DAY OF AUTHORITY
-Jesus returned to Jerusalem and cursed the fig tree (Matt. 21:18-19; Mark 11:12-14)
Jesus enters Jerusalem on sunday on the donkey, with his disciples following him and the crowd hailing Him as “KING OF KINGS” ( the crowd would want him dead in few days). The text says Jesus was hungry, and He sees this fig tree in a distance and decides to go and get something to eat. As he approches the fig tree, he realizes that there is no fruit in the tree. Jesus gets angry and curses the fig tree. One may wonder why would Jesus curse the fig tree. It was not an act of thoughtless anger. It was an parable acted out using the fig tree. The temple in Jerusalem looked really impressive at the first glance but inside it was hollow and worship was not sincere. A commentator says, ” If you only appear to have faith without putting it to work in your life, you are like the fig tree that withered and died because it bore no fruit. Genuine faith means bearing fruit for God’s kingdom. Jesus was not telling he was a magic portion to mountain moving acts. The point he was making of the lack of faith. What mountains are you facing today? Have you talked to God about it? How strong is your faith in God in going through it?
-Jesus cleansed the Temple (Matt. 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48)
This is the second time, Jesus cleanses the temple. The temple became a place of business, status and injustice. Worship was not the primary purpose of the worshipers. Jesus became clear in making a point why the temple was for. Any practice that interferes with worshiping God should be stopped. What is interfering your worship with God? work? friends? TV? Internet? Texting? It is between you and God to destroy those practices and keep God as the priority.
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