The Fruitless Fig Tree, Part 2

Cleaning day

I think most would agree that Jesus was very intentional about what He did. In fact His own words in John 5:19 tell us that He does nothing of His own accord but only what He sees the Father doing. According to the timeline of Mark’s gospel, directly following Jesus’ triumphant entry are a series of very intentional events. 30,000ft view is this:

Jesus shows up to Jerusalem.

Jesus responds to the fruitless fig tree.

Jesus cleanses the temple.

Jesus revisits the fig tree and teaches.

To me, this series of events and the order of these events are more related than we typically give credit to and I believe they hold something profoundly significant for the Bride in this hour.

As mentioned in Part 1, the whole fruitless fig tree scenario made its way into the cannon of Mark’s gospel, and the gospel of Mark ended up in a collection of other divinely inspired writings we call the Bible. What we see in Mark’s gospel, sandwiched between the fig tree conversation, is a remarkable scene of Jesus “cleansing” the temple. What we don’t see in this cleansing is the Son of Man grabbing some sponges, and a couple of Magic Erasers, or some good ol’ fashion bleach to clean up the temple area. In this story found in Mark 11, we see Jesus providing a whole other definition of the word cleansing.

Interestingly enough, in most common Bible translations and paraphrases, the word cleansing is found as the headings of verses 11 through 15, and not in the actual text. Were these later added chapter and verse headings divinely inspired or inserted for the convenience of the reader? A question for another day, however, Jesus’ actions, post triumphant entry, are commonly associated and categorized with cleansing. The two Greek words that are actually used here are ekballo and katastréphō. Let’s begin with the first word.

what it means to cleanse

Ekbállō is defined as “to cast out, drive out, to send out, with notion of violence.” It’s the same word used to describe Jesus or the disciples “casting out” demons, as well as the word used when Jesus says to “pray to the Lord of the harvest to “send” laborers into the field. The same way Jesus forcefully sends out demons is the same way He with force invites us to pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers. In Mark 11:15, Jesus ekbállō “them that bought and sold in the temple” (KJV). Cleansing, then, in this scenario looks very intentional, very intense, and very effective. As Lou Engle would say “if Jesus ekbállō demons, demons have to go. If Jesus ekbállō laborers, laborers have to go!” I think it’s safe to add, if Jesus ekbállō something in the temple that doesn’t belong, that thing has to go!

The second word used in the temple cleansing is katastréphō. It’s a two part word deriving from kata (down) and strepho (turn). The definition of katastréphō is literally “to turn over, to turn under, ie the soil with the ploughing. To overturn, overthrow, or to thrown down.” Interestingly enough, katastréphō is only used two times in the New Testament, once in Matthew 21:12 and in Mark 11:15 — both referring to Jesus cleansing the temple. If you haven’t already picked up phonetically, katastréphō is where we get the English word catastrophe. Merriam-Webster’s definition is “a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin.” I am certain several associations come to mind when thinking of the word catastrophe; perhaps natural disasters, maybe a Pinterest project you tried and the results look totally different, or maybe even a certain presidential term. Either way, it’s safe to say that catastrophe is not a pleasant event. In this scenario, Jesus makes a katastréphō out of both the tables and seats of the money changers in the Temple. Here’s one way of summarizing: the self-serving ideals (money changers) are forcefully cast out and driven from the temple and the systems used to support them (tables and chairs) are overturned and laid to utter destruction.

we are a temple

It is easy to read and discover this reality regarding the temple cleansing scene and think it is only about a historical occasion, a far removed story from ages ago. However, as should be the posture of the heart when searching the scriptures and meditating on the Word, we must let it examine our hearts. As King David prayed “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24). Here’s the thing — because of the finished work of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, the temple of His Spirit is no longer shrouded to a singular place or location. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 states that our bodies are a temple for Holy Spirit. The eternal Spirit in a constant state of union and oneness with the Father and Son is now housed in humanity. Who is to say the Son of Man is any less concerned with the space (aka our hearts) that houses His Spirit? Is it not true that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)? Thus, we can arrive at the same conclusion that our Redeemer longs to see certain things cast out and removed that don’t belong in the same “space” as His Presence.

Let’s look at this another way. It is common vernacular to ascribe the title Lord to Jesus for many reasons but the question remains: do we walk in a manner that aligns with that truth? Take for example a person who owns a home and leases or rents it to another occupant. More times than not, the tenant has a certain number of rights and privileges as outlined in a written agreement, however, full and total control belongs to the owner of the property, or shall we say landlord. The Lord of that space or place has the authority to set the terms and ultimately care for the space. When we call Jesus Lord, we are thereby saying “You have the ultimate say here, Lord, not I.” As Christ is and will always be the head of the church (or body), He has the final word. You can say it like this; the Word (John 1) has the final word. What does or doesn’t belong in His house is prescribed by Him and Him alone. As temples of His Presence, let us be a people that don’t conform to the patterns of social media trends or popularity contests, rather, I pray that we would be mindful of the spaces we steward and Who it is we are hosting. After all, if we truly are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who belong exclusively to a good Father… that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9), the it is of absolute importance that we take the posture as priests and steward the space and place that He calls home — our hearts.

his house, his blueprint

As if that isn’t already a heavy enough assignment, let me shed light onto another layer of wisdom regarding the resting place or dwelling place of God post Pentecost. The apostle paul writes to the Ephesians saying “in Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). Somehow in the vast wisdom and goodness of our God He expresses His longing for His church to be built up TOGETHER as a dwelling place for Himself. Not only do His building plans include housing the Spirit individually, but together we have an invitation to host Him as His dwelling place. Reminds me of the 90’s tv show Power Rangers I watched as a kid. Without jumping fully into the lore (very tempting not to) an element of show depicts a group of teenagers endowed with special abilities to vanquish the evil atrocities of Angel Grove. The millennial reader among us can most likely understand this next part — although the teenagers themselves had their own special abilities, when the villain became too large or powerful, they would jump into their mechanical dinosaurs, fuse together, and utterly annihilate their opponent (sorry for the spoilers). Let’s bring it back to the scripture. Ephesians 2 tells us we are no longer alienated from the household of God but by grace through faith (verse 8) we are one with Him AND are being built up together, with Christ as the absolute essential cornerstone to the whole  structure (foundation is apostolic and prophetic too, more on that awesomeness another day). All that said — the Lord of the house has blueprints that consist of a togetherness that I believe are in desperate need of His Lordship again. We need the leadership of the Spirit to cleanse the Church; to ekbállō our self-serving ideals (money changers) and katastréphō the systems we have built up to sustain these efforts (tables and chairs).

Imagine if we took Jesus at His own words when He said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18). Imagine the light we could bring to the darkened places in our societies by letting Jesus not only build but be the Lord of His church. Jesus prayed right before the crucifixion that we would be one with Him (John 17:21). Sadly, we have exchanged Presence for programs, the statues of Yahweh for the opinions of the people, and the fear of Lord for the fear of man. I have heard wonderful well-intentioned pastors and ministers alike say “we must build the church.” I’m not nullifying our co-laboring role with Christ, however, it’s His house. It’s His body. It’s His bride. If He says something doesn’t belong, we must in all humility let Him lead us, mold us and make us into the dwelling place He longs to see established. This was His plan from the beginning in the garden, to dwell with His creation. This is also His plan for the end:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:3).

so what does his house look like?

You may have been asking “what does this have to do with the fruitless fig tree??” I believe it’s the temple cleansing, both individually and corporately, that becomes the means by which we end up not like the fruitless fig tree. Of all the characteristics Jesus could have attributed to His house, He chose to describe it as a house of prayer. He didn’t say house of preaching, house of evangelism, or house of miracles. That doesn’t mean those characteristics are not valid or even noble. I believe and affirm every bit of all of the aforementioned descriptions, yet I believe that through the Anointed One’s own words, we see that prayer is paramount. Jesus removed and tore down what doesn’t belong from the temple but that is not the end of the scene. He gives us one fundamental description of the temple — it is marked by prayer. We’ll explore this more in Part 3 and just how this primary description of His house connects to the fig tree.

Upon leaving Jerusalem, Jesus further illuminates the minds of His disciples regarding their questions circulating the withered tree. We’ll get into more of that in detail in Part 3 as well, but it hinges on one word: faith. I pray that by grace and through faith, the Church would once again yield to the Lordship of Jesus and become her fullest expression in our families, work places, communities, and in our gatherings.