Mark 11:12-25 (NIV)
Today’s passage in Mark 11 has Jesus cursing a fig tree, overturning tables in the temple courts, and talking about moving mountains with prayer. What in the world is going on here? It’s these kinds of passages that tempt us to break up the story and try to wring out meaning from what seem like random details. But Mark is trying to get us to see something about Jesus.
This moment with the fig tree actually serves as a metaphor for what Jesus does in the temple. Figs were not in season but there should have been early fruit on the tree, and trees that had leaves but no fruit at this time of year were not going to produce anything that season. In the temple, Jesus confronts the money changers and boundary markers that were taking advantage of the poor and excluding people from participating freely in the feast of passover. Originally, within the temple the only distinction was supposed to be between priest and people, but by Jesus' day it was segregated by race and gender for "purity reasons."
So what’s this metaphor mean? Israel's vocation was to be a blessing to all nations. A place where people could come and receive the fruit of God’s covenant love for Israel through the temple. But Israel and the temple itself has become like a fig tree with no fruit. It has leaves, but it bears no fruit. Jesus cursing the fig tree indicates at least two things. One, is that the temple would be destroyed, which actually ends up happening in 70 AD. And second, that there needs to be a new Israel, a new temple. And Jesus will do it, on a mountain outside the city, on a withered tree.
----------REFLECT----------
1. What about Jesus in the passage comforts you and your community?
2. What about Jesus in the passage challenges you and your community?
3. Jesus sees the failure of Israel to live up to what it was called to be and he plans to intervene. He plans to allow himself to be cursed and wither in order for us to have free and equal access to the fruit of God’s covenant faithfulness. Take a moment and reflect on this good news.
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