The fig tree is cursed and the Temple cleansed.

Jesus’ final week of work in Jerusalem: King of king and Lord of lords.

Monday…On the way to Jerusalem from Bethany the fig tree is cursed and the Temple cleansed. 

Matthew 21:10-19

10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have perfected praise’?”

17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

This procession symbolizes Jesus’ messiahship. 

In Jesus’ day, dignitaries would go on procession through a city in an act of triumph or celebration. Processions generally were reserved for religious festivals or kings returning from battle. Kings occasionally went on procession through cities after conquering them. City officials would welcome the dignitary outside the gates, and the group would parade victoriously to the city’s temple. The people would offer a sacrifice to honor the dignitary and acclaim his gods, and a feast would be held.

In keeping with custom, Jesus’ procession ends at the temple. He disrupts the merchants in righteous anger, replacing their commercial activity with healings. The crowds hail Him as the messianic Son of David, which angers the religious leaders. Merchants were selling animals for sacrifices, and money changers converted the foreign currency of pilgrims into the temple’s official currency. The poor offered these in place of lambs. Jesus’ reaction may have been prompted, in part, by injustice done to the poor. Jesus’ rebuke suggests that He is condemning corruption of the temple. This judgment might be aimed at commercial activity within the temple courts, or it might signal that oppressive (or unjust) practices were involved. 

The religious leaders are disturbed not only because the people hail Jesus as the Son of David, but also because He does not disavow this messianic title. Jesus appears to confirm that the crowd’s messianic praises are appropriate.

When Jesus reenters Jerusalem the next morning, He pronounces a curse on a barren fig tree as a symbolic act of judgment against the city and its leaders. In rejecting the Messiah, Jerusalem is failing to fulfill its purpose—just like the fig tree. The fig tree is a common old testament metaphor for Israel, and fruitless fig trees represented judgment. Faithlife Bible.

The city was moved is literally “the city was shaken.” Two cleansings of the temple are recorded in the Gospels—one in John at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and one in the synoptic Gospels at the end of His ministry. Financial corruption ran rampant in the outer courts of the temple. Some of the gains that were realized from this profiteering probably went to the family of the high priest. The money changers exchanged coins with pagan symbols on them for acceptable coins to be used in the temple. They charged a premium for this “service.” Those who sold doves sold them at top prices. My house shall be called a house of prayer is quoted from Isaiah. The temple had become a garrison for bandits. Jeremiah says that the Jewish people, after committing all sorts of sins, would plead deliverance from the consequences of those sins based simply on the fact that they came to the temple. Thus in Jeremiah’s day, it became a den for robbers—just as it was in Jesus’ day.

The idea here is that Jesus abandoned the chief priests and scribes, the temple, and the city of Jerusalem. Instead of welcoming their Messiah, the religious authorities had rejected and opposed Him. Jesus desired to eat of the fruit of the fig tree one more time before He died, but could not. Fig trees do not bear their fruit in the spring, during Passover, but in the fall of the year. However, fig trees do have a small, edible fruit that appears in the spring before the sprouting of the leaves. This tree was full of leaves, but had no fruit. It looked full of promise, but was empty—just like the city of Jerusalem and its beautiful temple. This miracle—the only recorded miracle of Jesus that involved judgment—illustrates God’s judgment on the Israelites, who professed adherence to God but produced no fruit or spiritual reality. NKJ Bible.

Mark 11:12018

12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”

15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.

Luke 19:45-48

45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.