. It is Monday and he is making his way to the temple. If we read on, we will see that Jesus is not happy with what is happening there. In fact, he’s so unhappy, he turns over the tables and declares “This should be a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.”

And here is a clue to the story of the fig tree. The temple looks like it might bear good fruit, but there is no good fruit to be found. It should be ‘a house of prayer for all nations’, but what Jesus finds is a ‘den of robbers’.

         

Is your life bearing fruit for the gospel of Jesus Christ? It is terrible to think that we might look like a fig tree but have nothing but leaves. What will Jesus find when he looks at you?