WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:09.460 As I began to study this week, I realized that this text has actually historically been much more controversial than what I even thought that it was. 00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:22.080 There's a man named Bertrand Russell, who was a British philosopher and agnostic around the turn of the 20th century, late 1800s, early 1900s. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:31.259 And he actually pointed to the events of this passage in Mark chapter 11 in his famous essay, Why I'm Not a Christian. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:50.899 When he read of particularly Jesus cursing the fig tree, he found it utterly offensive to the point that he decided this is one of the very reasons that I am not a Christian, why I don't believe Christ and why I don't think other people should believe Christ either. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:01:00.500 That he would take whatever power that he was given, if it's even true that he had it, and he would exercise it in a destructive way. 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:02.579 And Bertrand Russell just couldn't get past that. 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:05.000 And he says, this is one of the reasons I'm not a Christian. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:22.099 And then I was surprised to discover that even some beloved New Testament scholars who are much more friendly to Christianity on the whole have written that Jesus' actions were unnecessary here. 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:25.640 That they tarnished his character. 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:32.340 One of them, William Barclay, even wrote, quote, that Jesus was acting petulantly. 00:01:33.620 --> 00:01:41.920 Insinuating that the actions of Jesus, particularly as it related to the fig tree here, was like a spoiled child who didn't get his way. 00:01:42.260 --> 00:01:43.799 That's what he means by petulance here. 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:49.579 And they believe that this actually tarnishes the person of Jesus. 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:59.679 But the foolishness of these critics, and it is foolishness, it is wrought with inconsistency. 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:01.859 Think about it a moment. 00:02:01.859 --> 00:02:17.319 People who would have no problem at all cutting down a tree for firewood, or to furnish their home, or to have parchment on which they can write their critics of Jesus and his ways, 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:29.479 are suddenly shocked when the creator of the tree actually exercises authority over it in order that he can teach a vital spiritual lesson to his disciples. 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:42.539 And it's the same kind of inconsistency that accompanies some people's thoughts of when Jesus cast out the legion of demons in chapter 5. 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:43.179 Do you remember that? 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:48.319 Remember the people of the nation, the country, that area, they actually asked him to leave. 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:50.000 They were so bothered by what he did. 00:02:50.959 --> 00:02:55.479 The fact that he would cast out these demons into pigs, and that the pigs were then destroyed. 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:59.899 Those people would have no problem slaughtering a pig for their breakfast bacon. 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:10.639 But then all of a sudden they're offended when Jesus uses them to cleanse a man and heal him from demonic torture. 00:03:11.399 --> 00:03:15.219 There's amazing inconsistency in that type of criticism. 00:03:15.379 --> 00:03:19.159 And really, that type of criticism really only comes from the heart of unbelievers. 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:22.500 And you may not agree with them. 00:03:22.799 --> 00:03:27.079 Certainly, you would affirm the fact that the potter has right over the clay. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:34.859 Jesus, as creator and Lord of all creation, has the right to do whatever he wants with whatever he wants. 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.740 And whatever he does is perfectly righteous as the holy God. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.139 We would affirm all of that. 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:44.599 But that doesn't mean that we don't also have some questions about what Jesus did here. 00:03:45.459 --> 00:03:49.419 With the cursing of the fig tree, and then also the clearing of the temple. 00:03:49.739 --> 00:03:52.619 And if you have some questions about that, I just want you to know you're not alone. 00:03:53.339 --> 00:03:55.000 That's why I'm dealing with it so much right now. 00:03:55.399 --> 00:03:56.779 It's okay to have questions. 00:03:56.780 --> 00:04:11.000 But I think that the employing of good, correct, interpretive principles will help us come to the right answers in this. 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:13.599 One such principle is this. 00:04:13.860 --> 00:04:19.540 Whenever we study our Bibles, we always interpret the obscure by what is clear. 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:23.699 Always interpret the obscure by what is clear. 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:29.959 What is it that we know is absolutely true of Jesus, and absolutely true about what the Bible says of him, 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:37.899 despite this peculiar narrative that we find ourselves here in Mark chapter 11. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:49.279 Well, has there ever been a time in the Bible that it has insinuated in any way that Jesus acted vindictively, 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:51.860 or that he was not in control? 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:53.539 No. 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:54.579 Never. 00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:00.579 Every time we see Jesus in the Bible, he is always in control. 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:03.420 He's never acting vindictively. 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:05.019 That's never true. 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:09.159 So why would we immediately bring a thought like that to this particular passage? 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:09.860 You see what I mean? 00:05:09.980 --> 00:05:13.259 We take the obscure, we interpret it first by what is clear. 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:17.399 And the Bible clearly teaches that that is not characteristic of Jesus, right? 00:05:17.599 --> 00:05:19.079 So we don't automatically go there. 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:23.959 But then there's also the matter of context. 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.680 What is this purpose? 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.560 Why would Mark include this here? 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:33.420 And how does he actually present it in his gospel? 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:38.800 And he actually does something very beneficial for us in chapter 11, something that Matthew doesn't do. 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:41.759 We see another literary sandwich. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.180 This is one of Mark's favorite techniques. 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:48.180 In fact, commentators call them Markin sandwiches. 00:05:48.180 --> 00:05:56.240 And we've seen him do this a number of times already in our study, where Mark will begin a story, and then he'll suddenly change to a different story. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:59.740 And then after he finishes that one, he'll conclude the original story. 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:00.519 You remember? 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:02.300 He's done that a number of times already. 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:07.100 Now notice what the pattern was here in this chapter. 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:11.420 He deals with the fig tree, and then he just kind of leaves it alone. 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:17.680 And he goes to the clearing of the temple, and he finishes that narrative, and then he returns back to the fig tree. 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:20.639 Fig tree, temple, fig tree. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.139 He's linking these stories together in order that we might rightly interpret them. 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:32.479 In other words, Mark is saying this issue with the fig tree is the same issue as the issue with the temple. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:38.839 And we're to understand the fig tree by the temple and understand the temple by the fig tree. 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:51.120 And what we discover in this context is that Jesus was teaching his disciples a crucial lesson about true faith and the fruitfulness that issues from it. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:07:01.860 And the driving point of this particular passage is that God will not tolerate hypocritical, corrupt worship. 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.800 And it's an important lesson that we need to give our attention to this morning. 00:07:07.220 --> 00:07:09.120 Well, let's work through the narrative here. 00:07:09.180 --> 00:07:11.240 The first thing I have here is cursing the tree. 00:07:12.340 --> 00:07:13.240 Cursing the tree. 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:15.500 Look with me at verse 12. 00:07:16.340 --> 00:07:22.120 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:27.740 Now, it's not typical for Mark to give us these timing notes in his gospel. 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:31.019 So we want to pay attention to him when he does. 00:07:31.280 --> 00:07:33.879 And I think that it's here for a really specific reason. 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:37.879 Do you remember the previous day's events that we talked about last Sunday? 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:45.180 This whole issue of Jesus riding to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives on the colt of a donkey. 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:50.240 Do you remember what Jesus did once he got into the city of Jerusalem? 00:07:51.159 --> 00:07:52.379 He went to the temple. 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:53.600 And what did he do there? 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:54.620 Verse 11. 00:07:54.719 --> 00:07:55.279 Look at it again. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:58.860 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:06.199 And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:13.959 So Jesus had just spent the previous evening examining everything that was taking place in the temple. 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:19.420 This was no surprise to him what he awoke to the next day. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:20.279 This is not a surprise. 00:08:20.539 --> 00:08:22.740 He had just examined all of this the night before. 00:08:23.219 --> 00:08:24.279 And he goes to the temple. 00:08:24.419 --> 00:08:26.039 Suddenly, the crowds are not there anymore. 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:29.779 And he's going around and he's witnessing what is actually happening there. 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:31.419 What are the processes that they're following? 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:32.620 He's looking at all the stuff. 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:34.080 And then it just says that he leaves. 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:35.559 And he quietly leaves the city. 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.159 He resorts to Bethany. 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:42.399 And undoubtedly, as would have been his pattern, probably spent the evening in prayer. 00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:45.159 And this is an important contextual note. 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:51.039 Because it eliminates the notion that Jesus was acting spontaneously here. 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:56.519 Jesus didn't just happen across the fig tree the next morning. 00:08:56.519 --> 00:09:10.340 He didn't just happen to be surprised by what was happening at the temple and so angered by it in this, that moment that he spontaneously began to drive people out and turn over tables. 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:13.259 No, this was premeditated action. 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:15.679 Jesus witnessed it all. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:18.000 And then he went back to Bethany. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.279 And he spent the night praying, probably. 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:23.960 And he planned a course of action for the next day. 00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:25.759 He was not acting vindictively. 00:09:26.139 --> 00:09:28.019 This was not petulant anger. 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:35.100 But he was carrying out the perfectly righteous plan to teach a powerful lesson. 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:36.840 Okay, you with me? 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:37.540 Right? 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:39.840 Jesus was not surprised by any of this. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.139 He planned this. 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:41.379 Okay? 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:42.200 Verse 13. 00:09:42.200 --> 00:10:10.900 So as they journeyed back to Jerusalem from Bethany, Jesus led his disciples to a fig tree that was in full bloom. 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:17.340 Now, Jesus was fully aware that this tree was fruitless. 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:22.980 Just like Jesus was fully aware of all the other things that he had done. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:23.539 Okay? 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:26.259 He saw the tree in the distance. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:31.579 And his knowledge of its fruitlessness is precisely why he went to it. 00:10:32.699 --> 00:10:34.679 He's teaching his disciples something. 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:37.480 He's going there on purpose. 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:44.960 As far as his disciples are concerned, Jesus was simply checking the tree for fruit because he was hungry. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:51.740 And once it was examined and found to be barren, Jesus pronounced this curse. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:55.240 And he did it in such a way that the 12 could hear. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:57.240 Notice what Mark is saying. 00:10:57.379 --> 00:10:58.379 Notice the details. 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:00.420 Jesus plans it. 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:02.240 He goes to the tree. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:06.740 He examines it thoroughly in the sight of the disciples. 00:11:06.940 --> 00:11:12.100 And then where they can hear him clearly, he pronounces this curse. 00:11:13.460 --> 00:11:15.840 But what is it that stirred his anger here? 00:11:17.820 --> 00:11:21.100 It wasn't merely the fact that the tree had no fruit. 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:31.720 The typical season in Palestine, at least, from what I understand, the typical season for fruit bearing and fig trees is late summer, early fall. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:36.300 There were some exceptions to that, but very rare exceptions. 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:40.659 Mostly, the figs were going to come in late summer, early fall. 00:11:40.659 --> 00:11:50.240 So there's no reason at all that anyone would ever expect that this tree was supposed to have figs at this moment. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:52.259 Mark even gives us that note. 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:53.980 It's not the season for figs. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:59.319 He wasn't saying that to castigate Jesus in some way. 00:11:59.459 --> 00:12:05.879 He's saying that to let us know Jesus would never have expected this tree to have figs because it wasn't the season for figs. 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:11.960 There's only one reason, one sign that showed or indicated that this tree might have some figs on it. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:13.000 And it was its leaves. 00:12:14.059 --> 00:12:16.759 Because the early figs always followed the leaf. 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:22.139 And Jesus sees that this tree is in the distance and he sees it's in full bloom. 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:24.439 It's a leafy tree. 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:30.059 Indicating that what it offers to anyone who would come to it is fruitfulness. 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:37.259 It will have figs that can satisfy hunger and can be what Jesus needed for it to be in that moment physically. 00:12:37.779 --> 00:12:41.559 It's the leafiness of the tree that has Jesus' attention. 00:12:41.939 --> 00:12:43.339 So why then does he curse it? 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.979 Because when he gets there, it actually has no fruit. 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:50.579 The leaves were lying. 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:57.920 It was the hypocritical boast of fruitfulness that the tree had. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:01.000 When in reality, it was barren. 00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:05.580 It had all the trappings of a tree full of fruit. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:10.840 But it left its hungry admirers unsatisfied and starving. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.720 And because of its hypocrisy, Jesus cursed him. 00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:18.100 And it would never bear fruit again. 00:13:19.400 --> 00:13:19.740 Do you see? 00:13:20.580 --> 00:13:22.340 It wasn't that it was just fruitless. 00:13:23.300 --> 00:13:24.860 It wasn't that time for figs anyways. 00:13:25.460 --> 00:13:28.500 It's that it was telling everybody, I have fruit. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.300 Come and eat. 00:13:30.660 --> 00:13:35.320 And when you get there, you're left starving and unsatisfied. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:37.879 That's what stirs Jesus' anger with the tree. 00:13:38.040 --> 00:13:39.320 But then the narrative changes, right? 00:13:40.259 --> 00:13:41.400 And he goes straight to the temple. 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:44.680 Because it's an enacted parable. 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.720 This is not a parable that Jesus is speaking. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:51.600 It's a parable that Jesus is acting out. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:54.860 He is demonstrating it by his behavior. 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:58.800 And his curse was a prophetic illustration. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:06.200 It was an illustration of Israel's hypocrisy and God's judgment against it. 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:11.240 Fig tree was a common symbol for Israel in the Old Testament. 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:23.000 And the fact that this tree had elaborate foliage but bore no fruit portrayed how Jesus saw the nation of Israel and their worship. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:32.419 And it was all typified, as we'll see in just a moment, in the corruption of the temple worship and the nation's leaders. 00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:35.919 That was the tip of the iceberg. 00:14:36.599 --> 00:14:38.219 And Jesus is going to go and deal with it. 00:14:39.219 --> 00:14:40.519 Sinclair Ferguson wrote, 00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:45.719 Israel, like the fig tree, showed the outward signs of bearing fruit. 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:51.200 But those who approached it spiritually hungry found none. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:59.160 Although planted by God, nurtured by his servants, the people of God were spiritually barren. 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:05.200 Like vine branches which bore no fruit, they would be cast aside. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:10.320 So no, Jesus' curse wasn't about spiteful anger. 00:15:10.520 --> 00:15:12.160 It was about righteous judgment. 00:15:13.520 --> 00:15:21.200 And it was a picture displaying God's wrath against those who dress in the trappings of faithfulness. 00:15:21.660 --> 00:15:25.960 But are inwardly barren and corrupt. 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:30.680 And churches are filled with these fig trees. 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:36.539 They have all the trappings of a faithful Christian. 00:15:36.539 --> 00:15:38.099 They dress the part. 00:15:38.959 --> 00:15:40.699 They go to the services. 00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:43.439 They give in the offering box. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:45.259 They do the things. 00:15:45.579 --> 00:15:46.739 They say the words. 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:48.139 They go through the lingo. 00:15:48.479 --> 00:15:49.979 But inwardly, they're barren. 00:15:50.099 --> 00:15:52.539 There's no fruitfulness at all in their life. 00:15:52.719 --> 00:15:54.859 It's just a hypocritical boast. 00:15:55.019 --> 00:15:57.079 They're playing games with God. 00:15:58.039 --> 00:15:59.759 And this is a warning. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:02.779 That God doesn't play those games. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.500 He's not interested in hypocritical worship. 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:09.259 He doesn't care what you look like. 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:15.720 He's not concerned with whether or not you're following all the steps that your religion tells you to follow. 00:16:15.939 --> 00:16:17.639 He's concerned about your heart. 00:16:17.779 --> 00:16:20.059 This was always God's problem with Israel. 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:26.120 In Isaiah chapter 1, God specifically speaks through Isaiah and he tells the nation of Israel, 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:30.279 I am so full of the blood of goats and of bulls. 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:32.340 Stop it with the sacrifices. 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:34.580 I don't care about your feast. 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:40.019 I don't care about all these things you are doing because I do not have your heart. 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:42.580 God doesn't care if you're going through the motions. 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.179 He's not concerned about that. 00:16:44.179 --> 00:16:47.219 He's in one hypocritical worship. 00:16:47.639 --> 00:16:52.579 And this is a warning to all of us who may fit that description. 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:54.520 So we see cursing the tree. 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:56.340 Then we see clearing the temple. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:58.580 Look at verse 15. 00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:07.259 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. 00:17:08.259 --> 00:17:13.799 And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:17.559 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:25.059 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? 00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:28.200 But you have made it a den of robbers. 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:33.500 And the chief priest and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him. 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:37.720 For they feared him because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:41.480 And when evening came, they went out of the city. 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:51.700 Well, if you're like me, you probably spent more time trying to wrap your mind around the clearing of the temple than you have the cursing of the fig tree. 00:17:53.120 --> 00:17:55.059 And I think there's some reasons for that. 00:17:55.180 --> 00:18:02.299 Where, like I said before, we're taken aback by Jesus' action because it's so different from what we're accustomed. 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:07.079 Or maybe it's very different from what we desire to see from Jesus, isn't it? 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.799 It's not just that we don't see him acting this way very often in the gospels. 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:16.199 It's that we don't want to see a Jesus that responds this way, right? 00:18:16.259 --> 00:18:17.319 We find this offensive. 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:21.639 We all want a God of love and compassion. 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:24.539 But we resist a God of judgment. 00:18:25.679 --> 00:18:31.179 We resist a God who acts in righteous anger against sin and corruption. 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:36.599 And we of all people understand what this is like. 00:18:36.599 --> 00:18:42.599 We live in the midst of the capital of cultural Christianity. 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:51.019 Which has emphasized God's love in such a way that people are shocked by notions of God's wrath. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:53.959 Notions of God's judgment. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:00.119 And by focusing on God's mercy while neglecting the reality of God's justice, 00:19:00.459 --> 00:19:04.519 many people have just, under the banner of Christianity, have made a God of their own making. 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:08.319 They worship not the true God, but they worship the God that they want. 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:15.019 And then when we pair that with our obsession with individuality and relativity, 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:22.500 people think that any correction from God is an assault against our autonomy. 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:28.720 We don't believe God's sovereignty should overrule our individuality. 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:32.200 We make ourselves God. 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:36.119 And we're fine with God ruling other people's lives. 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:37.519 And we're fine with Him ruling the nations. 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:39.460 And we're fine with Him controlling the weather. 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:40.640 We're fine with doing all of that. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.380 Just don't rule over me because that would be an encroachment on my personal autonomy. 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:52.260 And like the Pharisees and the religious leaders, perhaps you read this story, 00:19:52.340 --> 00:19:55.920 and your first question that comes to your mind cynically is, 00:19:56.320 --> 00:20:03.000 what gives Jesus the right to go into the temple and start flipping over people's tables? 00:20:04.060 --> 00:20:05.880 What gives Him the right to do that? 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:10.100 That comes from the same heart that says, 00:20:10.360 --> 00:20:14.180 what gives Jesus the right to tell me how I'm supposed to live? 00:20:14.700 --> 00:20:20.160 What gives Jesus the right to come into my life and tell me who I'm supposed to marry? 00:20:20.340 --> 00:20:23.520 Or how I'm supposed to be activated in sexual intimacy? 00:20:23.880 --> 00:20:28.160 And who gives Jesus the right to come in and tell me the way that I'm supposed to worship? 00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:30.020 And the things that I'm supposed to do? 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.440 No, that's encroaching on who I am. 00:20:32.780 --> 00:20:34.320 That's not what God's supposed to do. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.819 He's just supposed to provide the stuff that I want. 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:39.399 He's not supposed to tell me what to do. 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:44.740 Yes, Jesus is a compassionate Savior, and He wants to save us, 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:46.819 but He's also the holy God, 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:51.859 and He will not tolerate sinful lives and corrupt worship. 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:53.240 He won't do it. 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:58.519 And the righteous indignation of Jesus in this text, 00:20:58.759 --> 00:21:01.740 it does not contradict His divinity. 00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:05.440 It glorifies His divinity. 00:21:06.700 --> 00:21:10.180 Jesus' reaction here doesn't, it shouldn't lead you to think, 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:11.500 well, maybe He's not God. 00:21:11.579 --> 00:21:14.859 No, it should actually lead you to the fact that He actually is God. 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:20.500 He cares explicitly about our worship and our lives, 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:26.039 and our proper understanding of this event should lead us to humbly bow to Him, 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.599 not arrogantly accuse Him. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:29.319 Okay? 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:31.220 Let's look at it. 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:33.799 First, let's see the clearing examined. 00:21:34.319 --> 00:21:35.500 What actually happened here? 00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:36.500 Let's talk about it. 00:21:37.420 --> 00:21:40.559 So the temple in Jerusalem is the most sacred place in Judaism. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:45.740 The Passover is among the holiest of celebrations to the Jews. 00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:48.859 There's a lot happening in Jerusalem in this moment. 00:21:49.639 --> 00:21:52.039 And I want you to imagine with me, if you would, 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:56.139 the incredible scale of what is actually happening here in chapter 11. 00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:58.359 It's hard to see it when you're just reading it, 00:21:58.399 --> 00:21:59.799 but think about it for just a moment. 00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:03.639 Josephus was a Jewish historian, 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.859 Hellenistic Jewish historian from around the first century. 00:22:07.220 --> 00:22:08.079 Am I doing something? 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:10.819 If I do something with that, I'll switch if it happens again. 00:22:10.879 --> 00:22:11.379 Sorry about that. 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:12.139 I don't want to annoy you. 00:22:13.399 --> 00:22:17.879 Anyways, Josephus wrote that in AD 65, about 30 years after this, 00:22:18.879 --> 00:22:26.639 there were 255,600 lambs that were offered during Passover in Jerusalem. 00:22:27.639 --> 00:22:29.319 That's a lot of lambs, okay? 00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:34.519 Now, as the people of Israel gathered together for the Passover celebration, 00:22:35.139 --> 00:22:39.119 there wouldn't have been any less than 10 people per lamb, okay? 00:22:39.299 --> 00:22:41.079 This was a community thing. 00:22:41.139 --> 00:22:42.259 It's a family thing that they did. 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:43.559 You didn't do this on your own. 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:46.680 If you didn't have family of your own, you would attach to somebody else's. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:47.899 That's how they would go through the Passover. 00:22:47.899 --> 00:22:56.419 So a conservative estimate in AD 65 is 2.5 million people at Passover in Jerusalem. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:58.279 Now, to put that in perspective, 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:03.539 in Mecklenburg County, not Charlotte, but Mecklenburg County, that includes us here, 00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:06.940 Cornelius, 1.1 million people, okay? 00:23:06.940 --> 00:23:14.380 In Wake County, which is Raleigh and the area surrounding Raleigh, 1.1 million people. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:19.740 In Guilford County, Greensboro, 500,000 people. 00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:27.960 So imagine all the residents in Mecklenburg County, all the residents in Wake County, all the residents in Guilford County, 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:32.019 come together for a celebration in uptown Charlotte, okay? 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:33.000 All at one time. 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:37.460 That begins to set the scene for what's happening with Jesus here. 00:23:37.460 --> 00:23:41.400 Now, imagine when all those people from all those counties come to Charlotte, 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:49.059 they all have to go to the arena downtown to get the stuff that they need for their celebration. 00:23:49.660 --> 00:23:51.579 And they only have a couple of days to do it. 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:57.980 So 2.5 million people all going to Time Winter Cable Arena or Spectrum Center, whatever it's called now, 00:23:57.980 --> 00:24:05.839 all in a matter of two to three days to buy animals and wine and salt and all the things that they would need for the sacrifices. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:10.299 This is a huge scale happening here, right? 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:16.120 Now, the text tells us that there were four groups of people that Jesus drove out. 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:20.220 And again, it's not the number of people that are there that angers him. 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:21.039 It's what they're doing. 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:25.160 First, it says he drove out those who sold. 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:32.320 Then those who bought, the money changers, and then the people carrying things through. 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:40.740 So those who were selling were selling livestock, wine, oil, salt, all the things necessary for the sacrifice, 00:24:41.080 --> 00:24:42.660 which this was a necessary service. 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:44.880 They needed to do this for people traveling to Jerusalem. 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:48.620 The problem was these merchants brought their business into the temple. 00:24:48.619 --> 00:24:54.979 They had set up shop and constructed these stalls inside the temple courtyard. 00:24:55.159 --> 00:24:57.439 And this is where they were going about their business. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:00.000 So people had to come inside of the courtyard of the temple. 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:03.939 And not only are there lots of people there, but there's lots of animals there. 00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:07.359 Can you just imagine the circus this is? 00:25:08.659 --> 00:25:11.739 Where you go to church one day for a really massive church, 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:14.419 like a three football fields wide church. 00:25:14.420 --> 00:25:15.700 You go there one day. 00:25:15.779 --> 00:25:18.980 And all of a sudden, there's all these merchants, and it's loaded with animals. 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:23.240 And they're making all kinds of noise, and they're doing all kinds of animalistic things, and it stinks. 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:25.840 And then there's all these people that are also coming in there, 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:28.480 and they're all trying to buy what they need to buy. 00:25:28.560 --> 00:25:31.200 And maybe they're bartering, or maybe they're doing whatever they need to do to get. 00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:32.380 You're there to pray. 00:25:33.019 --> 00:25:33.779 You're there to worship. 00:25:34.779 --> 00:25:38.900 But you can't even process a thought because it's a circus around you. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.100 So what does Jesus do? 00:25:40.259 --> 00:25:43.300 He goes in, and he drives out the people that are selling all the stuff. 00:25:43.299 --> 00:25:44.720 He gets them out of the temple. 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:48.220 But then he drives out the people who are buying too. 00:25:48.339 --> 00:25:49.619 This is important, I think. 00:25:50.619 --> 00:25:53.819 Those purchasing those items were also driven out. 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:56.559 Now think, you're a person. 00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:57.379 You're going to Jerusalem. 00:25:57.500 --> 00:25:58.339 You've got to get your stuff. 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:02.599 And you really hate the way that the merchants are doing this. 00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:05.079 Like you don't like it, and you wish it was different. 00:26:05.399 --> 00:26:07.000 But you go and you do it anyways. 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:10.579 Because you don't want to trouble yourself to have to do it any other way. 00:26:10.579 --> 00:26:15.539 And you become complicit in what's happening in this corruption of worship. 00:26:15.899 --> 00:26:17.899 You may not like it, but you still go along with it. 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:19.819 That's what's happening. 00:26:19.919 --> 00:26:21.019 Jesus drives them out too. 00:26:21.939 --> 00:26:23.099 The money changers. 00:26:23.399 --> 00:26:24.639 They were the third group. 00:26:25.659 --> 00:26:33.679 So the Old Testament law commanded every male 20 years and older would have to pay a temple tax. 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:35.839 It was half shekel weight. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:39.599 The problem was they couldn't just bring any type of money. 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:50.519 Any coin that had an inscription of a false god or of a pagan ruler like of Rome was not allowed to be used in the temple tax. 00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:51.879 It had to be something sacred. 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:53.859 So they would have money changers. 00:26:54.439 --> 00:26:57.099 The money changers would exchange for the right rate. 00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:00.639 And they would give the right coinage that these people could then actually pay their temple tax. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:11.560 The problem is these money changers have set up shop in the temple and they're charging exorbitant fees in order for people to go about this. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:16.980 So much so that Jesus flips over their tables and calls them thieves. 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:20.080 This is supposed to be an act of worship. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:24.160 They've made it a marketplace and they're robbing people. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:29.360 And then we stop and we say, this overturning tables thing is a little much, isn't it? 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:37.060 I mean, if you're ever watching TV or a movie and you see somebody get angry and turn over a table, that's a violent act, right? 00:27:38.060 --> 00:27:45.120 Nobody goes up to someone else and says, excuse me, kind sir, I'm not really pleased with the way you're doing this. 00:27:45.180 --> 00:27:46.380 I think I'm just going to flip your table over. 00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:47.759 You just scoot back a little bit and we'll flip it over. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:49.640 That's not how that happens. 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:53.900 And this is what takes us back here, right? 00:27:54.940 --> 00:27:56.019 What's Jesus doing? 00:27:56.860 --> 00:28:01.940 This is not anger in the sense of, this is not explosive violent anger. 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:04.720 He's preventing them. 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:09.540 He sees what these people are doing as thieving. 00:28:09.800 --> 00:28:13.720 They're robbing from true worship and from the people that have come to worship. 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:17.100 When he flips over that table, it's not that he's trying to hurt them. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:18.320 He's stopping them. 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:21.040 He's preventing them from being able to carry on. 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:23.860 He's putting an end to the thievery. 00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:32.840 If somebody comes and breaks into your house tomorrow and they start carrying your stuff out, you're not going to say, you know, I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't do that. 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:34.120 No. 00:28:34.620 --> 00:28:38.560 You can do whatever you can to stop that from happening any further, right? 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:42.379 You're going to prevent them from robbing you, prevent them from thieving you. 00:28:42.500 --> 00:28:44.119 Here comes Jesus into the temple. 00:28:44.379 --> 00:28:52.319 There's a bunch of thieves, criminals that are pretending as if they're going about the Lord's work, but they're actually robbing the people. 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:54.740 Jesus flips their tables over so they can't do it anymore. 00:28:54.819 --> 00:28:55.559 They have to stop. 00:28:55.639 --> 00:28:56.819 They have to stop what they're doing. 00:28:56.819 --> 00:29:03.220 The final group was the people that were walking through with things in their hands. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:08.059 Now, Jewish custom forbade this. 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:12.559 And the point of it was people would use the courtyard of the temple as a shortcut. 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:17.740 Google when you get home today, the courtyard, the size of it is very big. 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:26.259 And if you're trying to get from one side of Jerusalem to the other, it's a little bit laborious to go around the temple to get where you need to go. 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:27.660 So people would cut through. 00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:29.839 Well, they're not supposed to do that. 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:30.799 Why? 00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:32.500 It's a sacred place. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:34.579 It's a sacred place. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:37.200 Carelessly, they're carrying things through. 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:39.620 That's actually what Jewish law said not to do. 00:29:39.620 --> 00:29:47.200 You couldn't carry anything through, and it helped to prevent this type of careless treatment of the house of God. 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:53.880 So Jesus stops all of those people, and he prevents them from carrying anything through, makes them go around the temple. 00:29:54.059 --> 00:29:55.420 Now, look at verse 19. 00:29:57.180 --> 00:30:01.059 When evening came, they went out of the city. 00:30:02.019 --> 00:30:02.200 Okay? 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:06.019 They were there all day. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:07.759 Think about this. 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:11.720 Jesus and his disciples, they're there all day in the temple. 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:19.759 Thousands upon thousands of people coming in and out of an area that spans three football fields wide, two and a half football fields long. 00:30:20.819 --> 00:30:28.759 Jesus was most likely clearing these people throughout the day, pausing periodically to teach. 00:30:29.379 --> 00:30:32.379 He's not yelling these statements as he flips tables. 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:36.879 No, he's stopping, and it says he's teaching them, saying to them, is it not written? 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:42.559 And so he goes through, and he'd clear a section over here, and then he'd stop, and he'd explain to those people. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:43.079 He'd teach them. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:44.619 He's preached to them what's happening. 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:45.680 Then he'd go to another section. 00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:51.740 This is going on all day as people come in and out of the temple to go about the things that they had come to do. 00:30:51.740 --> 00:31:06.940 And naturally, this catches the attention of the scribes and the chief priests who had sold franchises to the merchants so that they could have their own cut of the profits that were being robbed from the people that came to do their worship. 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:09.960 Naturally, they didn't like that. 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:19.380 Not only is Jesus threatening their authority, but he's hindering their business, which means they just want to kill him all the more. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:21.240 That's what's happening here, okay? 00:31:21.740 --> 00:31:23.579 Let's look at the clearing explained. 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:25.420 Why did it happen? 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:39.900 Well, like the fig tree outside of Bethany, the temple had the appearance of worship, but in reality, it was barren of the fruit of genuine worship. 00:31:41.120 --> 00:31:51.019 And Jesus saw this as a monstrous desecration of holy ground and a total corruption of true worship. 00:31:51.740 --> 00:31:55.079 And so he quotes Isaiah 56, 7. 00:31:55.079 --> 00:32:05.659 And he preaches to the people that the temple was the place God had sanctified for prayer and worship, not just of the Jews, but of all people, of all nations. 00:32:06.500 --> 00:32:08.939 But they had turned it into a den of thieves. 00:32:08.940 --> 00:32:20.220 Even the matter of carelessly trotting through the temple court was a sign that they did not have much of a heart for God. 00:32:20.220 --> 00:32:21.960 They looked like they did. 00:32:22.840 --> 00:32:29.039 They were busy in the religious stuff, but they did not have a heart for God. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:36.480 And what's more is that the section of the temple where all this is happening is the court of the Gentiles. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:46.599 This is the only place where outsiders could come to the temple to learn about the true God and have their hearts turn to him in faith. 00:32:47.099 --> 00:32:51.480 It was a place where the spiritually hungry could find true satisfaction. 00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:55.740 But as it was, the temple was a leafy tree. 00:32:56.400 --> 00:33:01.000 And it had nothing real to offer the starving people who approached it. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:01.660 Nothing. 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:02.579 There's no fruit. 00:33:02.579 --> 00:33:12.159 James Edwards says the Messiah was popularly expected to purge Jerusalem and the temple of Gentiles, aliens and foreigners. 00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:16.059 Jesus' action, however, is exactly the reverse. 00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:21.919 He does not clear the temple of Gentiles, but for them. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:24.480 But for them. 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:30.559 He's clearing out the corruption so that people can hear truth and truly worship. 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:32.200 Now, third thing. 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:33.639 Clearing applied. 00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:34.960 Why does this matter? 00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:36.539 Why does it matter? 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:42.659 Let's consider first an application for the church. 00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:48.200 Both universally and its local expressions like Lakeside. 00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:52.120 We're fooling ourselves. 00:33:52.120 --> 00:33:55.819 If we don't admit that in many places. 00:33:56.360 --> 00:33:58.740 The church has become a circus. 00:33:59.360 --> 00:34:03.740 That offers anything and everything except the gospel. 00:34:03.740 --> 00:34:18.940 There are some places where masses of people follow thieves who have corrupted worship into a scheme to pad their pockets. 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:21.440 And they lie to people. 00:34:22.659 --> 00:34:24.539 And they have their television programs. 00:34:24.539 --> 00:34:30.000 And they tell people, if you will just, if you'll give a little money, I'm going to pray for you personally. 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:31.679 And God's going to give you success. 00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:33.599 And he's going to provide healing for you. 00:34:33.659 --> 00:34:35.679 But you're going to have to give something to him first. 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:37.699 They're thieves. 00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:44.239 They look like they're a part of this Christian worship thing. 00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:45.079 They're not. 00:34:45.079 --> 00:34:55.139 Church buildings, every Sunday, are flooded with people who don't have the slightest interest in truth. 00:34:55.960 --> 00:35:01.059 So long as their favorite song is played and their hearts are motivated by the message. 00:35:04.340 --> 00:35:08.199 They don't care if the Bible's even opened. 00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:16.739 As long as the band is hot and the pastor is hip and the message makes them feel better about their lives. 00:35:19.619 --> 00:35:21.319 They got lots of leaves. 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:24.099 Things look nice. 00:35:25.919 --> 00:35:27.639 They say, yeah, I'm a Christian. 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:29.239 I love Jesus. 00:35:30.299 --> 00:35:32.339 But they don't know Jesus. 00:35:34.379 --> 00:35:37.819 Churches continue to trade worship for entertainment. 00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:44.500 They trade the preaching of the Bible for standards of inclusion that defy the God they say that they serve. 00:35:47.779 --> 00:35:50.199 That's what Jesus is dealing with in Jerusalem. 00:35:51.739 --> 00:35:54.899 That's what I believe Jesus intends to deal with in the church today. 00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:57.519 Leafy trees. 00:35:59.919 --> 00:36:00.879 Temple thieves. 00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:04.079 Jesus is going to clear it out. 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:09.460 But the local church isn't the only place to apply this text. 00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:15.819 In fact, I think it may even be most appropriate to see the application for each individual here. 00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:19.819 Because the temple doesn't matter. 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:24.639 What does the New Testament say is the temple of God? 00:36:25.659 --> 00:36:26.319 Believers are. 00:36:27.319 --> 00:36:28.360 Each one of us. 00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:33.320 The Holy Spirit indwells us. 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:38.000 And Jesus desires to clear out and cleanse each one of us. 00:36:38.539 --> 00:36:40.660 The same way he did the temple in Jerusalem. 00:36:40.900 --> 00:36:41.440 Does he not? 00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:48.740 He will not tolerate the desecration of our bodies with immoral behavior. 00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:50.400 He won't tolerate that. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:57.960 No matter how tolerant of sin the church becomes, Jesus will not tolerate it in those who are supposed to be his temple. 00:36:59.139 --> 00:37:05.460 He will not excuse those who pretend to know him when they're fruitlessly barren in reality. 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:10.280 The truth is we all have some tables that probably need to be overturned in our lives. 00:37:10.280 --> 00:37:17.400 We all have some desecration that Jesus probably needs to drive out to purify his people. 00:37:19.019 --> 00:37:27.220 Our lives are the temple in which we worship and proclaim the gospel of Jesus to the unbelieving world. 00:37:27.820 --> 00:37:34.080 And God demands holiness and faithfulness and fruitfulness from his people and their worship. 00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:48.779 And if this text doesn't do anything else for you, it should remind you that this matter of spiritual fruitfulness and faithfulness is of immense seriousness to God. 00:37:48.900 --> 00:37:51.059 And we ignore it at our own peril. 00:37:52.940 --> 00:38:00.860 Because as we look at the tree in the temple, we see those who are nothing but leafy trees are warned and judged and killed. 00:38:00.860 --> 00:38:07.519 Only those who are fruitful, faithful. 00:38:09.059 --> 00:38:10.720 That is the temple of God. 00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:13.079 That's true worship. 00:38:15.079 --> 00:38:16.980 Finally, we see completing the parable. 00:38:18.019 --> 00:38:19.200 Look at verse 20. 00:38:21.680 --> 00:38:26.720 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 00:38:28.220 --> 00:38:30.640 And Peter remembered and said to them, 00:38:30.860 --> 00:38:36.160 Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered. 00:38:37.980 --> 00:38:39.440 So Mark brings us back here. 00:38:40.240 --> 00:38:42.160 He tells us Jesus cleanses the temple. 00:38:42.300 --> 00:38:43.120 He clears it out. 00:38:43.660 --> 00:38:44.599 And then he goes home. 00:38:45.700 --> 00:38:46.980 And that's all he tells us. 00:38:48.579 --> 00:38:52.059 But then he is sure to finish his sandwich. 00:38:52.740 --> 00:38:54.140 And he brings us back to the tree. 00:38:54.200 --> 00:38:55.599 And that's when it clicks for us, doesn't it? 00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:56.660 Ah. 00:38:56.659 --> 00:38:57.019 Ah. 00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:00.139 That's what the whole temple thing was about. 00:39:01.480 --> 00:39:03.639 It's, it's, we see it in the tree, don't we? 00:39:05.179 --> 00:39:07.460 The way back to Jerusalem on day three. 00:39:07.460 --> 00:39:11.880 The disciples notice it's completely withered. 00:39:13.500 --> 00:39:18.380 And this is important for them to see because now they see that this is not just an empty threat from Jesus. 00:39:18.380 --> 00:39:24.180 It was proclaiming judgment against Israel and its false worship. 00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:27.059 And that judgment wasn't going to tarry very long. 00:39:27.240 --> 00:39:28.720 That's, that's the illustration. 00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:37.259 And the fact that the tree had withered to its roots symbolizes the totality of certain destruction. 00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:50.980 And it would be less than 40 years later when Rome would march into Jerusalem and would dismantle the entire temple complex stone by stone by stone. 00:39:51.299 --> 00:39:52.739 Not one part of it would remain. 00:39:52.739 --> 00:39:58.099 But this isn't just about the physical dissolving of the temple. 00:39:58.439 --> 00:40:00.159 There's something more at work here. 00:40:01.839 --> 00:40:10.299 When Jesus goes into the temple to clear it on this day, he's laying his axe to the root of this corrupt worship. 00:40:11.079 --> 00:40:13.779 And throughout this week, it's going to wither away. 00:40:14.159 --> 00:40:19.439 And it's going to finally reach its final dissolving point and destruction point at the cross. 00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:22.960 And I'm going to read to you a quote from James Edwards. 00:40:23.079 --> 00:40:24.880 I think, Missy, I actually have this on the screen. 00:40:25.099 --> 00:40:25.720 Because I want you to see. 00:40:25.780 --> 00:40:26.579 I'm going to read it slow. 00:40:26.900 --> 00:40:28.019 And I want you to read it with me. 00:40:28.240 --> 00:40:29.360 This is so good. 00:40:31.099 --> 00:40:36.659 What Jesus does in the temple goes beyond purging or corrective act. 00:40:38.139 --> 00:40:40.860 Together with the subsequent events of Holy Week, 00:40:40.860 --> 00:40:48.620 Mark portrays the clearing of the temple not as its restoration, but as its dissolution. 00:40:49.599 --> 00:40:54.599 That's why it's probably not the most appropriate for us to say this was the cleansing of the temple 00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:57.660 because Jesus wasn't interested in restoring the temple right now. 00:40:57.820 --> 00:40:59.760 This is the beginning of its destruction. 00:41:00.260 --> 00:41:02.900 It's the dissolution of the temple. 00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:08.300 Like the fig tree, its function is withered from the roots. 00:41:08.300 --> 00:41:16.440 Not one stone of the temple would be left on another, says Jesus in his final temple discourse in Mark. 00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:19.080 Everyone will be thrown down. 00:41:19.980 --> 00:41:24.120 In his own body, the temple is broken down. 00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:30.519 And in himself, as a ransom for many, it's being raised anew in three days. 00:41:31.060 --> 00:41:33.120 A temple not made with human hands. 00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:38.319 Not the blood of animals slaughtered by the high priest on the day of atonement. 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:43.599 But his own blood, the blood of the covenant, will make Israel right with God. 00:41:44.799 --> 00:41:53.380 Indeed, at the moment of his death, the great curtain that divides the Holy of Holies from the court of Israel is torn in two. 00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.400 Dramatizing the dissolution of the temple as the means of approach to God. 00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:01.639 Now, focus on this. 00:42:01.639 --> 00:42:11.659 In his sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus alone is the access to God. 00:42:12.739 --> 00:42:15.659 The fig tree thus symbolizes the temple. 00:42:16.599 --> 00:42:27.099 As a means of approach to God, the temple is fundamentally from the roots, replaced by Jesus as the center of Israel. 00:42:27.659 --> 00:42:28.779 Do you see this? 00:42:29.519 --> 00:42:30.359 Isn't that awesome? 00:42:30.360 --> 00:42:33.220 What's Jesus doing here in the temple? 00:42:33.539 --> 00:42:36.000 He's not trying to make the Jewish worship better. 00:42:36.200 --> 00:42:37.760 No, he's getting rid of all of it. 00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:39.559 And what's he going to replace it with? 00:42:40.180 --> 00:42:40.660 Himself. 00:42:41.980 --> 00:42:42.420 Himself. 00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:50.740 And picture for a moment, as Edwards alludes to, as Jesus hangs on the cross and as he breathes his last breath, 00:42:50.739 --> 00:42:58.199 breath and suddenly and supernaturally the curtain, this thick, thick curtain in the temple is rent from top to bottom. 00:42:58.419 --> 00:42:58.879 Why? 00:42:59.479 --> 00:43:07.879 Because now we all have access to God, not through a priest, not through the temple, but through Jesus alone. 00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:10.880 What is this whole fig tree thing about? 00:43:10.880 --> 00:43:13.200 This was a necessary illustration. 00:43:13.200 --> 00:43:17.019 Jesus is showing the disciples all of this is coming to an end. 00:43:17.140 --> 00:43:18.039 All of it. 00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:19.500 It's all going to wither away. 00:43:19.680 --> 00:43:20.680 It's fruitless. 00:43:20.820 --> 00:43:21.780 It's barren. 00:43:21.860 --> 00:43:22.900 It's worthless. 00:43:23.180 --> 00:43:24.360 It's been wasted. 00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:24.480 It's not wasted. 00:43:24.800 --> 00:43:26.660 People will find their hope. 00:43:26.940 --> 00:43:28.840 They will find their satisfaction. 00:43:29.380 --> 00:43:34.480 Their spiritual hunger will be filled with me and with me alone. 00:43:34.640 --> 00:43:36.380 And he's doing away with all the rubbish. 00:43:37.019 --> 00:43:37.920 All the rubbish. 00:43:38.120 --> 00:43:39.579 And what's he going to do in the church? 00:43:39.780 --> 00:43:42.059 And what's he going to do with these leafy tree Christians? 00:43:43.120 --> 00:43:43.820 They're rubbish. 00:43:44.180 --> 00:43:45.000 They're not real. 00:43:45.640 --> 00:43:46.400 They're not real. 00:43:46.760 --> 00:43:53.160 And Jesus, time and time again, through history, comes to his people and those who claim to be his people. 00:43:53.159 --> 00:43:57.859 And he gets rid of the rubbish in order that he may be glorified. 00:43:58.159 --> 00:44:01.159 That his gospel alone may be proclaimed. 00:44:01.579 --> 00:44:09.339 And that the people who are proclaiming it are genuine believers whose lives are pure and holy and righteous. 00:44:09.659 --> 00:44:15.539 Not perfect, but controlled by his spirit and living for his glory and for his glory alone. 00:44:15.940 --> 00:44:18.719 That's what the fig tree in the temple clearing is about. 00:44:19.279 --> 00:44:20.980 This isn't a Snickers moment. 00:44:20.980 --> 00:44:23.219 He's not just hungry. 00:44:23.980 --> 00:44:24.539 No. 00:44:25.380 --> 00:44:28.059 This isn't vindictive, petulant anger. 00:44:28.619 --> 00:44:29.079 No. 00:44:29.380 --> 00:44:30.599 This is a warning. 00:44:31.039 --> 00:44:34.900 This is a warning that God doesn't play games. 00:44:35.099 --> 00:44:39.119 And if you're going to play games with religion and play games with Christianity, 00:44:39.480 --> 00:44:43.840 you're going to be cast to the side and withered to the root just like the tree, 00:44:44.260 --> 00:44:46.679 just like the temple, just like Israel. 00:44:46.679 --> 00:44:49.940 So stop playing games. 00:44:50.079 --> 00:44:51.719 It doesn't matter if you know the part. 00:44:52.099 --> 00:44:53.919 Who cares about the leaves? 00:44:54.319 --> 00:44:57.279 What God cares about is the fruitfulness of your life. 00:44:57.480 --> 00:45:00.159 And the fruitfulness of your life is not something you provide. 00:45:00.719 --> 00:45:02.359 It's something he does. 00:45:03.239 --> 00:45:04.799 It's something he does in you. 00:45:04.800 --> 00:45:14.720 Because there's all kinds of ways, there's all kinds of ways that we can feign it and fake it. 00:45:15.680 --> 00:45:20.620 And Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, we know the heart of people by the fruitfulness of their lives. 00:45:20.619 --> 00:45:24.199 And the problem is that we measure that in artificial ways. 00:45:25.480 --> 00:45:28.359 And we look at somebody's life and we say, well, they go to church. 00:45:29.519 --> 00:45:31.000 And they're generous people. 00:45:32.639 --> 00:45:35.359 And they keep their lives together. 00:45:35.400 --> 00:45:35.980 They sit clean. 00:45:36.219 --> 00:45:42.019 And we measure gospel fruit based on things that anybody can do. 00:45:43.859 --> 00:45:44.960 Now, those things are important. 00:45:45.579 --> 00:45:47.099 But that's not gospel fruit. 00:45:47.099 --> 00:45:50.839 Paul gives us a glimpse of it in Galatians 5. 00:45:51.519 --> 00:45:54.460 Not a comprehensive list, but a helpful one. 00:45:55.400 --> 00:45:56.639 Galatians 5, what does he say? 00:45:57.639 --> 00:46:14.000 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering or patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, temperance. 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:19.019 Paul says, these are the things that are real fruitfulness. 00:46:20.300 --> 00:46:23.480 Things that don't always show in the way that you dress. 00:46:24.920 --> 00:46:27.599 And the attendance that you keep at the functions. 00:46:30.260 --> 00:46:33.940 And by the way, Paul says those things are not the fruit of your best efforts. 00:46:35.400 --> 00:46:36.199 Paul says, no. 00:46:37.019 --> 00:46:38.940 These are the fruits of the Spirit. 00:46:38.940 --> 00:46:44.079 These are not the things that you provide to yourself. 00:46:44.240 --> 00:46:47.240 Though there may be some measure of it that you can do for a little while. 00:46:47.380 --> 00:46:50.380 But it won't be transformative in your life. 00:46:51.679 --> 00:46:52.099 No. 00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:57.900 This comes about in the lives of those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. 00:46:57.900 --> 00:47:05.139 In other words, a fruitful life is inevitable for one who belongs to God. 00:47:07.039 --> 00:47:09.099 You couldn't stop it if you wanted to. 00:47:10.340 --> 00:47:11.700 You belong to Christ. 00:47:12.720 --> 00:47:14.340 There will be fruit in your life. 00:47:14.340 --> 00:47:22.280 If your life looks more like a leafy tree, 00:47:23.100 --> 00:47:28.980 it's probably because you've subscribed to a set of religious principles 00:47:28.980 --> 00:47:32.579 without truly turning to Christ. 00:47:32.579 --> 00:47:36.219 And the good news is, 00:47:36.460 --> 00:47:39.119 he died on the cross for sin 00:47:39.119 --> 00:47:43.019 and rose from the dead to give you life. 00:47:44.619 --> 00:47:46.179 This is the best part of all of this. 00:47:46.799 --> 00:47:48.519 Yeah, it's hard to see the judgment part. 00:47:49.519 --> 00:47:51.360 It's not comfortable at all. 00:47:52.619 --> 00:47:54.000 But that's not the only part. 00:47:55.059 --> 00:47:56.840 There's good news that follows the bad. 00:47:56.840 --> 00:47:59.800 And the truth is, 00:47:59.840 --> 00:48:00.720 he's calling you. 00:48:02.059 --> 00:48:02.500 Today. 00:48:03.720 --> 00:48:04.200 Now. 00:48:05.380 --> 00:48:06.640 He's calling you. 00:48:07.820 --> 00:48:08.600 And he says, 00:48:08.820 --> 00:48:09.740 if you just come to me, 00:48:10.180 --> 00:48:11.460 I will never cast you out. 00:48:12.980 --> 00:48:14.700 Take my yoke upon me. 00:48:15.240 --> 00:48:17.900 All you who are weary and heavy laden, 00:48:18.100 --> 00:48:19.200 I will give you rest. 00:48:19.380 --> 00:48:20.360 Real rest. 00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:23.420 Your life may still be a mess, 00:48:23.500 --> 00:48:25.140 but I'm going to give you rest in the midst of it. 00:48:25.139 --> 00:48:27.960 Because my yoke is easy. 00:48:28.420 --> 00:48:30.079 My burden is light. 00:48:30.279 --> 00:48:35.440 I'm gentle and meek and lowly in spirit and in heart. 00:48:35.619 --> 00:48:37.000 And if you come to me, 00:48:37.139 --> 00:48:39.139 I will welcome you with open arms. 00:48:41.619 --> 00:48:42.879 I'll forgive you. 00:48:44.519 --> 00:48:45.879 Don't wait any longer. 00:48:47.619 --> 00:48:50.179 You don't have to face the judgment of the tree. 00:48:51.739 --> 00:48:52.679 Believe him. 00:48:53.619 --> 00:48:54.599 Follow him. 00:48:55.839 --> 00:48:58.159 Let him change your life. 00:48:58.420 --> 00:48:58.819 Let him change your life. 00:48:58.819 --> 00:48:59.739 Let him change your life. 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739 00:48:59.739 --> 00:48:59.739