Joel M Bradshaw

12On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13And 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. 14And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

15And 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.16And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17And 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.” 18And 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. 19And when evening came they went out of the city.–Mark 11 (with emphasis)

1. In the Old Testament, God pictured His people Israel as a fig tree with fruit (Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 24).
2. In his famous money-changers scene, Jesus quoted Isaiah 56 where God’s plan was for Israel to give a place to Gentiles who trust God. Israel was designed to share a Gospel message of hope to the unbeliever!
3. Jesus found no fruit in that tree or in that religious system, for the religious leaders had rejected the Messiah, the one who fulfilled the means Israel gave light for the Gentiles.
4. Since they rejected Jesus, they rejected their only Gospel hope. They would on their own bear no fruit in fulfilling Isaiah 56. They needed the Messiah to save others and they rejected Him!
5. Jesus therefore saw no fruit on those branches and proclaimed that religious system unable to bring salvation hope on its own. Salvation is found no longer in a religious system, but in a person, Jesus (Acts 4:12).–JMB