The Fruitless Fig Tree and the Christless Church

The fig tree figuratively represented the Jewish Temple. Jesus cursed it because not only did it give a deceptive appearance of bearing good fruit –green leaves– it also lacked any actual fruit. In his onward journey, the one who would end their exile and bring God's presence back into their Temple received an initial sign of what was to come. Jesus cursed the fig tree. At the temple site, he reacted violently. The religious Jews had turned the place of prayer into a marketplace. Jesus drove out the buyers and sellers, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers. The zeal of the Lord drove him crazy. He cleansed the Temple that was under God's curse ever since his presence had left it.

The religious Jews, who represented the Temple, also gave a deceptive appearance of good fruit of holiness and love. However, in reality, they lacked any fruit. They had turned the Temple into a bazaar. They failed to love God by breaking his command to keep the courtyard free for Gentiles to pray. Hence, they lacked sanctity. They also failed to love their non-Jewish neighbours as they loved themselves by not giving them their space to pray. Thus, they broke the Torah and Jesus' heart.

The presence of God returned into the Temple in the person of Jesus, but they did not cherish him. Instead, they looked for ways to kill Jesus, the fullness of God's presence and ender of their exile from God. Isn't it paradoxical that the one who came to save them had no other choice but to judge them and abandon them? Isn't it ironic that the pious Jews rejected the very presence of God, for which they had waited patiently for several years, maintaining their outward holiness? Like the fig tree, they had the appearance but lacked the substance.

As Jesus returned disappointed by the wickedness of the Temple authorities, his disciples observed that the fig tree no longer had its fantastic look. It was no longer green or leafy. Jesus' curse left it dry and withered. Perhaps, Mark is pointing subtly to God's rejection and the future destruction of the Temple and the scattering of its people. In Mark's version, it was Peter who saw it first. He called out, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” The ordinary people had received Rabbi Jesus and his teachings in the Temple courts with great excitement. However, the Temple authorities considered him a threat to their existence. God has rejected the Temple just as Jesus rejected the fig tree! Even Peter, who is primarily a sleeper and slow-to-learn disciple in Mark, could see what had just happened.

And, so it shall be at the end. Blinded by his arrogance, the naked Emperor couldn't see his nakedness. The tailors had fooled him into believing that his invisible clothes looked awesome. For, only the righteous ones could see those clothes. The Emperor couldn't see, but he couldn't admit it because his pride in being righteous hindered him. Nobody pointed it out to the Emperor except for an innocent, young boy whose views didn't matter much. The church today is naked. It suffers from apathy toward the sufferers and greed for worldly things. It lacks love for people and love for God (holiness). What's more, it does not have a Peter or a young boy to look, see, and announce its withered condition. 

Mark 11:12-25

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”