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Monday of Holy Week - A lesson from a Fig Tree

Yesterday we celebrated Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey - fulfilling the Prophecy of Zechariah (9:9) some 500+ years before.  After that he returned to Bethany where he was staying at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  The next day...Monday of Holy Week Jesus returned, and a fig tree became his teaching lesson.

Matthew 21:18-27
18  In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
19  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.
20  When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
21  And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
22  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
23  And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
24  Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25  The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26  But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27  So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

That Monday Jesus went back to Jerusalem and as he returned a parable – so to speak – unfolded for the disciples, and us to see.

It was a fig tree by the wayside…figs grow abundantly in the Mediterranean climate of Israel.  It was a fig tree that Adam and Eve sought to sew together a covering after they had fallen into Sin and they realized they were naked.  God tells the Israelites when they are going to the Promised land of Israel that it is “a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees…”

Just a few days before this occurred Jesus had told the disciples that he would return in the future – 
29  “And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.
30  As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.  31  So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near
. (Luke 21:29-31)

The fig tree seemed to represent God’s care, prosperity and blessing…and as he approached Jerusalem all they encountered was a dead tree.  Jesus speaks to this creation and it dies in front of the disciples.
They ask “how?” and Jesus’ response is to tell them to exercise faith and all things are possible.
But the story of the fig tree is not a lesson in prayer, it’s a lesson in the change God is exercising through His son over the nation of Israel and its leaders.  

As Jesus enters the Temple there is a confrontation with the elders and Chief Priests of the Temple. 
They want to know by what authority he claims to speak.  Their authority was granted to them by virtue of position, often bought and paid for through bribes, or family patronage, and approved by the Roman leaders – all of it to keep the money flowing into the Temple and to pay for the lavish lifestyles of all in power.

Jesus’ answer is that the authority he has comes from God, just as John the Baptist’s did…they know he’s dangerous.

The fig tree is dead because it bears no fruit.  So also is the nation dying under the weight of its politics of religion and leaders only interested in lining their pockets.

Luke 13:6-10  Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
 "'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it.
 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"

Within 40 years the nation will lie in ruins – crushed under the weight of its own greed and void of any meaningful relationship with God.  They rejected the Messiah and it took a generation for it all to collapse.

It was a Monday and what began to cook on the stove would soon come to a boil a few days later.  The Messiah came to warn them, to ask them to come back under the authority of God himself, and to turn their hearts away from their own ways which were ways of death…and he warns us also.

Luke 21:36  “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

As believers in Jesus, we do not fear judgment.  
Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It is the Apostle who sees the larger picture of Israel, the Gentiles and the Church…
Romans 11:25-36 25  Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
26  And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27  “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
28  As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
29  For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
30  For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31  so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy.
32  For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.
33  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34  “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
35  “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

God is not done with Israel, but they have been set aside and eventually God will come back to His elect nation to call them to Himself.

What’s important for us – this Monday of Holy week – is that we realize God came once to show the world what it needed, and we must not turn our back on His answer either.


Peace


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