12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it. 15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying 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 den of robbers." 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city. 20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered." Mark 11:12-21

Jesus’ Bizarre Behavior

In the passage before us, Jesus cursed a fig tree and overturned tables. He did not normally behave this way. Jesus did not customarily use miraculous power in destructive ways, but in ways that led to healing, feeding, deliverance, and resurrection. Jesus was about giving life. And when we imagine—really imagine—tables and chairs clanging to the ground while travel and trading are stopped, we are also concerned. Jesus often rebuked the way of the religionists of his day, but not like this.

The Key

These two events were connected to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem a day earlier. On that day, he had also behaved in a new way by riding into town on a young donkey. He headed straight for the temple. Mark already told us what Jesus did there:

"And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve" (Mark 11:11). This is the key to our whole passage. Jesus came to Jerusalem as the Christ-King, Israel's promised Messiah, and went straight for the religious heart of Israel. There, he observed. He "looked around at everything." What Jesus saw grated on him. He went back to Bethany, spent the night, and returned to the temple the next day in an act of premeditated and righteous anger.

What He Saw

He did not like what he'd seen the day before.

• Instead of assisting the worshipers in their pursuit of God, the religious leaders oversaw an elaborate scheme designed for profit (15).
• Instead of helping foreign worshippers exchange their money for the accepted temple shekel, money changers gouged them with high surcharges.
• Instead of providing an easy way for the poor to worship God, the pigeon salesmen charged premium prices for pre-approved sacrificial animals.
• And instead of prayer and worship, the people were using the court of the Gentiles as a shortcut through the city!

All this infuriated Jesus. Rightfully so, this was his house—and, after singlehandedly ending the abominable practices there, he quoted Old Testament scriptures that made it clear he thought it was his house.

• From Isaiah 56:7, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."
• And from Jeremiah 7:11, "But you have made it a den of robbers."

Righteous Anger

Jesus' anger was righteous and good. He should have been angry at what he saw. The God of Israel had arrived as the Son of Man. Their Messiah-Christ had come. And they were less than prepared. Their worship was broken, and, rather than help the nations come to God, they had hindered them.

The Fig Tree—a Living Parable

With this temple complex episode in mind, we should easily understand the episode with the fig tree. Some, forgetting that the fig tree had no soul and that a far worse curse was put on all creation due to man's sin, blame Jesus. They claim he acted like a petulant child who was angry because there was no food. He was not “hangry” but holy, and he used the fig tree as a living parable. He approached the fig tree with all its leaves, looking for fruit. Though it wasn't the season for figs, it had the look of fruitfulness. Some think Jesus was looking for pre-ripe fruit—it wasn't tasty, but could give him some needed energy. With all its leaves, the fig tree sure looked like it would have produced something. But, when Jesus discovered it had no fruit, he rebuked the fig tree. The next day, Peter noticed it had withered from the roots (21). It is here we can understand the fig tree as a living parable. Israel had all the outward manifestations of fruit to God. Like the fig tree, they looked fruitful. They had a temple. They had worship. They had the Passover. But the nations had not heard, and the house of God was not one of prayer. They had not been fruitful. Jesus looked around that temple complex, just like he looked around that fig tree, and found no fruit. For both, his rebuke was stern. Jesus' rebuke of the fig tree is symbolic of a long season of fruitlessness for Israel, especially their temple. Shortly after Jesus' death, in the year 70 A.D., the temple and its trappings were destroyed. It faded away (Hebrews 8:13). One day, Israel will revive and receive her Messiah, but the gospel caused Judaism to fade (Romans 11:12, 16, 25, 29). But what are we to do about all this? One response is to see the heart of God for his people to be rooted and fruitful so that they can bear fruit to the nations. Let’s be a people who dive deep into our God so that our roots are strong. When we do, we become a house of prayer for all nations, bearing fruit to the ends of the earth.