Sermon Notes

The Gospel of Mark
Mark 11:12-14 // Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

“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. And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city.” Mark 11:12-19

“I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history” Bertrand Russell

“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.” Mark 11:12-14

“For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting;…” Isaiah 5:7

“Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up.” Jeremiah 24:4-6

When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves… (v.13)

The appearance of fruitfulness without the substance of fruitfulness is deceitfulness.

1. The Problem Jesus Saw

“And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”” Mark 11:15-17

“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’” (v.17)

The Jews hoped that the Messiah would cleanse the temple of Gentiles, but Jesus cleansed the temple for the Gentiles. – RC Sproul

“Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 7:11

A Misused Temple Portrays a Misunderstood God

2. The Solution Jesus Provides

“And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’” (v.17)

“If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in, if the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.” Charles Finney

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5

Intimacy with Jesus produces fruitfulness for Jesus.

“And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:37-39