Mark chapter number 11. We're going to be reading, starting in verse number 12. Mark 11 and verse number 12. Such a joy to see each and every one of you here with us this morning, and thank you for visiting with us. If you're here visiting, we pray God's richest blessings upon you. Mark 11 and verse number 12. It says, now the next day when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry, Jesus was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response, Jesus said to it, let no one eat fruit from you ever again. And his disciples heard it. So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple. and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then he taught, saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and the chief priests heard it. and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his teaching. When evening had come, he went out of the city. Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, Our Master, look, the fig tree you have cursed has withered away. May the Lord bless the preaching of His Word. We're looking at, once again, at a passage that has troubled scholars, that has troubled theologians down through the centuries, as it is a passage that seems to suggest that Jesus overreacts and Jesus just loses his temper. He throws a temper tantrum and lashes out his anger to a poor, innocent tree that did not bear fruit. As a matter of fact, atheists down through the years have used this particular passage of Scripture of Jesus cursing this fig tree as one of the reasons for rejecting Christianity altogether. And they say that such behavior that Jesus portrayed cannot be an act that a sinless son of God would be guilty of. And so we need to, once again, consider this miracle, which is the only miracle in the New Testament that is a miracle of destruction. Every other miracle recorded for us is one of construction, one of reconstruction, where a lame person was healed or the blind received sight. But this one that Jesus performs is a miracle of destruction. But this morning, unlike last Sunday, where we won't only look at this fruitless fig tree, we're going to consider the wickedness that is seen in the temple. And we'll understand then better the correlation between the fruitless fig tree and the nation of Israel. And so in this passage, we find Jesus engaging in two acted-out parables in which he curses the fig tree for its unfruitfulness, but he also condemns the nation of Israel for their spiritual unfruitfulness. The first thing I want you to notice with me this morning is this, that Jesus curses the fig tree. Jesus curses the fig tree. The fig tree is a symbol or a picture of the nation of Israel. It's important to remember that when Jesus curses this fig tree, that it was a symbolic act that was meant to serve as a powerful metaphor for Israel's spiritual condition. A condition that outwardly looked promising. On the outside, you would see people going through the motions of religion. You would see them going through the traditions of religion. But yet inwardly, Israel lacked genuine spiritual fruit. And so the cursing of the fig tree by Jesus unveils the truth of Israel's religious facade that they had a form of godliness. But that's all they had, a form of godliness, a form of their religion, a form of their tradition. And so we see in verses 12 and 13, the fig tree, again, pictures Israel. The fig tree appears to have fruit, but is actually fruitless. Again, verse 12 tells us, Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he, Jesus, was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Now remember, this is one of the few miracles recorded for us in the New Testament that displays both Jesus' humanity and His divinity. We see His humanity in this miracle by the fact that Jesus was hungry. But we also see the divinity in this miracle and the fact that Jesus curses a fig tree. And it is, as we shall see, totally destroyed just by the word of His mouth. Well, Jesus, the Bible tells us, He wakes up that morning. This is a Monday morning of Passion Week. The triumphal entry was yesterday. It would have been on Sunday. The next day, Jesus was hungry, he spots a fig tree in the distance. This fig tree is covered with luscious green leaves. Jesus approached it with the hope of finding something to eat, but he finds nothing edible on the tree. Now, you may know how that is. You may be hungry, and you're so hungry, you open up the refrigerator, and you find a bowl of spaghetti, okay? You grab that bowl of spaghetti, but you notice that bowl of spaghetti is very light, and you look inside the bowl, and it's empty, okay? Now, I'm not saying this from experience. Maybe I am. But, you know, it's so much effort to put that empty bowl in the sink and wash it out. That's a different sermon. But anyway, Jesus, really it's the same scenario. He's looking for something to eat. He spots something in the distance. It looks very promising. It looks very promising, but his expectations were lost as the tree bore no fruit, despite having its promising appearance with the abundant leaves. You say, well, Brother Wade, why was Jesus disappointed? Mark tells us that it was not the season of figs. Well, to put it more plainly, it was not the season to gather the ripe figs. So why was Jesus angry? Well, Jesus was angry because the fig tree was playing the hypocrite. That's why. The fig tree was playing the hypocrite. The tree gave the outward appearance that it would have fruit, but that's all it had, just the outward appearance of its leaves. You see, even though the main fig tree harvest season was later in the year, it was common for the fig trees in the spring, and we know it's a spring because it's Passover week, it was common for those fig trees in the spring to bear early figs that were called pagim. And these pagim were not the ripe fruit. but what they were the early edible unripe figs that would grow into eventually the figs that would be in season in the fall. So here's the issue. these little first fruits, these little edible first fruits would appear on the tree before the leaves would appear on the tree. And so if you saw a fig tree with leaves, you know then that the tree must be producing the first fruits. As a matter of fact, the Old Testament speaks of how helpful this particular fruit was to the passerby who was hungry. In Isaiah 28 and verse 4, it says, like the first fruit, before summer, which a traveler sees, he eats it up while it is still in his hand. So again, since the tree that's in question had leaves, it would be expected then for that tree to have early fruit. edible fruit. But despite its promising appearance, the tree was barren. It did not have any fruit. There were no early figs on it, nothing but green leaves. And so this tree, beloved, was playing the hypocrite. It pretended to have fruit when it actually did not have any fruit. And so Jesus' disappointment with the fig tree stemmed from its deceptive appearance. that despite being adorned with luscious foliage and seemingly going to be potentially very fruitful, the tree failed to yield any fruit when Jesus approached it. And so this disparity between outward appearance and actual fruit bearing gave Jesus It gave the Lord Jesus a great visual object lesson to teach a deeper truth than that of just a tree missing fruit. We know the disciples oftentimes, and especially this time, they did not grasp the symbolic meaning of what Jesus was doing. But what we shall see is that this truth mirrored a larger truth about the spiritual state of the nation of Israel. And here, Jesus gives his disciples an object lesson of what hypocrisy looks like. And in just a moment, we're going to be seeing an example of what hypocrisy is, especially when it comes to worship. Now, notice in verse 14, We see that the fruitless fig tree, or fruitless Israel, receives judgment. And before Jesus moves to show his disciples a present-day example of this hypocrisy, Jesus responded decisively to this fig tree by proclaiming judgment upon it. He says in verse 14, in response, Jesus said to it, let no one eat fruit from you ever again. And his disciples heard it. Now why was Jesus so decisive? Why was Jesus so quick to curse this particular tree that had no fruit? Jesus' immediate response to this victory's barren state reflects His expectation for fruit where there should have been fruit, okay? And listen to me, if any nation on this earth should have been producing real, genuine, spiritual fruit, it was the nation of Israel. You think how the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, and how God called them out of Egypt. Miraculously, He did that. He sustained them in the wilderness. He led them. He fed them. He took Israel under His wing. And down throughout Israel's history, though they sinned and though they drifted, God would always send a prophet and they would repent. And this happened in a cycle over and over again. If any nation should have any spirit or fruit, it was a nation of Israel. And then you look at the fact that Jesus himself appeared unto them in the flesh. I mean, the light of the world was right there. And they willingly reject the message. They willingly reject the Lord Jesus. And so this nation faced swift and very severe consequences due to their disbelief, due to their refusal to recognize the divinity and messiahship of Jesus. And because of that, great is their judgment, because they were given an opportunity that other nations did not have. They were given light in person. God in the flesh. No other nation had that. And for that reason, there's a great curse. We see this in Matthew chapter 11, verse 20. says, Then he, Jesus, began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. And Jesus says, Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which were pagan cities outside Israel, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works were done in you, had been done in Sodom, It would have remained until this day, but I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and the day of judgment than for you." Wow. Now, what do we see here? Well, we see that the greater amount of light that is given and that light that is then rejected, a greater judgment is laid upon you. This victory, This fruitless fig tree, remember standing for fruitless Israel, will be judged and would never bear fruit again. Its roots would wither. The life of that tree would be drained from it. So it is a picture then of Israel as a nation, how they would face severe judgment due to their collective rejection of Jesus as the promised Christ, as the promised Messiah. Now again, Jesus gives his disciples the visual lesson of Hypocrisy in this fig tree that looks like it's going to be fruitful. It looks promising, but when you get there and you get close to it, you see that it's barren. Now Jesus gives his disciples a present-day example of hypocrisy. Notice, secondly, Jesus condemns the false worship in the temple. As I said, it's Passover. It is very busy in Jerusalem during this week. Tens of thousands of people have gathered. They have made their pilgrimage to take part in the sacrifices that would happen within the temple. And we see in verses 15 and 16 that Jesus interrupts the activities in the temple. He interrupts things. Verse 15 tells us, So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Now that phrase, that last phrase in verse 16, and he would not allow anyone to carry wares throughout the temple or containers, it speaks of those men who would be carrying containers, whether that be a container of fish, whether it be a container of fabric, and they would carry those things and those items through the temple. And they would use it as a shortcut to get to another part of Jerusalem. You see, the temple mount was a area of 35 acres. Very large, very, very large. And these people who were selling these merchandise thought, hey, I'll just cut through the temple to save a lot of time, save a lot of steps. But Jesus says, oh no, you're not. This place is to be a reverent place. It is not for you to be used for taking some shortcut. So Jesus even stops that. But we see how Jesus just actively disrupts things. It's very interesting, in 1742, Charles Wesley composed a hymn entitled, Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild. I think it's safe to say that he did not come up with that hymn by reading after reading this story here in Mark chapter 11. Now Jesus was meek and mild, right? But we learn out of this passage of Scripture that Jesus was not weak and he certainly was not cowardly. He was a man's man. He was a man. He was such a man that Mark chapter 2 tells us that he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. He was such a man that he did this, Mark tells us, that he did this in the midst of wild beasts surrounding him. He was the kind of man that would set his face like flint toward Jerusalem, knowing the great danger that would befall him. In this passage there is a side of Jesus, and of God really, As Jesus is God in the flesh, there's a side of Jesus that in this day is oftentimes under-emphasized within the church. And there's a side of Jesus here on display in Mark chapter 11 that is very, very unpopular for you to talk about in the world. And I'm talking about this morning the anger of God, the wrath of God. And in this story, beloved, it is very hard for anyone to try to get around the fact that Jesus was very angry. I mean, when you read as to what happened, when you read into what happened, that Jesus drove out those who bought and sold, Jesus just wasn't kindly saying, would you please just shoo on out of here. No, Jesus chased them out. He pursued after them. He pushed them out. And if you would have been a fly on the wall, you would have known that this scene was a very wild scene. It must have been wild. And you would have known that this was not just a mild outburst. This was a violent flash of anger from the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, Jesus overturned tables. Have you ever seen anyone in the movies overturn a table gently? And you go over here. No, you do it violently. You do it in a way that is showing authority. Now, the question is this. What causes Jesus to do what He does here? What is it that causes Him to drive out those men who are buying and selling? What causes Him to throw violently these tables to the ground? Well, it's an age-old problem that goes all the way back to the Old Testament. It's described very plainly for us in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 1 tells us this in detail. Isaiah 1 verse 11 tells us what, to me, is the multitude of your sacrifices." This is God speaking through Isaiah. What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Says the Lord, I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts. I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats when you come to appear before me and require of you this trampling of my courts. Bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations. I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feast, my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you, even though you make many prayers. I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. What is Isaiah describing for us? He's describing hypocritical worship, hypocrisy in worship. And this passage in Isaiah could have been given by Jesus on the day that he cleansed the temple because it's the exact same issue. It is an age old problem of hypocrisy, false religion, the age old problem of superficial worship. And listen, This infuriates Jesus. It causes him much anger because why? It is irreverent. It is blasphemous. As a matter of fact, God said through Amos in Amos chapter 5 verse 23, he said, stop your singing. Don't sing to me. I don't want to hear your songs because of the hypocrisy. You say, well, that's the Old Testament God. Well, Jesus shows us in the New Testament that the same God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the Lord has not changed his mind what he feels about false worship, about superficial worship, about hypocrisy in worship. You see, Jesus knew that the Feast of Passover was about more than just a religious routine or a religious tradition. It was an act of worship of God, something that was lost amid the smell of sheep dung and the clanging of coins. And Jesus knew that the motive of all this was more important than the emotions of it, and that a ritual Listen, a ritual never achieves righteousness. And notice in verse 17, Jesus condemns the activities in the temple by teaching from the Old Testament prophets. Verse 17 tells us, Then he taught, saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? but you have made it a den of thieves." Well, listen, why were they selling these sacrifices? Why did Jesus call their activity as an activity of den of thieves? Well, the reason they were selling sacrifices is because people coming from long distances, making this pilgrimage to Jerusalem who lived outside of the country, they would find it very inconvenient and very difficult for them to take animals with them along this long journey. And so they would purchase an animal when they arrived there to use as their sacrifice. But also, Experience had told them that even if they brought an animal, even if they brought their own animal, it would be rejected by the folks that checked out the suitability of the animal. And if the animal was refused, if the animal was rejected, they would have to buy one at the temple anyway. And so that's kind of how they did their business. They rejected the ones that you brought so that they can make money on inflated prices on the ones they sold. Also, everybody had to pay, not only for the animal, but they also had to pay a temple tax in the currency that was expected or accepted in Israel. And these people who were traveling to Jerusalem from other countries obviously had a different currency. And historians say that the exchange rate went over 10% to up to 12% of the coin exchange. So there was profit going on in the temple in the name of the Lord. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the religious leaders and even the high priest Caiaphas were in on it. Big business, making profit. In reality, it was extortion. It was extortion. And so Jesus rightfully reacted this way. and his anger was a righteous indignation. You see, Jesus was zealous for the things of God, and when the things of God were being exploited as they were being here in Jesus' day, he was justifiably angry about it. They're irreverent. This should have been a place of repentance. This should have been a place of praise. It should have been a place of reverence. It should have been a place of humility and worship. but rather it is a place of chaos and crookedness. And listen, nothing upset Jesus more, nothing upset Jesus more with holy anger and fury than that of irreverence and hypocrisy. All the rest of the time, Jesus was patient. He was compassionate. He was merciful. But in the midst, in the face of hypocrisy and irreverence, you saw Jesus' divine fury. I mean, the most severe things Jesus did in his entire life were done against hypocritical worship. Our Lord's actions here opposes anything that takes away from God's glory, especially in worship. And listen, I don't believe there is anything more relevant than this truth than to our 21st century American church. That even professing Christians sometimes reduce God to much less than what He is. And so may God save us. May God keep us from having such a flippancy of worship that an angel would never be guilty of. This is why, beloved, when God's Word is being read in the worship service, Whether it is at the call of worship at the beginning or at the benediction at the end, when God's Word is being read, we ought to listen to every syllable, every syllable. You say, why is that? Because God's speaking, God's speaking. When prayers are prayed, you ought to pray along with me, silently, agreeing. It's an act of worship. Listen, if there's any irreverence in our worship. It reflects that we have adopted then an idolatrous concept of God. If there is irreverence, if there is within us hypocritical worship, much like them of the days of Israel, then we have created in our mind a man-made God and not the God of the Bible. Listen, true worship begins in the heart. And true worship is deeply rooted in the transformation of the heart that is done by the Holy Spirit. And true worship is always going to be characterized by love. Love for God, beloved, is the foundation of having authentic worship. It is our love for Him that compels us to seek Him earnestly. True worship will always be characterized by humility, not pride, but humility. A humble heart acknowledges God's sovereignty. It submits to His authority and recognizes then the need for grace, His grace and guidance. But then also true worship will always be characterized with reverence, a holy reverence. True worship acknowledges the holiness and majesty of God. It approaches Him with awe. It approaches him with respect and having a deep sense of his transcendent nature. This is why the writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 12, 28, that when we worship him, we give God acceptable worship and we worship him with godly fear and reverence. And we know that true worship is not confined to a specific day only. It's not confined to a place, but rather true worship should permeate every aspect of our life, not just on Sunday. And notice quickly, verse 18, we see that Jesus' response, or he receives a favorable, favorable reaction from the people. Verse 18 tells us, and the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him. because all the people were astonished at his teaching. So the Bible tells us in the last part of verse 18 that the crowd who heard him was astonished. They were amazed at what Jesus was teaching. You see, in verse 17 where it says, and Jesus taught, and then Mark just gives us a one-verse quote of what Jesus said, Jesus spoke much more in greater length than just that. Mark, and actually there's no sermon in scripture that is a verbatim sermon. So when Jesus cleared out the temple, he did so for a purpose so that he could teach at length and teach in detail why he did just what he did. And so this is the reason why Jesus spoke and they were astonished because they know that Jesus spoke with such great authority. And he had a holy boldness that really set him apart from every other speaker, every other rabbi in that day. And his teachings were not just legalism as the teachings of the scribes. No, he spoke, Jesus spoke with clarity. He spoke with depth. in his message, and it made the spiritual truths that he gave out more accessible and more relevant to those who listened. So the crowd, they were challenged, and they saw in Jesus that this man, he really believes what he says because in treating the Pharisees the way he did, he was showing himself as a man of conviction. And anytime you have a man of conviction, then that person is a person that needs to be listened to. And so we see that there in verse number 18, but notice also. Verse 18 tells us that Jesus receives a fearful reaction from the Pharisees. The Bible says, for they feared him. That sounds good, but it's not good. Their fear was not a reverential fear that the book of Proverbs teaches about. and speaks of where the Bible says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, having a reverential fear of the Lord. No, the fear of the Pharisees, the fear that they had was a fear of Jesus' growing popularity. And they feared that they would lose power. So because of their great pride and because of their power, they feared the popularity. of Jesus, so much so that they wanted to destroy Him. And notice thirdly, verse 20 and verse 21, we see Jesus' commanding authority that is displayed. So we have this lesson of this superficial tree that looks like it's going to be fruitful, but in reality it's not. Now you have the example of it in the temple worship in Jesus' day. And then Mark concludes in verse 20, So what they saw, what the disciples saw, absolutely astonished them. It shocked them that the fig tree that they had just witnessed as being a tree that was full of life just yesterday morning, full of green leaves but no fruit, now is withered. It is dead. And this was not a gradual decay. It was not a gradual destruction. This was a swift destruction. As the Bible talks about that the tree was ruined and destroyed from the roots up. And so this symbolic act of Jesus cursing the fig tree and its swift destruction serves as both as a warning and a prophetic sign of impending judgment for the nation of Israel. Before we leave this passage of scripture this morning, I want to remind you this morning that as a New Testament believer, the Bible teaches that your body is now the temple of God. God no longer dwells in temples made with hands. If you are in Christ, Paul says this, know you not that your body is the temple of God? Therefore glorify Him in all things." Listen, the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of you if you are saved by His grace. So as you consider that, you say, well, this message is nothing about me. It's about Old or New Testament Israel. It's about ancient Israel. No, this has a lot to do with you. It has a lot. So as you consider this, I wonder, does Jesus need to do a little house cleaning in the temple of your heart this morning? Now He cleansed the temple of old, and rightfully so. But His real temple, if you are in Christ, is in you. And I wonder what kind of temple are we providing for Him who provided His own body a temple for us to meet with God? Are we bearing fruit in our lives as followers of Christ? We profess to be saved. We profess that we are in Christ. But do you have the fruit? that bears the genuineness of your profession. Listen, you are not saved by your outward profession. Your outward profession is no mark of your salvation. Just because you say you're saved doesn't mean you're saved. You should look at the fruit of your life, and the fruit that you produce in your life ought to give evidence of your profession. Now, consider that. Just as that fig tree was expected to yield fruit in accordance with its purpose, Believers are called to demonstrate at least, in the least, the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, self-control. Do you have the marks of a Christian? Do you desire to come to God's house? Do you desire to read His Word? Do you desire to hear the preaching of His Word? Do you desire to obey Him? Those are the marks. Are we bearing fruit that aligns with our identity as disciples of Jesus Christ? That's the question. If you're here this morning and you've never been saved, you've never bowed your heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, I pray that today you would repent, turn from yourself, turn from your sin, and turn to Jesus Christ as your only hope of salvation. Let's pray together. Our Father, We thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you, Lord, for giving us such a vivid picture of something that really points to one of your attributes. It points to one of the aspects of your nature, and that's one that is oftentimes under-emphasized, but one that is true nonetheless, that we learn from this of the genuineness of our worship, or at least it should be genuine, it should be authentic. And Father, I pray that you, through the working of the Holy Spirit, would search our heart, examine our hearts, and if there be some housecleaning that the Holy Spirit points out to us, I pray, Lord, that we would repent of that and turn from that, that our worship would be as genuine as humanly possible. And Father, we pray, God, for the person here that has never been saved. God, I pray that they would see, even in this message, the shameful thing, and it's a fearful thing, to fall into the hands of the living God. Father, I pray that you would grant them repentance. I pray that you would grant them faith. And may today they call upon your son Jesus to save them. And Father, we do pray for the nation of Israel, even as we speak, a nation that is continuing to live in its rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. We pray for them. We pray also for Iran. We pray, God, that somehow, someway, that even the most pagan and evil countries, that you would open up doors of ministry for missionaries who would dare to go to such places and share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. As we think about and our eyes see what's on the news of these two nations in war, Father, it ought to hasten us to look forward to the day when all nations will be under your feet, when you will rule in power and in majesty. Father, we love you and we ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen.