Turn with me in your scriptures to the gospel of Mark. We are in chapter 11, and we have before us this morning, verses 12 through 26. If you are able, I invite you to stand in honor of God's word as I read in your hearing this portion of the inspired account. recorded for us by the Lord's servant, John Mark. This is God's holy word, infallible in every part, inspired, breathed out by the spirit. Let us receive this word with hearts ready to hear. Mark 11 at verse 12. Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He 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 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, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away. So Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses. Thus ends the reading of God's holy word. Let us ask his blessing on the preaching of it. Let's pray. Most Holy Father, we pray that we may receive this word as it is put forth according to your ordinance in the word preached. By the power of the Spirit may it be received and that it may bear much fruit. We ask that it should be watered, that we should meditate upon it, that it should dwell within us fruitfully. And so get glory to our great God and Savior, whose word this is. We ask this in his name. Amen. You may be seated. We saw in the immediately previous portion the coming of the glory of God back to the temple This was a beautiful reminder of what is fully consummated in Christ. He is the glory of God. He is the meaning of the temple. All this finds its consummate meaning in Christ. Passage. before us now shows that Christ's coming to the temple in fullness of his messianic office is with kingly and prophetic power, not only with an eye towards that reminder of prophecy that he accomplished the night before, but now with continued purpose in his office, as there is a cleansing here recorded, a cleansing of the temple. Now we need to remember that there was an earlier cleansing, not recorded by Mark. Mark draws our attention to this cleansing that happened towards the end of Christ's ministry, at the beginning of his last week of ministry on earth. John, records in his gospel an earlier cleansing in chapter two of John's gospel. As we mentioned, this particular cleansing is leisure, a part of this final week, and filled with unique importance. As we've already seen, Christ coordinating events particularly to reveal distinctive things, powerful truths about his office, about his mission and ministry as Messiah, the King, and the promised prophet. Indeed, he exercised divine control of the whole situation. We saw that previously. He was fulfilling details of prophecy, making it unmistakable that he was exercising a divine power and prerogative in his prophetic office, in his kingly office, in the bringing of the cult, in the triumphal entry. Now Mark pulls together critical events that followed to reveal more of Christ's design, and that's for our great encouragement. We'll consider what Mark records here in three main points. The tree, the temple, and the teaching. The tree, the temple, and the teaching. First, the tree. Verses 12 through 14, now the next day, remembering that they departed that evening before back to Bethany to rest, they come back. The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he 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. You remember that Bethany was to the east of Jerusalem, to the east of the Temple Mount, in the foothills to the east of the Mount of Olives. And we unpacked some of the meaning that Christ had orchestrated in the coming of the glory from the east, from where it had rested at the time of the judgment that Ezekiel's vision revealed, the departure of glory. And this was the Passover week. Jerusalem is packed. It was not uncommon for those who were pilgrims to spend the nights in the surrounding villages and cities. And indeed, we find elsewhere that Jesus has friends in Bethany. And this appears to be their place of dwelling in the evenings. They're coming from Bethany and we have put before us by Mark a rather puzzling scenario. It has caused no lack of consternation among commentators. Something unusual happens here. Christ is described as hungry and Being hungry, he sees a fig tree from afar, and that it's full of leaves. And so he makes his way there with his disciples. And when he gets there, there are no figs. And Mark clarifies, it's not the time of the harvest. It's early, not late in the season. And so there are no ripe figs on the tree. Mark simply says he went looking for something on that tree, finding only leaves He pronounces a curse on the tree. Let no one ever eat fruit from you in the future. In the hearing of his disciples. Now, the reason this has caused such consternation is as a miracle, a nature miracle, this is unusual in that it has nothing to do with provisions for others apparently. This is situated upon the hunger of the Savior. And when he's not able to satisfy that hunger, because the tree's not got ripe figs yet, not being the season for ripe figs, he curses the tree. So the questions arise is, is this vindictive? Is our Savior being petty? One commentator pointed out, The power manifest over nature to curse the tree could as readily have been used to miraculously produce figs. What's going on? Is this simply a venting of anger on the part of the Savior? How out of step this seems. What do we do with this? Indeed, not only commentators, take this up with some question, even notorious atheists have done so. Bertrand Russell is well known for having written in his essay, Why I'm Not a Christian, about this particular scene in the Gospel of Mark. And he says, it seems to me that those things attributed to Jesus are not found in him here, and I'm led to deny those claims about his nature and character because of what we see here. He wasn't known for his humility. He was a rather arrogant atheist, but aren't they all? So what do we do with this? Are we left in such a quandary to understand what has happened. Well, no, there are various solutions put forward, but I don't think it's as much of a struggle as it might at first appear to make sense of what's happening. To ask, is our Savior being petty or vindictive, is to answer the question. The manifest glory of Jesus is already overwhelming in His purity and perfection. The one who came to serve and not to be served, as was just previously recorded, has not changed his character here. He's continuing in his labor of service. Mark has laid the foundation for us to understand what's happening. We need to look to understand in light of the foundation already laid. Jesus is serving. He is putting forth critical teaching. That's what he's doing. Remember, how did he enter Jerusalem? Carefully orchestrating by divine power, fulfillment of prophecy. That same divine purpose is at work here. We're ready, if we know that, to look for that purpose. And if we unpack what's going on with figs, We'll also understand part of how this unfolds, what Christ is up to in his teaching through this. He's working as the divinely promised prophet to set out a visible parable. And it has to do with this fig tree as the object lesson. See, fig trees would bud with the fruit that would eventually come to full ripeness in the time of harvest. We're told here that we're in the early part, not the time of harvest. And at that time, if you see flourishing leaves on the fig tree, then you could hope that the budding fruit would be there, and you could actually eat the budding fruit. That early, unripe fruit was still edible. It would start out with that and then flourish with leaves. And so seeing the fig tree full of leaves, there was the potential of finding fruit in its early stage, unripe but edible. And so they go to see if that's what they'll find. J.C. Ryle. weaves these things together beautifully for us. He says, remember, we know the divine prophet, the promised prophet, Jesus the Messiah, is orchestrating something to teach. So on full display is the divine nature, if we will but see it. But note that in the full display of the divine nature, orchestrating events to teach, there's also the mention, let us not miss it, of the true human, Nature. Mark goes out of his way to record it by the inspiration of the Spirit. Our divine Savior, with infinite power, to do all His will, is hungry. What a display of what we mentioned, the one who came to serve. He went through every experience of humanity except for sinfulness, to be for us a genuinely empathetic savior. So we are taught in the book of Hebrews. Here it's being mentioned to us, let's not miss it. The divine prophet who holds this powerful office of Messiah experiences hunger as Messiah to empathize with his people when they go wanting. And so it is beautifully knit together here, the divine nature, the human nature. And as they arrive at the tree, finding no fruit, Christ curses the tree in the hearing of the disciples. See, there was the potential. There may have been the hope for unripe buds that were edible. They didn't find it. And in their hearing, he curses. He's setting them up for a lesson that we'll find is made visible in what happens next, and then given its object in a visible parable afterward. He's preparing them for lessons. As they move on, they make their way to the temple, our second main point. Verses 15 and 16. 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. Now, we need to know what would have been more obvious to people of that day about the temple and about the context of where Jesus is doing this. As they entered the temple, it had been augmented by the great work of Herod. He had expanded around the rebuilt temple, multiple courts, and where this was taking place was known as the Court of the Gentiles. Now it's important to understand not only that structure as it now stood on the Temple Mount, the work of Herod, it's also important to understand a couple of other things about what's going on here that the people of old would have understood. We need to capture that context as well That court of the Gentiles, where you had all of this trading, was engaging in a useful service. You see, pilgrims would travel from great distances to get there to engage in commanded worship at the temple. Far too great a distance to bring livestock and abundant tithes and other things that they would need to engage in the commanded worship. And so, something was done to help them. As pilgrims reaching the end of their journey, they could bring whatever coin was currency in their homeland, whatever part of the empire they came from, because the Jews were scattered throughout the empire and they could exchange it for money that was allowed to be used in the temple transaction. And with that money in hand, they could also then purchase the sacrificial things that they needed. They could exchange the monies they brought representing their tithes, their offerings, and get money that could be used for that giving. They could use the money that they received in the transaction to purchase the sacrificial elements they would need to engage in the commanded worship. And so this was all very useful. So what's the problem? Christ is clearly passionate about what he's doing. He's forbidding it. Well, it turns out that this useful transaction, this indeed, this needful transaction, used to take place on the Mount of Olives, within a couple miles of the Temple Mount. But travelers would make their way, the roads would come through that region, and they'd have easy access. All you needed was to bring all of that currency, do all of your transactions, you could find your place of rest, and then take all of that stuff to the temple. when you were ready to go worship. But there's a problem with the court of the Gentiles. You see, that which was built to keep a place for God-fearers to come near without profaning the temple, this the observant Jews hated, particularly the chief priests. and their scribes. You see, they were hoping that whenever Messiah came, he would destroy the Gentiles. And by that, they meant not only throw off Roman rule, but banish them from the Temple Mount. Herod, the ruler, whom they hated, had created a context for these profane Gentiles to be present near the Temple. The sooner they're banished, the better. Perhaps we could work something out, it was thought, by those in charge. What if we move the market to the court of the Gentiles? Then there's no room for the Gentiles. Then we filled it up for our purposes. They're not allowed to come in. What business do they have here anyway? This is a good way to accomplish several things that we want to see happen. And you know, if we make a few coins in the transaction process, all the better. All this was going on as the backdrop to Christ's cleansing of the temple. And we're not left wondering what Christ has in mind. He cites two scriptures, one from Isaiah, one from Jeremiah. And with this backdrop, think of what he said. And let's hear it from those prophets as well. It's at verse 17, where he cites a portion from Isaiah and then from Jeremiah, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves. It's from Isaiah 56, verse seven. Even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. In Jeremiah 7, verse 11, has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of thieves in your eyes. Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord. We need to recognize with our hearts full of what Jesus is citing here, the passion and priority of our Savior. His passion and priority, first of all, for worship that is pure and undefiled. in heart and hand. That's what's going on here. When they put the marketplace right in front of the temple, what in the world were they thinking? They had nothing but vicious intent, and in the process of the vicious intent, they neglected the duty of keeping sacred things sacred. Think of Nehemiah's reaction when Marketeers wanted to profane the Sabbath day. He locked the doors of the city and he didn't let them stand outside the city on the Sabbath, remember? He went down and started pulling air out. He said, get out of here. Put nothing near the place of observing the sacred that would even tempt to its defilement. There's a passion on display in Christ that exceeds that of Nehemiah. They had brought marketeering into the courts surrounding the temple. It had no place near the sacred. Do we follow Christ's lead in that passion? and priority. Note too, what he's doing here, in the cleansing, as he overthrows all that's going on there, spilling out the money, pushing out those trying to bring in livestock. What has he done? He's cleared the court of the Gentiles. For what? That his house may be called a house of prayer for all nations. Do you see what Messiah is doing with the power of his office? Note, there is an Old Testament backdrop that we yet need to fill in. Who in the Old Testament would cleanse the temple? Kings would cleanse the temple. Think of Hezekiah. Think of Josiah. They would purge out things unclean. They would exercise kingly authority to make way for the purposes of the sacred. They weren't to usurp the place of the priest, but they would exercise their authority to remove the hindrances. Nehemiah, not a king, but exercising such civil authority. did such a thing. It's the kingly authority of Messiah being exercised to clear away what the Jews in their neglect and vice had put in the way of the nations who longed to come as close as they may to the saving God. Oh, how glorious the grace of Messiah, our King, He cared about that. It's the court of the Gentiles. Get out of the way that it may be used as a house of prayer for all nations. He cared about that. This was his passion. This was his priority. And so we see both his passion and priority for worship and his passion and priority for his reach of gospel grace. I put it to you that if we love our Savior, that had better be our passion too, is it? Do we get everything out of the way that might come anywhere near the sacred? How do you keep Sabbath? How do you come to worship? As J.C. Ryle says, are you busy transacting the business of the weak in your head while you're seated in the place of the holy? Oh, may our passionate Savior, who longs to draw in such as we are, Gentiles. as close as they may be and has burst the veil that we may come straight into the Holy Presence. This is the heart of Christ the Messiah being displayed so far as his purpose here. We'll find a display. Is that our passion? Is that our priority? Worship and the gospel reach of grace. Is that what fires us up? It's what fires up our Savior. If we are His followers, the answer has to be, yes, Lord, help me in my lack. Have this passion, this priority that you've displayed here. We're reminded of what John mentions about the first cleansing. Earlier in Christ's ministry, the disciples when they saw his passion now certainly increased, they thought of Psalm 69, verse nine. Zeal for your house has eaten me up. Such is our Savior. Indeed, that whole Psalm speaks of what only the Savior can provide for a needy sinner. as they thought of him in that portion of that psalm. So may we. And so Christ removes the abuse going on at that place, the court of the Gentiles. He overthrows the Jewish animosity as well. He restores the court of the Gentiles for a gospel purpose. even veiled as it was at that time. But there's something more. He's exercising not only his kingly office in that cleansing, he's exercising his prophetic office. As we'll see when he weaves it all together, see a curse is coming. And this foretells the curse He'll speak of it soon. A judgment because of a lack in the covenant people. A lack at the very heart there at the temple. A judgment is coming. It's being prophetically displayed even in the way that Christ is dealing with the court of the Gentiles. Consider the reaction here. Verse 18, 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. See, they're not ready to respond to Messiah rightly. They see what's going on, and they're moved to find a way to destroy him. They should have been moved with fear of Messiah that brought them to repentance. Instead, they're moved with fear of jealousy. He might take the people from out of our control because they're astonished at his teaching. They find him amazing. They're watching what he's doing and being drawn away. What response should have been had is not had. What we'd expect isn't found. Indeed, the opposite is found. May we see and give a right reverent response, but we need to keep in mind how they responded, even as Mark draws us through the close of that evening. Verse 19, when evening had come, He went out of the city, presumably back to where they were staying in Bethany for the night. And we'll close with just starting our third point so that we see where Mark has been taking us. And we'll unpack the teaching, our third point, more fully God-granting next week. But we'll get the key part of it first here as we close. Preparation is given for the teaching. as they come back the next morning. Now in the morning, verse 20, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away. Now we understand what Mark understood. There was an object lesson, we know why. Jesus did what he did. See the full flourishing of the leaves on that tree, giving the hope that there would be that unripe fruit. He went to it to find what would be expected given the flourishing of the leaves. And what did he find? Nothing that was expected. See that fig tree promised by its leaves what it did not deliver upon examination. This was an object lesson for what had just happened in the temple. When the glory of God now came to the temple to find what should be there, to be received in his ministry for who he is, the fullness of all of divine glory in the covenant now manifests. What did he find? Did he find anything that should have been there for Messiah as king and prophet? As the glory of God revealed, no. It was just like the fig tree. It was full of activity, full of priests, full of scribes, full of people engaged in what they pretended to be temple activity. But it wasn't that, it wasn't. It was actually a display of hard-hearted vice. overthrowing the purposes of God. Everything that it looked like should be there wasn't there. All the promise was empty, just like that fig tree. And just like that fig tree, that place was cursed to be uprooted as the fruitless shell that it was manifest to be. That curse was a picture of everything that the temple would be cursed as assigned to be at the heart of Israel, the heart of the people of Israel, the place where the leadership of Israel operated. That center was dead. and a curse would come upon it. Christ has the same passion and priority now in the fullness of His enthronement above. And when we look at His words to the seven churches, we're reminded He still exercises judgment when He looks upon that which He has made to be His manifest place of presence, His church. Do you shine forth to Jesus His glory, His passion, His priority? If not, He has strong words of correction. Understand, people of God, while we will not be cursed as the Church of the New Covenant and removed, The lampstand of particular congregations and churches can be removed if they will not heed the Savior's priorities, if they will not receive His correction, if their hearts will not yield to Him all that which ought to be His. He meets with us each Lord's Day in power of His presence. He promised it. And when He comes, what does He find? at Brainerd Hills. What does he find when he makes his power and presence known by his ordinances? Oh, by the grace of the Spirit, may he work in us, hearts gripped by his gospel, so that what he finds is an ever-increasing passion that's in accord and in harmony with his passion. An ever-increasing priority in accord with his priorities. for purity of worship, the work of the gospel, its increase in fruitfulness. Oh, may we be a fig tree that when he examines it is not found empty of its promise, but full of what the Savior seeks. Let us ask him for such grace. Let's pray. Most Holy Father, we pray that we should hear and heed what is set before us here by the inspired pen of Mark. We know the reality of the curse that was pronounced. Christ will unpack that further in coming portions. But here, there is certainly set before us a reminder of what our Savior, calls for in His new covenant temple, there is to be found a harmony wrought by gospel grace with that passionate pursuit of our Savior. May we be found with such a passionate pursuit in us. Sanctify us under His purposes, under His priorities, so that we are not found to be a fruitless, fig tree, examined by him and found fruitless. Oh, Father, we know the end of that. Rather, may we find in us that gospel grace which brings forth fruit. May our Savior find that which is delightful in his eye. Work it in us. We have not the power in ourselves. We look to the Spirit's work by the power of our Savior, to bring forth the fruit that is in accord with our great High Priest, with our Savior, with our King and Prophet, Jesus the Messiah. Strengthen us to that end. For his glory, we pray. Amen.