Christ Rules The Fig and Faith Franchises

Christ Rules! Gospel of Mark Series (part 24)

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Mark 11 during the Christmas Season

Peace On Earth?--The Noises of Christmas

In your mind’s ear, hear for a moment The NOISES of Christmas.  Hear the Animal Sounds at the manger scene, hear the Christmas Carolers, listen to the Silence of that Silent night, holy night.  With those thought the angels’ Christmas announcement seems appropriate.

Now Hear the “cha-ching” of the cash register, the sounds of the irritated shoppers, and sounds of traffic. Christmas in the marketplace is a crazy time, isn’t it!?  Things are so busy, crowded, and loud. 

It’s easy to lose that peace in this time of busier than normal schedules.  It’s easy to lose that sense of awe and reverence and the true meaning of Christmas in the commercialized Christmas.  The angel’s Christmas announcement “and on earth Peace to men” sounds almost humorous in the midst of the typical hustle and bustle of Christmas.  The messages we hear today are confusing and mixed messages.  It’s kind of like lunch hour at the University of California Berkley.

I have read that during a typical lunch hour at the University of California at Berkeley, spokesmen for a dozen different causes can be found on the plaza, trying to out shout one another. One day a lone figure sat down defiantly in the middle of the crowd and held up a sign that said, "SILENT PROTEST." Someone tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "What are you protesting?" The defiant figure held up another sign that said simply, "NOISE." [i]

One Christmas season, in one city, a policeman told the person ringing the Salvation Army bell that there was a local ordinance that prevented her from ringing her bells to invite contributions. But such a crude law could not stop such an inventive woman. The next day she did a brisker business than ever.  Do you know what she did?  She waved one sign and then another in the air. The signs said "ding" and "dong."

The Commercialization of God’s Good News

It’s not just the NOISES that detract from worshipping properly during the Christmas season is it?  It really does not matter where you are or when you lived, the commercialization of God’s good news has been and continues to be a problem.  An evangelist friend of mine, Larry Bubb, just returned from the Holy Lands and was commenting about it in his last newsletter:

The biggest let down for me was seeing the “official” spot where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead.  There was a big Catholic-like church on the spot.  Leading up to it is the “Via dolorosa” (the path Christ took to the cross.)  Only today it is a narrow paved walkway full of vendors and merchants selling souvenirs.  The streets of Old Jerusalem are crowded with people and buildings; nothing like you would picture that hill called Golgotha in the 1^st century.  The church is full of ornaments, candles and paintings, which distracted me from the meaning of what happened there.  We waited some 20 minutes in line to get into the tomb area and once inside we saw more gaudy paraphernalia (my opinion.)  It took me awhile to call on my imagination to even realize I was in a tomb.  The “marketing” of the gospel reminded me of Jesus cleansing the temple and the moneychangers.

The most blatant irony and contrast was at the Jordan River.  The spot commemorating where Jesus was baptized (but not really the exact spot) had metal rails winding back and forth where people could be baptized . . . for only 6 dollars.  We were handed a post card with information on how we could get our very own “authentic” Biblical widow’s mite coin for only $39.90 (retail value $81).

In fact, almost every “holy” site had a church built to commemorate it supposedly on the exact spot where it happened.  We went to Mt. Tabor where Jesus was transfigured . . .  Peter wanted to build 3 tabernacles, one for each of them, but was prevented from doing so.  Of course, now there is a church on that exact spot which actually has a chapel inside built for Moses and one built for Elijah.  Later we saw the Valley of Elah where David fought Goliath.  We won’t be sure of the exact location in the valley until someone builds a church!

Good thing that we don’t have people “marketing” the gospel or revering buildings more than the creator in the states!  HA!  I guess it is a constant reminder that we need to worship the One who dwells not in temples made by man but rather who actually lives in our hearts.  Aren’t you glad He does?  The same Jesus that walked on the soil in Israel isn’t limited to that time and space. . .He lives right here with us right now!  That is one reason it was the most inspirational and emotionally moving trip of my life![ii]

In the passage we will study today, Jesus confronts the noise and commercialization of God’s good news.  Jesus confronts the shallowness of religiosity.  Just like during our own Christmas season, the Jewish Passover season was a busy one.  Merchants in Jerusalem stood to make a lot of money.  People all over the Roman world gathered in Jerusalem.  They came to the Temple to remember the good news of God’s deliverance from their oppressors the Egyptians.  Their hopes were high for the coming of the Messiah who would deliver them from their Roman oppressors.  People came to worship.  They came to remember and honor God at the Temple.  Yet the temple scene looked more like the mall at Christmas peak shopping hours.  People’s worship was reduced to nothing more than commercialization, and a ritualistic approach to God.  Worship at the Temple had become a sham.

Jesus confronts the ritualistic approach to God.  He clears the temple of the marketplace corruption to point people back to God instead of money and mania.  Before Jesus clears the temple however, Mark records something very strange to our understanding of Jesus.  Jesus curses a fig tree because it had no fruit.  The two stories are connected even in the way Mark relates them to us.

Here are some leading questions we will be investigating today.  Why does Jesus curse a fruitless fig tree?  Why does he unload anger on a tree?  Why does he get angry at a tree for fruitlessness when it wasn’t even the season for that fruit?  Wouldn’t it have been a better use of Jesus’ miraculous power to produce figs on the tree miraculously rather than to cause it to wither and die miraculously?  Of this passage, William Barclay expresses his doubts of authenticity.  I disagree with him here, but he does ask questions that I think should be resolved.

QUOTE (Barclay) - "There can be no doubt that this, without exception, is the most difficult story in the gospel narrative. To take it as literal history presents difficulties which are well-nigh insuperable. (1) The story does not ring true. To be frank, the whole incident does not seem worthy of Jesus. There seems a certain petulance in it. It is just the kind of story that is told of other wonder-workers but never of Jesus. Further, we have this basic difficulty. Jesus had always refused to use his miraculous powers for his own sake. He would not turn the stones into bread to satisfy his own hunger. He would not use his miraculous powers to escape from his enemies. He never used his power for his own sake. And yet here he uses his power to blast a tree which had disappointed him when he was hungry. (2) Worse, the whole action was unreasonable. This was the Passover Season, that is, the middle of April. The fig-tree in a sheltered spot may bear leaves as early as March, but never did a fig-tree bear figs until late May or June. Mark says that it was not the season for figs. So why blast the tree for failing to do what it was not possible for it to do? It was both unreasonable and unjust. Some commentators, to save the situation, say that what Jesus was looking for was green figs, half-ripe figs in their early stages, but such unripe fruit was unpleasant and was never eaten. The whole story does not seem to fit Jesus at all. What are we to say about it?"

In order to find answers to these questions we have to see the whole context.  We will see how Mark’s narrative technique solves the puzzle for us.  The story of the fig tree surrounds the story of the confrontation  in the temple.  We will not understand fully either episode until we see them together as a whole the way Mark presents them here.

Focus:  The commercialization of God’s good news can distract us from the good news.  When Jesus looks at the way we celebrate God’s good news at Christmas, or in any season or in any given day, does he see a fruitful faith or does he need to do some house cleaning?

THE KING HAS COME!

It’s not often that you come to church a week before Christmas and hear a message from the Palm Sunday text which is the text usually focused on a week before Easter.  However, I think it is appropriate at the Christmas season to use this text to say

I.  Your King has come! (11:1-11)

Jesus DECLARED Himself to be the Messiah.

Zechariah 9:9 (NIV) Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus has declared Himself to be YOUR King.

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Revelation 19:16 (NIV) ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:  KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

That’s the point of Christmas.  The Son of God, the Deliverer, has Come, and he declares himself to be OUR KING.  He claims to have authority over our lives.  Does he have authority?  Let’s consider this question as we get back to Mark’s Gospel narrative.

It’s also not often that you will hear a Christmas message from the passage about Jesus cursing a fig tree.  I wonder if this is where they got the lyrics to that Christmas song, “So bring me some figgy pudding”?  Probably not.

I want you to notice the structure here.  Mark starts the narrative about Jesus cursing the fruitless fig tree.  But that narrative is interrupted to tell us about what Jesus did in the temple.  Then he comes back to the fig tree narrative again.  The two stories are connected by more than simply the chronological order of events.

Where’s The Fruit?

Gene Perret, the joke writer for Bob Hope, speaking at a gathering of franchise managers of a fast-food chain, said, "McDonald's has sold over 75 billion hamburgers.  They know that because they're on their fourth pound of hamburger."

Wendy's hamburgers did a series of commercials with the famous phrase "Where's the Beef?"

If Israel was in the fig franchise business, Jesus would have said, "Where's the figs?"  The sad thing is that Israel was supposed to be in the faith franchise but when he comes to the center of their faith,  he must say "Where's the Faith?"  As we study this today we must consider the fruitfulness of our own faith franchise.  When it comes to the faith franchise of our own Christmas celebrations, will Jesus find the expression of faith there or something else?  Does he need to clean house?

Jesus' actions must not be understood in terms of his own hunger and a personal reaction.  We must see the action in a larger context than that.  Notice that the cursing and the fulfillment of that curse upon the fig tree is broken up by another event.  What happens in between the two descriptions helps explain the event.

So what we need to do is (and you are going to groan when you hear this). . .

II.  FIGure Out the FIGnificance (11:12-13, 19-21)

The tree looked promising, but offered no fruit.  Before we get into the specifics of this passage.  Let’s look at some background.  There is much to be learned from Figs in the Bible.

Figs and the Fall

Do you remember the role of fig leaves in the Genesis account of the fall of man?  When we turn to Genesis 3:7 we see that Adam and Eve made coverings of fig leaves to clothe themselves after they fell into sin.  But when God promised to save them, He took away their fig leaves and clothed them with the skins of animals, given to them after the animals had been sacrificed. 

Fig Leaves were Man’s Efforts to make themselves acceptable

The Fig leaves were Adam and Eve's effort to make themselves acceptable in God's sight and in each other's; they represent human works.  When they realized their holiness was gone, the fig leaves were their substitute, but it was not good enough. God provided the covering, based on the shedding of blood of the sacrificial animals.  This is a very early picture of the truth that Jesus Christ had to sacrifice His life to provide us with His own righteousness, that we may be "dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne."

The point of Genesis was that we can’t cover ourselves with our own form of righteousness.  We need God’s righteousness.  Our righteousness is nothing but leaves without fruit.

Israel As a Fig Tree

Later on in the OT prophets, we find Israel referred to as a fig tree. 

Jesus saw a fig tree on his way up to Jerusalem.  Here was a fig tree--leaves, leaves, and no figs!  A perfect picture of the nation of Israel.  They had religion coming out of their ears.  "I fast twice a week!  I do this, I do that!" They had plenty of leaves. Mark wants us to see the connection between Jesus' encounter with the fig tree and the task He was on His way to Jerusalem to perform--the confrontation of the Fruitless Ritualistic Religion of the Temple system and all that defiled it. The next morning , when the disciples pass by the fig tree they see that every leaf had died; it "withered away to its roots".  I wish “Round Up” weed killer would work so fast.  The reason really isn’t that hard to grasp.  Jesus real frustration is not with the tree, but with what the tree represents.

The Old Fruitless Mulberry 1991

This reminds me of a time when I had very strange emotions in connection with a tree.  It was a fruitless mulberry tree in my parents’ back yard.  The year was 1991.  It was the year my mother died of cancer.  Before she died I went to visit.  I was there for several days.  I remember during that visit, the pain my mother was in.  The face that usually lit up at a homecoming of one of her children didn’t have enough energy to light up.  It was strained with pain.  She confided in me that she was ready to go, and struggling with the fact that God had not allowed her to go yet.  This was all very difficult for me.  But there was nothing I could do about her pain or her cancer.  Needing to do something to help, my dad decided while I was there we could remove the mulberry tree.  We had loved that mulberry tree.  We grew up climbing it.  It gave shade to our whole backyard.  But by 1991 its roots were causing problems to the foundation of the house.  Removing that mulberry tree by hand was an incredibly challenging task.  But I remember going at the tree with a vengeance.  I found it odd, until I realized why I was angry at the tree.  The tree stood for more than simply a tree in my mind.  I could do nothing about removing the roots of cancer undermining the foundations of my mother’s life.  But here I was able to do something to help.  I poured my energy in what became for me a symbol of that cancer.  We broke two “come along” winches trying to remove that tree.  The deeper I dug, the harder the work became.   But within me there was a passion, an energy against that tree that was not the emotions of one man toward a tree, but the emotions of one man feeling helpless against the ravages of cancer taking it out on the tree as if the tree were the cancer.  I was living out a parable, and oh, how I wished it were true.  I wished that I had the ability to remove the cancer as I was removing that tree.  My emotions were there.  I was able to remove the tree but unable to do anything about the cancer.  My mother went to be with the Lord a month or so later. 

Jesus had incredible emotion toward that fig tree.  It wasn’t really directed at the fig tree.  But for him it had become a symbol also.  It had become a symbol for the fruitlessness of Israel.  Unlike me and my story,  Jesus had the authority not only to wither the tree, but to proclaim judgment upon that which it stood for.  There was a cancer in the Temple system.  It was the cancer of fruitlessness.  It was the cancer of faithlessness.  This was a prophet’s act of judgment as is seen many times in the Old Testament.  This was an acted out parable of what was to come because of the fruitlessness of a the whole religious system of Israel.  They showed leaves, they gave promise, but there was no real faith.  There was no fruit!  What he proclaimed against the fig tree he was proclaiming against the cancer filled, terminally ill Temple practice!  The destruction of the fig tree was associated with judgment, and it was a judgment that was going to happen to Jerusalem and the Temple.  The gospel of Luke tells us Jesus wept over Jerusalem at this point.

Mark wrote near the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple that Jesus predicted. 

Both confrontations, the confrontation of the tree and the temple are solemn warnings of the judgment to fall upon Israel for honoring God with their lips when their heart was far from him (cf. Ch 7:6).   There was bustling religious activity, but no sincerity and truth, tremendous promise but a very poor performance! 

The simple lessons we must not fail to learn here are:  We must have inward spirituality, not just outward religion.  We must practice our faith, not just profess it.  We must be careful not to get caught up in religiosity.

If you claim to have faith without putting it to work in your everyday life, you are like the barren fig tree. 

III.  Remove The Robber’s Roost (of Ritualistic Religion) (11:14-18)

Jesus’ words were reminiscent of Jeremiah’s words.  These were words that anticipated the judgment of God.

Jeremiah here solemnly warns Judah of the impending judgment because of their false religion, idolatry, and hypocrisy. Jeremiah was almost put to death for this sermon, but he was saved by the officials of Judah.  Jesus spoke as a prophet condemning the religious sham as Jeremiah had.  Jesus was killed for it.

A. It (Ritualistic Religion) Robs You Of A Real Relationship

The Robbers Den is not where the robbers do the robbing, but where they retreat after the crimes.  That’s Jeremiah’s point.  They did crimes then hid out where they thought they were safe.   Don’t use church as a hide out.  Don’t use grace as an excuse.  Jesus also was not just crying out about the dishonest practices at the temple.  He wasn’t simply making reforms.  He was issuing a curse just like with the fig tree.  He was signaling it’s doom.  Even while it saddened and angered him, he attacked the cancerous roots of sin and called for repentance.

God’s requirements are ethical not ritual.  Repentance is what makes religion more than ritual.  When we come to Christ he expects us to change. 

IV.             Respond To Your Ruler

Don’t Let God’s Good News Be Obscured

Jesus attacked the merchandising and commercializing of religion that obstructs and obscures God rather than fostering a relationship with God. Jesus attacked a system that was keeping people out rather than inviting people into a relationship with God.  The leaders were making the temple system more like a locked gate than an open door.  He came to rip the barrier down.  When he hung on the cross the curtain did rip, from top to bottom, opening the way.  Like the fruitless fig tree, the fruitless temple system would never produce fruit again!  It was destroyed AD 70 just as Jesus predicted.

Answered Prayer As Fruit

Genuine faith results in answered prayer.  This is Fruit.  Does your faith produce fruit?  Victorious living and effective soul-winning service are not the product of our hard work, but simply the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  We are not called upon to produce the fruit, simply to bear it.

2 Conditions for Fruit

Notice the two conditions to answered prayer here: First we must have a vital faith connection to God.  We are open to him.  Then that connection must not be blocked.  Make sure you are forgiving.  Make sure you have repented of any other blocks to fruitfulness in your life.

Repentance is a good starting point for responding to our ruler.  Repentance means I stop doing it my way.  I’ll stop ruling my own life.  I’ll depend on you to run and rule my life.  Christ Rules!  Respond to Your Ruler.

The main point for us this Christmas is that in all our celebrating (like theirs at Passover) let us not neglect making a vital and personal connection with Christ!