Mark 11 contains an excellent example of a literary “sandwich.” The meat of the sandwich is the so-called cleansing of the temple. Many Christians fail to grasp the importance of this crucial event. Jesus didn’t just wander into the temple, find some local corruption there & suddenly decide to make a scene. On the contrary, the Lord’s bold actions & dramatic words were carefully orchestrated well in advance.
For Americans, the White House & the Capital building are symbols of our great nation. In the same way, the temple served as a symbol of Israel’s calling as the people of the one true God. Out of all the nations of the face of the earth, God had made a special covenant with the descendants of Jacob.
Israel was meant to fulfill the role marked out for humanity from the beginning: to reflect the image of God, governing the creation with wisdom so that the world might flourish. However, Israel’s special status was not just an end unto itself; they were meant to be the vehicle by which God would reveal himself to all nations. That’s why Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
But the long history of Israel was a tragic tale of failure. The problem certainly wasn’t God’s law. Rather, the problem was Israel’s hard-heartedness. Instead of faithfully keeping the covenant & enjoying God’s abundant blessings, Israel flagrantly disobeyed & instead brought curses upon themselves.
Rather than being the light of the world, Israel brought shame & derision upon God’s holy name. As the Apostle Paul would later write, “[The Jews] who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
The Lord’s actions in the temple courts were not merely a vain attempt to clean up some local corruption. Rather, Jesus’ angry protest was a symbolic, prophetic act of condemnation upon Israel. Because she had utterly failed in her vocation, God’s wrath would soon come crashing down upon her head. Israel would be completely destroyed.
This interpretation is reinforced when we examine the bread of Mark’s sandwich.
Jesus’ encounter with the fig tree was about far more than just a single tree failing to bear fruit. It certainly wasn’t an example of Jesus being petulant or peevish. Like his actions in the temple, Jesus’ curse upon the fig tree was carefully planned. The Lord used the fig tree as an important object lesson to his disciples.
Jesus clearly used the fig tree as a symbol for Israel, a nation who had failed to bear the fruit God required. His curse was a dark portent of future judgment: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Thus, the Lord’s encounter with the fig tree carries the same meaning as his confrontation with the money changers in the temple courts.
Over the last few blogs, we’ve explored the scriptural theme of fruitfulness. We examined Isaiah 5, where God the landowner cultivates the vineyard of Israel. The landowner hoped for a rich harvest of righteousness, but was bitterly disappointed when his vineyard yielded only the rotten fruit of wickedness.
Jesus’ curse upon the fig tree is the culmination of this Old Testament theme. It’s also directly parallel to several other key New Testament scenes which we’ve already studied. John the Baptist warned the people of Israel: “the axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Likewise, in the parable of the wicked tenants, the farmers refused to give the owner his share of the crop & instead murdered his beloved son. Jesus’ sternly warned that the vineyard owner “will bring those wretches to a wretched end.”
Jesus’ baleful prophecies came to fulfillment within a generation. In 66 AD, the Jews rose up in revolt against the hated Romans. The emperor Nero responded by dispatching several legions under the leadership of a general named Vespasian. Although it took four long & bloody years, the Romans systematically crushed the rebellion. As many as one million Jews were slaughtered or sold into slavery. In 70 AD, the city of Jerusalem was captured & destroyed. The temple – the great symbol of Israel’s special calling – was razed. All that remained was the retaining wall which supported the temple plaza on the west side. This “Western Wall” remains to this day the holiest site of Judaism, the place where devout Jews often come to pray.
Is this all just a matter of historical curiosity? Does Jesus’ curse upon the fig tree & his actions in the temple courts have any relevance for Christians reading about these events two thousand years later?
In order to answer these questions, let’s briefly summarize the train of thought which allows us to comprehend Jesus’ symbolic actions.
(1) At the very beginning, God had pronounced a blessing upon humanity (Genesis 1:27-28). Human beings were created to bear the divine image, exercising God’s authority over creation so that the world might flourish. But because of human rebellion, God’s blessing was replaced by curse (Genesis 3:14-19).
(2) God made a solemn promise to bless Abraham & his descendants, the children of Israel. Moreover, God vowed that through Israel, blessing would come to “all peoples on earth.” The Abrahamic blessing is directly related to the original blessing given to humanity. In other words, God called Israel to fulfill the vital role assigned to humans at the beginning. In this way, the disastrous effects of sin would be remedied & the creation would be rescued.
(3) Israel could only fulfill her vocation by offering to God the fruit of righteousness & justice. Yet they had only produced the rotten fruit of wickedness & injustice.
(4) God had sent Israel his prophets again & again, calling them to produce the right fruit. Finally, he had sent them his beloved son. But soon, even the son would be rejected & murdered. Because of their evil & obstinacy, God would certainly destroy these people.
Given this tragic state of affairs, it might seem as though God’s purposes had been thwarted. After all, God had promised that blessing & salvation would come through Israel. Yet both the fig tree & the temple protest were dramatic moments when Jesus pronounced a solemn curse upon Israel. Had God’s word failed?
Thankfully, even Israel’s unfaithfulness wasn’t beyond the purposes of God. But it’s not as though God completely abandoned Israel & was forced to try a different approach. If we want to understand our own scriptures, we must always bear in mind that Israel remains the vehicle by which God will rescue & redeem the entire creation.
The vocation of Israel would ultimately fall upon her Messiah. Whereas Israel had heretofore stumbled, Jesus succeeded. He was the long awaited Messiah, the king of Israel, the one who represents his people. By his suffering & shameful death, he would take upon himself the curse, so that his followers might go free.
Jesus is the genuine human being, the one who perfectly reflects the image of God. He is the agent who will establish God’s kingdom over all creation. His rule & reign will bring healing & justice to the world.
All those who give their loyalty to Jesus, “the king of the Jews,” are given membership in Israel, the new covenant people of God. He will lead his people in justice & righteousness. God has not given up on Israel; but Israel is no longer defined by ethnicity but by allegiance to Jesus.
As John the Baptist promised, the Messiah would baptize his people, not just in water, but in the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Spirit, the followers of Jesus offer God the right kind of fruit. Jesus himself hinted at this outcome: “Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
The key characteristic of God’s people is that they produce the fruit God requires. It must be noticed that this sharply contradicts the notion of “faith” which prevails in many evangelical churches today, the idea that mere belief in Jesus is all that is necessary for salvation. This notion simply cannot be reconciled with Mark 11 & many other passages. By cursing the fig tree & overturning the tables in the temple courts, Jesus was symbolically pronouncing God’s condemnation upon Israel for failing to produce the fruit of righteousness. It would be utterly absurd to think that God’s new covenant requires only passive belief, rather than the active fruitfulness which comes from obedience.
