Mark 11:12-19

The Voice

¹²The next morning, when they departed Bethany and were traveling back to the city, Jesus was hungry. ¹³Off in the distance, He saw a fig tree fully leafed out, so He headed toward it to see if it might have any ripe fruit. But when He reached it, He found only leaves because the fig season had not yet come.

¹⁴As the disciples listened, Jesus pronounced a curse on the tree.

Jesus: No one will ever eat fruit from your branches again.

This is the only time recorded in the Gospels when Jesus uses His supernatural power to destroy. The tree is “fully leafed out”—a stage that usually comes after figs are ripe and not before. Because the tree looks as though it ought to have fruit but doesn’t, it is a perfect illustration of people who believe they have the good fruit of righteousness even though their actions are void of true compassion and love, as empty and useless as leaves. And so Jesus curses the fig tree, not out of anger with the tree itself, but as a warning to hypocrites who think their appearance is more important than the fruit of their actions.

¹⁵They continued into Jerusalem and made their way up to the temple.

Upon reaching the temple that morning, Jesus dealt with those who were selling and buying animals for sacrifices and drove them out of the area. He turned over the tables of those who exchanged money for the temple pilgrims and the seats of those selling birds, ¹⁶and He physically prevented anyone from carrying anything through the temple.

Jesus (to those who were listening): ¹⁷Didn’t the prophets write, “My house will be called a house of prayer, for all the people”^[a]? But you have made it into a “haven for thieves.”^[b]

At the temple, Jesus responds in shock to the scene before Him. He acts decisively and with great emotion against those who have turned God’s house into a place where pilgrims are exploited. He has a message and, like the prophets of old, this message is better seen than heard. Because the temple leadership has allowed profiteers and merchants to set up shop in the court of the Gentiles, they are making ridiculous profits. For the people who come long distances to worship, it is a normal practice to have merchants selling animals for the pilgrims to sacrifice. What is not normal and what is immoral is where and how they transact business. Jesus takes issue with robbers profiteering in His Father’s house.

¹⁸The chief priests and the scribes heard these words and knew Jesus was referring to them, so they plotted His destruction. They had grown afraid of Him because His teachings struck the crowds into astonishment.

¹⁹When evening came, [Jesus and His followers]^[c] left the city again.

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