Leaves Or Fruit

I opened the refrigerator and smiled at the memory.
I remember the day that I heard the audible groan.
One of my daughters had wrapped up some leftover pizza intending to have it for lunch.
Her sister had no idea that the pizza was already claimed and she ate it herself.

There is a sinking feeling when someone opens the cookie tin and finds it empty.
There is annoyance when a glass of milk is desired and only a few drops are left.
Frustration sets in.
Disappointment abounds.

You expect to find fulfillment and instead you find emptiness.
You think that what you are looking for should be there, but you find you searched in vain.
You had your heart set on the thing you were seeking.
You find it wasn’t at all as you expected.

Jesus encountered the same problem.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard Him say it. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as He taught them, He said, “Is it not written: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have mane it a den of robbers.” The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has withered.” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. (Mark 11:12-22)

Jesus was hungry.
He saw a fig tree and went over to eat some of its fruit.
But it was not the season for figs.
The fig tree only had leaves on the branches.

Hungry and frustrated, Jesus cursed the fig tree.
It may seem like a random thing for Jesus to have done.
However, nothing Jesus ever did was random.
Everything Jesus did had meaning and purpose.

If we know our Old Testament, we would understand Jesus’ actions.

I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken away. (Jeremiah 8:13)

The fig tree always stood for the nation of Israel.
God’s people were supposed to be producing fruit.
God’s people were to be thriving, alive, vibrant, and growing.
Unfortunately, things changed dramatically.

The temple was His Father’s house.
It was to be a place of prayer.
There was only one place where the Gentile God-fearers could go to pray.
That was now being used as a market.

Gentile believers had nowhere to go when they came to the temple.
Merchants were dishonest in their dealings.
They knew that animals must be sacrificed, so they raised the prices inside the temple.
The people had no choice but to pay inflated prices for their lambs or doves.

It was the benches of those selling doves that made Jesus most upset.
Doves were the sacrifice of the poor.
If the dishonest merchants raised the prices of the doves, the poor struggled to pay.
What was to be a heartfelt offering was now reduced to making a profit.

When Jesus saw the fig tree on the road that day, He saw the nation of Israel.
From all outward appearances, everything looked just fine.
Business was booming, people were coming to make sacrifices.
The temple was the hub, the center of their lives.

But it was dead.
It only had leaves.
It only looked good on the outside.
Inside it was empty.

For those who were hungry, there was no fruit.
There was no sustenance.
There was only the appearance of growth.
There was nothing that would last.

Jesus’ act was not random.
Jesus’ act was one of judgment.
What happened to the fig tree was happening to the people.
Having an appearance of Godliness but having no fruit.

What would Jesus find if He came to our churches today?
Would He find fruit or a lot of religiosity?
Would He be able to praise His people for remembering their first Love?
Or would He curse the fruitlessness He finds here?

May it never be said of us that it was not the season for figs.
It is to be the season for much fruit.
Fruit that will last.
Fruit that will feed the hungry and bring them nearer to the One who sustains them.

Are there only leaves on the tree or is there fruit?
May God never say of us, what I have given them will be taken away.
Leaves or fruit?
Jesus knows the difference.