Jesus curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit and cleanses the temple, using these acts as visual parables about God's judgment on Israel for their hypocrisy and empty worship. The next day, the disciples see that the fig tree has withered away completely. Jesus' actions show that the temple has become a marketplace rather than a house of prayer, and foreshadow its future destruction when a new way of worshipping God in spirit and truth will come through him.

1. Mark 11:11-21
Purifies
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree and Cleanses the Temple
May 5, 2019
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA
What’s the number one thing?
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The Glory of God!
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1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
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2. May Memory Verse
Exodus 20:12 NIV
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the
Lord your God is giving you.”
“Welcome Summer Party”
FBCJ Adults & Their Guests
Thursday, May 30, 2019
6:00 PM
CLC
Catered by Penn’s – Catfish & Chicken
Advance Tickets Required $15
References
• NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing, 1985).
• ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL, Crossway, 2008).
• Sproul, R.C., St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary on Mark (Sanford, FL,
Reformation Trust, 2011).
• MacArthur, John, Nothing But Leaves, Sermon on Mark 11:12-21, Grace to
You, YouTube.
Introduction to the Gospel According to Mark
• John Mark was the writer of Peter’s account of Jesus’ life recorded in the
‘Gospel According to Mark.’
• Gospel of Mark was written in Rome with Peter in 53-55 AD.
• John Mark was not a disciple or an eyewitness.
• This writing records more details of the events in Jesus’ life rather than the
actual words.
Introduction to Mark 11 – Passion Week Begins
John 12:1-2 ESV
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus
was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him
there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
• Jesus and the disciples are staying in Bethany (2 miles from Jerusalem)
with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

3. Introduction to Mark 11 – Passion Week Begins
John 12:9-11 ESV
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not
only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the
dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing
in Jesus.
Introduction to Mark 11 – Triumphal Entry
John 12:12-13 ESV
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was
coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to
meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Mark 11:11 ESV
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had
looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with
the twelve.
What did Jesus see when he looked around in the temple?
• He was looking to see if it was fulfilling its purpose of leading the people to
the true worship of God.
• The Court of the Gentiles had been turned into a commercial stockyard
with selling of animals for sacrifice.
• Exchange rates to pay the Temple Tax were excessive.
• The Jewish leaders were extorting the people for personal gain.
Tuesday of Passion Week
Mark 11:12-14 ESV
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And
seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything
on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season
for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his
disciples heard it.
The Confusion of Mark 11:12-14
• Interpretation has caused much confusion over time.
• This is a parable (analogy) by Jesus of the prediction of the judgement on
Israel and the destruction of the temple.
• The cleansing of the temple is sandwiched between the cursing of the fig
tree, so the incidents are directly connected.

4. The Fig Tree
The Fig Tree in Mark 11
• One opinion – Fig season in Palestine is in the fall, but in the spring fig trees
produced smaller edible buds called paggim.
• Another opinion – A few rare species of fig trees in the area produced
mature figs in the spring, and this was the type tree Jesus cursed.
• Breba crop – Sweet mature figs produced in spring on the mature stems
(prior year’s crop) of the fig tree.
Paggim (Early Green) Edible Figs
Breba Crop of Figs

5. The fig tree is a metaphor for Israel and their standing before God.
Hosea 9:10a ESV
10a Like grapes in the wilderness,
I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
Jeremiah 24:5 ESV
5 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as
good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land
of the Chaldeans.
What did Jesus mean with His statement?
Mark 11:14a ESV
14a And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
• The barren tree represented the fruitlessness of Israel in showing the one
true God to all the nations.
• They had turned God into empty rituals and legalism.
• This incident was a visual parable to signify Jesus’ search for true fruit of
worship, prayer and righteousness in the Jewish nation.
• Israel had leaves (rituals) but no fruit (righteousness).
Jesus was addressing Israel’s hypocrisy
Luke 12:1b ESV
1b he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,
which is hypocrisy.”
• Hypocrite = I claim not to do something sinful, but then you see me do it
(actions different than words).
• Sinner = You see me sin, and I admit to it.
• All hypocrites are sinners, but not all sinners are hypocrites!
The reason for hypocrisy is self-interest

6. Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders
Matthew 23:1-5 ESV
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the
Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not
the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy
burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves
are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen
by others.”
Deception in Hypocrisy
1 John 1:8-10 ESV
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us.
• Hypocrisy creates a double layer of deception with a lie and with
condemnation.
Another meaning of this visual parable
• The fig leaf represents “excuses” and “man’s attempt at salvation by
works.”
• Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with fig leaves (excuses) and make
themselves presentable to God.
• A blood sacrifice was required, and God provided garments of animal
skins for Adam and Eve.
• The sacrificial system for Israel required an animal sacrifice and shedding
of blood.
• Jesus’ curse on the fig tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again”
was a preview of what was about to happen with His death and
resurrection.
• The sacrificial system was about to be abolished by Jesus shedding His
own blood for all of mankind.
• Man would now be saved by only Jesus’ blood, and no further sacrifice is
needed.
Next scripture lesson – The Cleansing of the Temple by Jesus in Mark 11:15-19
• John 2 records a similar cleansing just after Jesus’ first miracle.
• Matthew, Mark and Luke only record the cleansing during the Passion
Week.
• Jesus used a whip of cords in the first cleansing, but there is no mention of
a whip in the second.
• Sandwiched between the 2 cleansings is Jesus’ ministry where He was
calling Israel to true worship.

7. Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Mark 11:15-16 ESV
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive
out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the
tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And
he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.
• Think about the strength and authority Jesus exerted to do this and no one
stopped him.
The intended purposes of the temple
• Represented the presence of God among the people.
• Symbolic of God’s calling and blessing on Israel.
• Place for the sacrifices for sins.
• Place of prayer, teaching and worship.
The temple in Jerusalem
• 1st Temple
• Built by Solomon on Mt. Moriah, the site where Abraham was told to
sacrifice, his son, Isaac.
• Solomon’s Temple was destroyed 350 years later by the Babylonians in
586 BC.
• 2nd Temple
• Rebuilt in 516 BC.
• Renovated and expanded by King Herod beginning in 12 BC.
• Present during Jesus’ day.
• Destroyed in 70 AD.
• Never rebuilt.

8. Current Remains of Temple Western/Wailing Wall
Building of future temples?
• Tribulation Temple
• Daniel 9 describes a temple where the ‘abomination of the desolation’
will occur during the tribulation period on earth.
• Millennium Temple
• Ezekiel 43 describes a temple where Jesus will rule in His glory during
the millennium period.
Solomon’s Temple – 1 Kings 5-8
2nd (Zerubbabel’s) Temple – Ezra 1-8

9. Herod’s Remodeled Temple
Why did Jesus cleanse the temple?
• This temple had become a pretense of true worship with Judaism
spiritually bankrupt.
• The whole system was cursed by God because of what it had become.
• Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV
15 But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to
do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today,
then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
Mark 11:17-19 ESV
17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, My house
shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den
of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a
way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished
at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

10. Jesus’ Statements in Mark 11:17
• Is it not written?
• A way to reference the Old Testament.
• Isaiah 56:7c ESV
7c “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for
all peoples.”
• My house
• Jesus claims the temple as His house since he is God in the flesh.
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all of the nations.”
• House of prayer
• Requires quietness without distractions
• Psalm 27:4 ESV
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
• For all of the nations
• Gentiles were restricted to the Court of the Gentiles in the temple area.
• Where else could the Gentiles go to worship God?
• God’s plan was to include ALL THE NATIONS in the plan of salvation
which would occur with Jesus’ death and resurrection in just a few
days.
“But you have made it a den of robbers.”
• Jeremiah 7:11a ESV
11a Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers
in your eyes?
• As thieves hide in caves and think they are safe, so the people of
Judah falsely trust in the temple to protect them in spite of their sins.
• False prophets in Jeremiah’s day were telling people that God could
not see outside the walls of the temple.
• The people were being robbed by the unfair trading going on in the
temple courtyard.
• The Jewish leaders were literally hiding in the temple and robbing the
people.

11. The cursed fig tree
Mark 11:20-21 ESV
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its
roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that
you cursed has withered.”
• The tree was completely dead in just 24 hours.
• This was a vivid warning and illustration about the judgment that would
come in 70 AD when the temple was completely destroyed.
What is the lesson and application for us?
John 4:23-24 ESV
23 “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
• It’s all about our worship of God!
Worship changed at Jesus’ death.
Mark 15:37-38 ESV
37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the
temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
• When the curtain was torn and the Holy of Holies was exposed, worship of
God was no longer possible in the temple, but was now only possible “in
spirit and truth.”
• With the coming of Christ the separation between the Jew and the Gentile
was no longer present.
• The centrality of the temple for worship was not relevant.
• Worship became a matter of the heart, not external actions, and directed
by truth rather than ceremony.
Closing Thoughts
Hebrews 4:14, 16 ESV
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
• Jesus, our High Priest, has removed the barrier between God and man.
The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 3:16 ESV
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes
in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him.”

12. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 14:6 ESV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.”
Romans 3:23 ESV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a ESV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to
pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death” explained in
Revelation 21:8.
Revelation 21:8 ESV
8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the
lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8,
will experience the “second death” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn
away from sin and to come to Jesus.
Romans 5:8 ESV
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.
Romans 6:23b ESV
23b but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 21:7 ESV
7 “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will
be my son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to be conquerors.
Romans 10:9-10 ESV
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart
one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Romans 10:13 ESV
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

13. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/