The Fig Tree and the Temple

Tonight we looked at Mark 11:1-26, which is a fairly eventful passage. It begins with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and recounts the cleansing of the temple.

But bookending the cleansing of the temple is the very confusing account of the fig tree. Why would Jesus curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season? From a combination of commentaries, "cheater notes", the context, and a few targeted questions, we came to a couple of conclusions.

Fig trees apparently develop fruit and leaves at the same time. The tree was advertising fruitfulness while truly being barren. This helps us understand the cleansing of the temple--it advertised spiritual fruitfulness, but it was a marketplace, a shortcut, and much more profane than sacred. The temple had become spiritually barren.

Another conclusion (or maybe hypothesis) we developed was that Jesus was showing that seasons of spirituality would be obsolete in his coming kingdom. Israel had gone through seasons of worship and apostasy. But perhaps in the new kingdom, the seasons of falling away would stop.

I found an article about the fig tree that has more detail. It also cites references, for anyone that's interested in digging in deeper.

We had a great discussion tonight. The takeaway offered at the end was not to be like the fig tree and the temple: make sure what your outside (appearance, behavior, words) advertises matches your inward condition.

[Editor's note: I may or may not post back-notes on Mark 9 and Mark 10. If not, we studied Mark 10 a week ago, and Mark 9 the week before that.]