Mark 11:12-25

You can read Mark 11:12-25 for yourself, but here is the gist of the passage. On the day after his triumphal entry, Jesus returns to Jerusalem from Bethany. He sees a fig tree that is full of leaves, but upon closer inspection it is found to be completely devoid of fruit. Christ curses the tree, that it would never bear fruit again. Once he reaches Jerusalem, he enters the temple and sets himself to the task of clearing out the money changers and those who were selling doves. He and his disciples again spent the night in Bethany. The following morning, as they were making their way back to Jerusalem, Peter notices that the tree Jesus had cursed had withered away, to its very roots. In a rather cryptic explanation, Jesus explains that a man who has faith can tell "this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea.'" If the man does not doubt, this will be done for him. However, he cautions that when they pray they must forgive anyone that they are holding anything against, "so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

That's the summary, but you would do well to read it for yourself before you go any further here. Having said that, if you're anything like me, you will be thoroughly confused about what fig trees, overturned tables, and flying mountains have to do with each other. We studied this passage for our Sunday night Bible study this week, and I was amazed to find, upon further investigation, what I believe God is saying through his Word here. The following is my understanding of this passage, and you are more than welcome to comment if you disagree, especially if you think I'm missing the point here.

At any rate, off we go…

One of the literary devices Mark uses frequently in his Gospel is sequencing or sandwiching the telling of certain events together to make a larger point. In this case, we see that the order is as follows.

1. Leafy fig tree, though devoid of fruit. Jesus passes judgment on it.
2. Jesus enters the temple and passes judgment on it.
3. Withered fig tree, having suffered the curse of Christ's judgment of it.
4. Christ's explanation (sort of!) of what this all means.

From this structure, we see that the judgment of the fig tree is about much, much more than just a tree that refused to produce figs. We can also see that Jesus' teachings on prayer are about much, much more than just giving us a name-it-and-claim-it blank check, as long as we believe really, really, super hard that Jesus will give us a new Mercedes Benz.

This is not the first time that we read of fig leaves in the Bible. In Genesis 3:7, Adam and Eve clothed themselves with fig leaves to hide the shame of their iniquity. This covering was inadequate, and in Genesis 3:21 we see that the Lord provides them with animal skins, which replaced the fig leaves and were much more adequate.

Jump ahead to Numbers 16-18. In a rebellion led by Korah, many in the Israelite community rose up against Moses and Aaron, God's representatives among them. God caused the earth to swallow up the leaders of the rebellion, and a great plague broke out among those who had participated in the rebellion. Aaron, upon Moses' instruction, made atonement for them and stood between the dead and the living. The plague was stopped, but not before 14,700 people had died.

God had Moses collect a staff from the chieftains of each of the twelve tribes, and he inscribed each man's name upon his staff. The staffs were placed in the Tent of Meeting, and the next day Moses went into the tent to collect the staffs. Aaron's staff had sprouted and produced buds and blossoms, and even ripe almonds. Thus, Aaron was confirmed as God's appointed priest, to "bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary." His brothers, the tribe of Levi, were appointed along with him, to maintain the services of the priesthood. Chapter 18 ends with a warning to the Levites, that "you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die." Here's the point: the Levitical priesthood was inaugurated by the budding and fruit production of a staff that had been dead and without life. This inauguration was capped by a warning that they were not to make profane those things which God had made sacred.

Skip ahead again, this time to Jesus' first encounter with the barren fig tree. Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna!… Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" The Jews welcomed him as their Messiah, though it seems clear that they were oblivious to the true scope and scale of Christ's messianic mission. From reports throughout the Gospels we see that many of these Jews were awaiting a messiah that would drive the Romans from their lands and reestablish the throne of David, bringing Israel back onto the scene as an international power, as God's chosen nation. Within a week's time, their religious leadership would be executing this same man whom they welcomed with shouts of Hosanna!

Jesus sees the fig tree, and it gives the appearance that it is a healthy and robust tree. Yet, when he comes closer to it he finds that it bears no fruit. The glory of a fig tree is the sweetness and abundance of its fruit, and Jesus takes this from the tree as an act of his judgment.

Christ enters into the temple, and he overturns the tables of the money changers and drives out the merchants. He does not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple, as it would seem many were in the habit of using the temple as a shortcut of sorts. Jesus laments that the temple was to be a "house of prayer for all the nations… but you have made it a den of robbers." The "holy things of the people of Israel," namely the temple and the priesthood, had been profaned. The system still gave the appearance of life, with all of the hustle and bustle of the temple, the drive-thru sacrifices of animals purchased from the merchants using money acquired from the money changers. "You need some forgiveness? That'll be one gold piece for the dove, and we can take care of the rest for you. Thanks, and have a nice day." But, like the fig tree, the temple was bearing no fruit. Consider Jeremiah 8:8-13, emphasis mine:

8"How can you say, 'We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us'?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
9The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
10Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, 'Peace, peace,'
when there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
13When 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."

What had God given them? The sacred responsibility to serve as priests to the nation of Israel. They were to intercede for the iniquities of their people, to make atonement for their sins that they might be forgiven. Instead, they exploited this system was exploited for unjust gain. Cheap mercy (i.e. peace, peace) was being dispensed, and yet they had no shame. Consequently, when God inspected them he found no figs on the fig tree. What he had given them "has passed away from them."

We soon find, as Peter did, that the fig tree Jesus had cursed became withered down to its roots. Whatever appearance of life it had possessed before had been taken from it. What follows is a teaching from Jesus on prayer. This passage, when taken alone, is often used to validate a health and wealth gospel. If only you believe hard enough, Jesus will gladly give you everything you want. Promotions. Bigger houses. Healthy parents and grandparents. Bigger churches. If you don't get what you asked for, obviously you weren't tryin' hard enough. Given the context, never mind the balance of the scriptures, I find it hard to believe that this is what Jesus had in mind.

So far, everything in this account has revolved around the idea of forgiveness and atonement for our sins. I don't think it is too great a stretch to think that this passage follows this same theme, especially given that it is bookended with mention of the Father forgiving our own trespasses. If this is true, then perhaps Jesus isn't merely giving us a blank check for whatever we ask, but rather telling us something bigger and much better than that.

One of the things Jesus came to do was to deliver us from our sins. Because of Christ's perfect sacrifice, the old system of substitutionary atonement was done away with. The blood of bulls and goats had been spilled over and over again for the sins of God's people, but "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). These early types foreshadowed the coming of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Forgiveness would no longer be found in the temple. No further sacrifice would be necessary, and the old system would wither to its roots, being torn down by Christ's judgment upon it. A perfect, eternal high priest had been established to make atonement for the iniquities of his people. Anyone who would humbly come to Christ would not be turned away, but would find mercy. The one who would come to Christ in faith would be forgiven.

Is this any less miraculous than a mountain being thrown into the sea? Is our iniquity, the weight of our sin, any less than the weight of a mountain? Man is equally ill suited to toss mountains about as he is to make amends for his unrighteousness. Yet, the kindness which God has shown us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ offers us the hope that all who come by faith to Jesus will be forgiven. It is as though the mountainous debt of unrighteousness is cast into the depths, swallowed up so that not a single inch of it would protrude from the bountiful righteousness of Christ's blood. Those who come by faith can reckon themselves forgiven, knowing that this righteousness is already theirs.

Finally, Christ cautions us to forgive any offense that we are holding against anyone. Why? "So that your Father also whi is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." The extension of forgiveness to an offending neighbor requires humility and does not allow for arrogant self-righteousness. If we hold to our right to pass judgment on others, we have not yet realized our own need of forgiveness. Such a man will refuse the mercy extended to him by Christ, for the sake of his own pride. He does not have faith, and he will not be forgiven.

I would welcome any insights or corrections that anyone might be able to add. As the title of my blog suggests, I am quite sure I am not the first person to come up with these observations. If I am missing something, or if I have something wrong here, please point it out to me.