Monday, March 29 Holy Week Day Four

The Temple and the Fig Tree

Scripture Reading: Matthew 21:12-22; 2 Chronicles 6:12-7:3; John 15:1-11

Two of the saddest scenes in Scripture are those which follow the dramatic entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. When Jesus entered the temple, He found the changers of money extorting the people who had come for Passover. This stirred the emotions of the Lord and He drove them away from the temple, reminding the surprised merchants that the temple was to be a house of prayer, not a commercial facility cluttered by the lusts, attitudes, and busy-ness of the world.

The next day as He returned to Jerusalem, He came upon a fig tree covered with beautiful leaves characteristic of a healthy and fruitful tree. Jesus was hungry and as He approached the tree He found that it bore no figs. This too evoked emotion from the Lord and He cursed the tree ensuring that its barrenness would be perpetual. As Jesus drew near the city, He likely reflected upon that day when Solomon dedicated the temple, inviting the Presence of God to dwell among the people. When Solomon finished praying, the Glory and Presence of God filled the house and the priests were unable to stand. This was to be the identifying mark of God’s house, the vibrant reality of His Presence. But Jesus found the temple to be cluttered with the meaningless and secular ambitions of greedy humanity. The fig tree too had only one purpose and that was to bear fruit. Unless it did, it was meaningless and insignificant, regardless of the deceiving beauty its leaves may have afforded the Judean landscape. Both the temple and the fig tree were signs of human futility and purposeless existence.

What lessons must we learn from these two narratives? First, we are His temple. We have been marked by the very image of God and are designed to house His glory and Presence. But, far too often our lives become cluttered by the things of this world and fall woefully short of the divine ideal of manifesting His character to a hopeless world. Likewise, we are to bear spiritual fruit, fruit that remains, demonstrates the likeness of Christ, and stands the test of the Spirit’s inspection. Yet sadly, most Christians are spiritually barren, bearing only the leaves of spiritual routine, religious motion, and heartless capitulation to ethical and moral rules that reflect legalistic fear, rather than spiritual vitality and life-giving grace. Clearly God is calling His people to again be filled with His Presence, demonstrate His Glory, and produce fruit that will be pleasing to Him.

Prayer: Father, help me to rid my life of the clutter that overshadows your glory, the attitudes that drive away Your Presence, and the busy-ness that keeps me from bearing spiritual fruit of which You will be pleased.