And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. -Mathew 21:12-19The verses above represent the story of Jesus cleansing the temple and cursing the fig tree. Jesus curses the fig tree and causes it to wither away because the tree bears no fruit. All throughout the Bible, we can see many analogies between God’s people and nature. The idea of bearing fruit is used many times as a symbol of blessing and prosperity. It is used in this passage to represent the spiritual condition of God’s people. If a tree is known to bear good fruit, it can be compared to a man/woman who has good faith, has shown his faith through his deeds, and can be therefore granted salvation. Before the cursing of the fig tree, Jesus is cleansing the temple. In this story, we can see Jesus is very upset with those in the temple. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” Jesus was angry with these people because the temple is supposed to be a place where they were supposed to worship God - a place that is to be kept holy and sacred. However, the people there used it as a place of business – there were money-changers and people selling pigeons.
Jesus’ frustration from visiting the temple can be seen in the passage where he curses the fig tree. He is not pleased with the faith of the people of Israel. Although they may outwardly seem to be living a life worthy to God by attending the temple and partaking in the traditions, they are not seeking a genuine relationship with God - they were using this place to sell and buy rather than worship God.
The fig tree that bears no fruit can be seen to represent the people of Israel who did not live a life worthy of God’s calling because they were not seeking a true relationship with God. We can use this story and apply it in our own lives by simply analyzing ourselves and our walk with God. Are we truly seeking a relationship with God, or are we merely going through the motions of attending church and calling ourselves Christian? Let us use this Lenten season to understand what God asks us to do – to seek and pursue a relationship with Him, so that our lives may glorify Him.
- Roshan Babu
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