Kathy says this chapter is confusing. What does Jesus have against fig trees? I've been stumped by the fig tree story over and over again. Every time I read it, I have to go back and read especially carefully to help me get why Jesus is so environmentally unfriendly.
He's just triumphantly entered Jerusalem the previous day. He stayed overnight outside the city, and on his way back in, he sees a fig tree. He was hungry, and went to see if he could get something to eat. But the fig tree had nothing but leaves to offer "for it was not the season for figs" (11:13). So, he curses the tree. Why?
When there is something in Scripture that we find confusing, it is important to look carefully at the context. As he tells the story, Mark leaves the fig tree and follows Jesus back into Jerusalem (11:15-19). And what do we find there? We find God's supposedly holy people turning His house into a den of robbers. We find a people whom God had called out to himself to bear the fruit of love for Him, but who have only a vested interest in His temple. They've turned the house of the Almighty into a tourist trap.
Jesus sees a fig tree outside Jerusalem and finds nothing but leaves. He goes into Jerusalem and finds nothing but corruption and profiteering. He curses the fig tree and after a short time, it had withered to its roots (11:20-21). The implication is that the Lord Jesus—God come in the flesh—is playing the role of divine Judge, and he has found Israel wanting. And just as the fig tree was withered away to the roots, so Israel would lose its privileged place among the nations as the dwelling place of God.
There is a striking parallel between what is acted out in Jerusalem and what the prophet Jeremiah foretold: "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" (Jer. 8:13).
Jesus was coming to call Israel to himself, but there were no figs on their tree. And just as the fig tree was withered to its roots, so the temple in Jerusalem would be burned to the ground by the Romans in a mere 40 years. The temple that Jesus had cleared in Mark 11 was obliterated in 70 AD by invading armies. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Mt. 28:18). And here he uses that authority to pronounce judgment on his people.
We don't like the idea of judgment. Nowhere in our culture is judgment looked upon favorably. We don't even think much of our judicial system.
Jesus is a judge. He has the authority to judge all things, whether he chooses to tell us about it or not (11:33). Will we submit to the judgment he has pronounced on us? Do we believe we are sinners in desperate need of his mercy? Admitting our need and repenting is the constant call of the Christian. Will we refuse to bow to Christ? Or will we seek the mercy and grace of the Lord? If we do, he is faithful to forgive.
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