The Death Of The Fig Tree
The time of the law was over and the Age of Grace was underway. The death and resurrection of Jesus would redeem mankind from the corrupt religiosity, deliver us all from our bondage to sin and defeat death once and for all.
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The Death Of The Fig Tree
Palm Sunday was a time of great joy for Jesus’ disciples. The people waved Palm branches, sang songs, shouted Hosanna and praised God for the coming of the Messiah. But Jesus knew what was coming next. By the end of the week He would be dead.
On His way to the cross, Jesus addressed the failure of the spiritual leaders. They were supposed to be leading others to truth and holiness but they had become greedy and elitist. Instead of leading people to God, they were using the system to support their extravagant lifestyles. Jesus condemned them in the harshest terms.
The day after He entered Jerusalem, He went to a fig tree. When He saw that it had no figs on it, He shockingly lashed out and cursed it. The next time they passed the tree, Peter noticed it:
Mark 11:20-22
“They saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.’”
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of what that tree represents. Throughout Jewish history, the fig tree represented the spiritual leadership of the nation: those same spiritual leaders that Jesus lambasted in Matthew 23 with the repeated phrase, “Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees.”
You see, THEY were the problem. “Woe” meant God’s curse on them. It is not a polite term nor is it mild. It is a condemnation of eternal judgment. The cursed fig tree was an illustration of what Jesus was going to do to the corrupted temple system. In just a few days, as they nailed Him to the cross, those spiritual leaders signed their own death warrant. Their whole system was about to come crashing down.
Mark 13:1-2
“As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.’”
The time of the law was over and the Age of Grace was underway. The death and resurrection of Jesus would redeem mankind from the corrupt religiosity, deliver us all from our bondage to sin and defeat death once and for all.
Can I get an Amen?
