YOU MUST DIE!
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. Mark 11:12-14
The disciples must have felt relieved when Jesus left the temple peaceably and returned to Bethany. He seems to have made Martha and Mary’s home His headquarters for the moment. They knew that He was so focussed and self-assured that no amount of reasoning with Him would dissuade Him from what He was about to do. He had gone to the temple with the view to planning His strategy for the rest of the day.
What had He seen that made Him so determined to return there the following morning? He never discussed His plans with His disciples. He often tried to tell then what would happen but they were not inclined to listen to Him because they had their own agenda. Did He see the remnants of the days’ trading in the Court of the Gentiles? Did He see litter, dung, bird droppings and the odd coin lying on the floor? Did He see chairs and tables set up and ready for the next day?
Did anger rise up in Him that this was His Father’s appointed meeting place for spiritually hungry Gentiles, and there was nowhere else for them to go because they were banned from the rest of the temple? Those who were supposed to lead God’s people had sanctioned this part of the temple to be a market place for dishonest trade. They cared nothing for the despised Gentiles who also had a place in God’s heart.
He was up early the next morning, too early for breakfast. Spotting a fig tree in the distance He hoped for an early snack, only to find no fruit – only leaves. Just as the tree could not satisfy His hunger, so His people, Israel failed to satisfy His desire for a loving family. He spoke prophetic words to the tree, “Your time is up. Your potential to bear fruit is over. You are worthless and rejected. Now die.” And the tree died.
Did the disciples get the message? At this point, only the tree died as a visual aid for them, but there was a warning in this action. What had happened to the tree would happen to the nation the tree symbolised – at God’s powerful word, and they would be speaking that word!