The Cleansing Of The Temple
THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE
MARK 11:12-19
Fruitless religion that is just a vehicle for personal status robs God.
During festival periods the city of Jerusalem was so crowded that many people had to stay outside in the vicinity, and Jesus followed this practice (Luke 21:37).
The fig tree bears its fruit in April to June, but earlier in the season (late March to early April) it bears a crop of small knobs which are edible and are a sign that the tree will later bear fruit. Either Jesus found no knobs on the tree and deduced that it would not bear fruit later, or else he deliberately acted in a strange way by looking for fruit out of season in order to arouse the attention of his disciples. We may safely dismiss the view that he was simply looking for food. Nor is the significance of the incident simply the power of prayer. It was an acted parable, and its point was that Israel, which had failed to produce the fruit that it should have done, would endure the curse of God (Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10,16f.; Micah 7:1-6; Luke 13:6-9).
This interpretation is confirmed by the close link with the story of how Jesus entered the temple. In the Court of the Gentiles the various requisites for sacrifice were sold, and money could be exchanged for the special coinage in which the temple dues had to be paid; it would be naive to imagine that these dealings were free from corruption and graft. Jesus’ action had a three-fold significance.