The Monday of holy week Jesus did many things. He drove out the money changers. The common coins were engraved with the image of Cesar (see Luke 20:24), and to use this type of coin in tithes, offerings or even to purchase an animal for sacrifice went against the Jewish understanding of the second commandment about graven imaged so the religious leaders produced temple coins for the people to exchange. The exchange rate cheated the people out of much value.
He stayed in and around the temple much of that day teaching and telling parables which highlighted the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.
But the very first thing he did according to Mat. 21:19 and Mark 11:15 was to curse a lone fig tree. I never really understood this and all the commentaries on the topic didn’t quite satisfy me. Then last week while reading up on a completely different topic I came across a fig tree reference and discovered something quite interesting.
About a year earlier while Jesus was teaching his disciples a crowd started to form and it became almost like a town hall meeting with people shouting out questions (Luke 12-13). Right after he explained to everyone that they need to understand the signs of the times and the need for repentance they proved they still didn’t understand. Look at Luke 13
“1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?” Some of the people were trying to equate these tragedies to “signs” that these people were worse sinners than they were. Then He told a parable, 6… “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. 7 “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
Let’s take a look at fig trees for a moment. In the natural these trees grow pretty much everywhere around the eastern Mediterranean, kind of like the maple and elm here in the Midwest. It produces fruit usually by it’s second year and will produce two harvests per year. It’s an unusual tree because in the spring it produces fruit before it grown new leaves. So when, according to Mark 11:13, Jesus saw a fig tree full of leaves it’s only natural He expected to find figs on it.
The fig tree in a metaphorical sense has represented Israel’s prosperity and security. There are many references like the ones in 1 Kings 4:25 and John 1:48 about sitting under one’s own fig tree. The fig is the very first tree leaf mentioned in scripture when Adam and eve used it to cover themselves and the very least tree to grow leaves in the spring. It’s also used by God as a symbol of judgment like in Hosea 2:22.
In the parable the tree has grown for 3 years without producing any fruit. Between John the Baptist and Jesus the nation of Israel has been called to repentance for three years. The gardener asks for one more year to try to coax fruit out of the tree. Jesus teaches for one more year trying to get the people to understand theirneed of repentance . Jesus curses the fig tree, not because He’s vindictive or petulant, but as another sign that time is up. The people didn’t understand their own scriptures. The cursing of the fig tree was an underscore of the warning in the previous chapter and the religious leaders should have recognized it as such. Israel’s time for repentance had run out.
Although Israel was cut off and “blinded in part” (Rom. 11:25) God is not done with them. Romans 11:15 says “For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” and Ezekiel 39:25 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.”
Random Thoughts 301 
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