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A Tree and the Temple
The Gospel of Mark – Part 40
A Tree and The Temple – Mark 11:12-25
Mosaic Rockford – Dave Spooner – June 21st, 2020
Intro:
Jesus and His disciples had moved down from the region of Galilee and entered into the city of Jerusalem. Jesus’ life and ministry were building to a climactic end as the crowds gathered to this majestic city. There was heightened anticipation and anxiety that Jesus was now in Jerusalem. What was He going to do? How would people respond? What was going to happen? The first thing that Jesus did when arriving in the city was to enter into it the way the prophets explained the King would come to them: righteous, having salvation, humble and riding on a foal of a donkey. The true King has come to His people, to His city and to His temple. That evening Jesus took a long look around the temple and assessed it. Then they went out of the city because it was late. The events of the next day were hugely significant as Jesus taught on the purpose of creation, the purpose of the temple and the purpose of prayer. This week in Jerusalem Jesus taught on many other incredibly important subjects that we are going to learn from in following weeks as Jesus establishes a new temple, a new covenant and a new Passover in these last chapters of the Gospel of Mark.
The purpose of creation
Mark 11:12-14 ESV
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 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. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
The purpose of all creation is to serve God. When we fail to fulfill God’s desire and design for us, we are under a curse. And the curse of God is a profoundly serious matter. Everything that is created has a purpose and was formed to serve the creator. Nothing and no one lacks purpose. This tree and our lives were created to “bear fruit” for God. And God used this fruitless tree to make His point. Now, from a distance this tree seemed like it was doing what it was created to do. It had grown up alongside the other trees and by all appearances, at least from a distance, it looked good, strong, and healthy. But upon closer examination, even though this tree had a leafy appearance of a heathy tree, it had a damnable problem: it did not have fruit. This was not the season for figs, however, at this point in the life cycle and development of this tree, there should have been knops. Knops are the early form of a fig, and they are edible. In the fall after the harvest, fig trees produce buds that remain on the tree while the leaves fall off for winter. In the spring these buds turn into knops and then the tree grows leaves again and the figs ripen. A healthy, leafy fig tree in the spring would have these edible knops on them, and because they were green like the leaves, it took a close examination to find them. Jesus went to this tree to find them, and they were not present. Because of this lack of fruit, Jesus pronounced a curse on it. The purpose of all creation is to serve God. Just like this fruit tree, we were designed to bear fruit in our lives in our service to God. A tree that does not produce fruit is cut down, no matter how alive and “healthy” it looks . . . and thrown into the fire. And a tree that is producing fruit is “pruned” in its development so that it produces even more fruit. This purpose is true of our lives as individuals and this is also true of the purpose of the temple, the church, the gathering of God’s people and those who are given responsibility to oversee it. Its purpose is to serve God according to its design. And if it is not functioning and not producing according to its design, it will be pruned and remade. This interaction with this fruitless fig tree is intentionally connected with the fruitless temple.
The purpose of the te
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By Mosaic RockfordThe Gospel of Mark – Part 40
A Tree and The Temple – Mark 11:12-25
Mosaic Rockford – Dave Spooner – June 21st, 2020
Intro:
Jesus and His disciples had moved down from the region of Galilee and entered into the city of Jerusalem. Jesus’ life and ministry were building to a climactic end as the crowds gathered to this majestic city. There was heightened anticipation and anxiety that Jesus was now in Jerusalem. What was He going to do? How would people respond? What was going to happen? The first thing that Jesus did when arriving in the city was to enter into it the way the prophets explained the King would come to them: righteous, having salvation, humble and riding on a foal of a donkey. The true King has come to His people, to His city and to His temple. That evening Jesus took a long look around the temple and assessed it. Then they went out of the city because it was late. The events of the next day were hugely significant as Jesus taught on the purpose of creation, the purpose of the temple and the purpose of prayer. This week in Jerusalem Jesus taught on many other incredibly important subjects that we are going to learn from in following weeks as Jesus establishes a new temple, a new covenant and a new Passover in these last chapters of the Gospel of Mark.
The purpose of creation
Mark 11:12-14 ESV
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 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. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
The purpose of all creation is to serve God. When we fail to fulfill God’s desire and design for us, we are under a curse. And the curse of God is a profoundly serious matter. Everything that is created has a purpose and was formed to serve the creator. Nothing and no one lacks purpose. This tree and our lives were created to “bear fruit” for God. And God used this fruitless tree to make His point. Now, from a distance this tree seemed like it was doing what it was created to do. It had grown up alongside the other trees and by all appearances, at least from a distance, it looked good, strong, and healthy. But upon closer examination, even though this tree had a leafy appearance of a heathy tree, it had a damnable problem: it did not have fruit. This was not the season for figs, however, at this point in the life cycle and development of this tree, there should have been knops. Knops are the early form of a fig, and they are edible. In the fall after the harvest, fig trees produce buds that remain on the tree while the leaves fall off for winter. In the spring these buds turn into knops and then the tree grows leaves again and the figs ripen. A healthy, leafy fig tree in the spring would have these edible knops on them, and because they were green like the leaves, it took a close examination to find them. Jesus went to this tree to find them, and they were not present. Because of this lack of fruit, Jesus pronounced a curse on it. The purpose of all creation is to serve God. Just like this fruit tree, we were designed to bear fruit in our lives in our service to God. A tree that does not produce fruit is cut down, no matter how alive and “healthy” it looks . . . and thrown into the fire. And a tree that is producing fruit is “pruned” in its development so that it produces even more fruit. This purpose is true of our lives as individuals and this is also true of the purpose of the temple, the church, the gathering of God’s people and those who are given responsibility to oversee it. Its purpose is to serve God according to its design. And if it is not functioning and not producing according to its design, it will be pruned and remade. This interaction with this fruitless fig tree is intentionally connected with the fruitless temple.
The purpose of the te