What did the tree do wrong?

I have just finished reading through the rest of Mark 11.

And since I wrote that last statement, a whole day has passed. Sigh…

Anyways…it’s interesting how the stories are arranged here. Jesus curses a fig tree because it has no fruit on it (even though the text specifies that it is not the season for fruit…hmm). Then they go to Jerusalem and the famous cleansing of the temple occurs, and then they pass by the fig tree again and realize it has withered in the mean time. Jesus responds to his disciples with another famous speech about telling the mountain to move into the sea and receiving whatever you pray for if you  believe you will receive it. The chapter ends with some priests challenging Jesus’ authority but ultimately leaving him alone for fear of the crowds…biding their time until later on.

I feel like I should be able to recognize some significance or tie between the happenings above, but I admit that I’m coming up blank. I mean, there are many truths presented through Jesus’ words and his actions in the temple, etc….but why the fig tree??? They don’t just mention it in passing either; they go back to the strange story, and Jesus uses it to prove a point. But the tree didn’t do anything. It was just doing what it was supposed to do at that time of the year. It wasn’t time for fruit yet, which makes sense since this is obviously taking place in the early spring time. I mean, I know Israel is not Canada and things probably grow at different times there, but no fruit in early spring seems logical to me.

In fact, the only connection I can make between Jesus various actions listed in Mark 11 is that they all seem to be more obvious shows of power than he’s previously desired to show. Putting the strange fig tree incident aside (although that is a show of power in its own way), it actually seems to make a lot of sense that Jesus would enter the city as the champion of the people’s hopes and then proceed to the temple (central to everything about Israel) and display his authority. But he doesn’t display it in a way that is a crowd-pleaser. I wouldn’t have been surprised if some of the people waving palms at him a little while ago were now ready to question and curse what he was doing. Nevertheless, despite his display of righteous judgement being a bit controversial, Jesus does seem to assume the Messiah role more obviously at this point in the gospels. He is the returning king on a donkey. He is the passionate prophet proclaiming the people’s sins. And he is the indignant priest who rages against the misuse of God’s holy temple. And he knows that what he is doing is going to get him killed soon.

So maybe the fig tree has some deeper meaning, and maybe not. Maybe Jesus was just really disappointed not to get any figs to eat, and he used the tree as a lesson. Or maybe I have no idea at all what I’m talking about. But I am always strangely awed and humbled by this part of Jesus’ story. Think of how satisfying it must have been to finally knock a few tables over and say things clearly and out loud for everyone to hear. But think of how terrifying, knowing that these very actions are going to push the people over the edge to the point of seeking his death more deliberately. This is the mystery and wonder of Jesus being fully man and fully God. He stood in righteous judgement in the temple that was originally dedicated to his own glory, and with the very actions that proclaimed his authority, he also submitted fully to humanity’s retaliation. In a sense, Jesus entered the temple as the final prophet and received the usual reward for a prophet’s honesty: death. Once again, we killed the one that had come to free us from ourselves…but what is really remarkable is that through his resurrection, we aren’t doomed to the fate that Israel had faced many times before. We don’t have to go into exile and wait for another prophet to bring us back. Jesus may have submitted to a human death, but in the end, it was death that was submitted to him…and he is the only prophet we will ever need.

He is passionate – knocking over tables and turning out the money lenders. He is passionate for our holiness and sanctification, as we now take on the role of temple and chosen people. So don’t you dare go flee into exile somewhere. Don’t you dare ignore the prophet’s call.