about the cursed fig tree

{original sermon: Tree, Tables, Temple, and Tenants}
by Adam Bream, Everyday Church, London

Have you ever watched events unfolding and thought, What is going on here? Maybe it was your favourite team. Maybe it was a film. Either way, you were left thinking, What are you doing?
Well, we’ve reached a moment like that in our journey through Mark’s Gospel.
If you’re just joining us, Mark is the Gospel written by John Mark, drawing on Peter’s eyewitness testimony to tell of the life of Jesus.
It is the earliest written and shortest of the four Gospel accounts.

I’m going to take us into the middle of chapter 11.

they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming  kingdom of  our father  David!  Hosanna  in the highest!”
Mk 11:7-10
... 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.
 On the following day, when they came from Bethany,  he was hungry. 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. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
Mk 11:11. 12-14

If you’re unfamiliar with the setting, this part comes just after Jesus’ humble yet celebrated entry into Jerusalem. He is now only days away from His trial, torture and death on a cross—and about a week away from His resurrection.
So in these final days of Jesus’ ministry, Jerusalem has become intense, pressurised. Jesus has repeatedly declared and demonstrated the love and power of God.
By this point, the accusations of the religious leaders are constant and hostile, while the adoration of the crowds is growing. One group wants to kill Him. The other wants to crown Him.
That’s the backdrop of Mark 11. And Mark now sets four moments side by side. He arranges them carefully to reveal God’s verdict on the religious practices of the day.
Jesus—the Son of God—came to reveal beautiful things: the grace of God and fellowship with God. Both lead to freedom. But through four distinct moments, Jesus exposes a pattern of religious posturing that builds barriers, binds people up, and bears no fruit.
And here, Jesus confronts it head-on.
Let’s look at the first moment: chapter 11:12–14. We get a physical picture of a spiritual reality. Intriguingly, it centres around a fig tree.
(let us focus on it)

as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ... When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves,... he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Mark 11:12-14

Jesus is fully human, so of course He feels hunger. But this moment is about more than hunger. It gives us a picture of what God sees when worship looks religious on the surface, but bears no real fruit.
Jesus sees a fig tree full of leaves, which suggests fruit might be there too. But there are no signs of fruit whatsoever. From a distance it looks good; up close, it is not.
Jesus has just come from Bethany. From a distance, Bethany did not look impressive: small, rural, unimportant. But up close, it was a place where He was welcomed, honoured and loved.
Now He is in Jerusalem: a place of huge historic, cultural and spiritual significance. The place of God’s temple. The place of worship, repentance and the teaching of God’s law. From a distance, it should be good. Up close, it is not.
To us, this interaction involving a fig tree can sound strange and confusing. But in light of what follows, it starts to make sense.
Throughout the Bible, the image of a fruitless vine or tree describes people’s unrighteousness and shame. It symbolises a life that does not bear the fruit God created it to display.
In places such as Jeremiah 8 and Micah 7, God uses that imagery to make that point.
Something similar happens here in Mark 11. This fig tree represents the religious leaders of the day: Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, scribes and teachers of the law. Their seats of honour, public authority, flowing robes and deep knowledge of Scripture all suggested a spiritual maturity and authenticity. A tree full of green leaves, perhaps?
In reality, these leaders were not as close to God’s kingdom as they thought; and as a result they placed unfair expectations on others.
From a distance, their lives could look outwardly impressive.
Up close, they were not free or life-giving, but burdensome and uncaring.
Like the prophetic warning in Isaiah 29, these religious leaders had ceremonies and traditions without joy or grace, influence without compassion, and worship without humility or repentance.
Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. So if something displeases Jesus on earth, we can be confident it also displeases God in heaven.
Jesus—God’s Son—makes it clear that He is not impressed by superficial appearances or empty displays of virtue.
He seeks lives shaped and nourished by humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion. Those are the kinds of Kingdom fruits that ought to show in our lives.

So let me ask you:

· If people came close to your life, what fruit would you want them to see?
· But how does that compare to what they would actually find today?