Mark 11 is considered by some to be one of the most perplexing passages of Scripture in the Gospels. In it, Jesus performs the only miracle of destruction to be found in His ministry. He curses the fig tree and causes it to wither “from the roots up.” Just reading through the passage, you cringe a little at Jesus’ actions. It seems that He is unjustly angry and cursing an innocent tree that is simply existing as He created it. Why would He destroy a perfectly good tree?

Looks can be deceiving.

Contextually, Mark tells us that it was not the season for figs (11:13). This statement is what makes the entire episode problematic. If Jesus had cursed the tree when it was supposed to have figs but had none, we could understand that scenario. But for Him to curse it for not having figs when it wasn’t supposed to have figs makes this all the more difficult for us to reconcile with a loving, merciful Savior.

In the area where Jesus ministered, figs were harvested from late summer through early fall. After harvest, the trees sprout buds which then grow into the sweet, edible fruit. The buds—which form on the tree prior to the leaves—are edible as well. These buds gave evidence that greater fruit was to come.

Anger at the Temple

After Jesus curses the fig tree in earshot of the disciples, He goes to the temple in Jerusalem. This particular temple was Israel’s third temple (the first two had been destroyed) and was being built by Herod. Historians identify it as “Herod’s Temple.” It was still under construction when Jesus visited. It was beautiful, it was massive and it had become an industry unto itself. In the year the temple was finally completed, over 250,000 lambs were sacrificed for passover. Imagine the type of infrastructure needed within the temple complex to manage that level of sacrifice for one religious festival.

To Jesus, the temple had ceased to become a house of prayer and instead had become a sleazy strip mall where people were taken advantage of because of their religious convictions. The money changers and the dove sellers were a necessary part of the worship system for travelers coming in to offer sacrifice; but the temple leaders had become corrupt and exploited the entire religious system for their own advantage. They overcharged and overspent. When Jesus came to the temple, there was no evidence of fruit to come. No budding fruit. Just leafy branches.

Jesus was angry about the condition of the temple—not the unfinished building itself—but the way in which religious leaders had manipulated His people to gain power and prestige. They had taken advantage of the traveler coming to absolve his guilt before God. They had gouged the poor who saw no alternative but to pay what was demanded. They had figured every means possible to fill their coffers and had forgotten the sacredness of their task before God.

Jesus—in righteous anger—cleans up the mess. His house is not a place of sleaze. It is a place of prayer. He cuts the root of the temple business—capitalizing on religious affections for personal gain. The crowds listen to His authoritative teaching and the leaders plot how to kill Him so they can get back to their unhindered, underhanded religious practices. Jesus and His disciples then leave the city and pass by the previously cursed fig tree the next morning. Peter says, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered.” Jesus’ action against the fig tree was a living parable of His action against the temple. Both withered from the root up.

Some Application

So what does this insight gain us? What application can we make of Mark’s skillfully woven retelling of Jesus’ actions shortly before His death?

First, as the fig tree was created to show evidence of fruit to come, we too are created to show evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Not everyone is expected to be mature in their thoughts, words and deeds…but every believer is expected to be heading in that direction. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child and reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things” (2 Cor 13:11). When one is a child, it insinuates that one will ultimately become an adult. There is no plateau between childhood and adulthood. An infant will grow to become a toddler who will grow to become a school-aged child, then a tween, a teen, a young adult, and finally an adult. In a similar way, there is no plateau between immature (budding) faith and mature faith. Either you are growing or you are spiritually-impaired.

Secondly, our religious worship can only be focused on one God—Jesus. We cannot make it about us, our ambitions, our desires…it has to be about His plans and His purposes. Jesus gets angry when the Kingdom is not at the forefront for the people who claim to be His. Prayer had taken a far back-seat to the commerce of the Temple. Jesus insisted that it be at the forefront. Prayer by its nature identifies God as the source of our hope and sustenance. It acknowledges that our “industry” must always give way to Jesus.

Thirdly, our practice of worship can easily get askew. The religious leaders had made the temple the focus of their worship. Its grandeur. Its sweeping beauty. Its industry. It is easy for our eyes to long for the things we can see instead of the beauty of things which we cannot see. When Jesus said that His house shall be called a house of prayer, He contrasted that with what the religious leaders had made it—a den of robbers. Prayer is intangible, spiritual, other-worldly. By its nature, thievery is groping for the tangible. God values people who reach for biblical faith. Hebrews 11:2 says that this is the means that “men of old gained approval.”

The beauty of Jesus’ cursing the fig tree is that it is a reminder that we can only hide our unfruitfulness for so long. Jesus will come and visit. He will be hungry for fruit and He will not tolerate barrenness. However, if there is the slightest bud of fruit, “whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).