When I would gather them, declares the LORD, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
Jeremiah 8:13
Jesus’ Lament over Jerusalem’s crowds
Recall the fig tree and all the symbols of Jerusalem. You can almost hear Jesus lamenting:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!
How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
Even as Babylon had devoured Israel from the Euphrates to the Jordan, Rome ruled with an iron hand. Even as Jeremiah prophesied against Judah (now Judea), the crowds knew Jesus could save them from Rome.
Not just Jesus but the crowds of Jerusalem as well ALL knew scripture (so much better than 21st c. christians.
Deuteronomy 9:5
It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Perhaps you can hear Jesus preach this to the crowds who wanted a King to defeat the Rome who ruled Galilee, Samaria and Judea.
The Lord says: I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God..
“Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
Again, thorns and the fire, not the fig tree bearing fruit.
You may have guessed it:
This is not Jesus preaching about Rome prior to cursing a fig tree. It well could have been Jesus’ commentary on preaching of the Prophets from scripture.
Repentance of scripture — from six hundred years earlier — from the Prophet Jeremiah who was ignored and then rejected in Judea — and dismissed in this day of first century Judea as warnings of Scripture are frequently rejected and dismissed in these last days of the 23rd century.
6:9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape gatherer pass your hand again over its branches.” 10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear?
Again, the vine. The fruit of Israel taken by its enemies.
And that is exactly what happened as Babylon defeated Jeremiah's Judah.
Powerful Rome ruled over Jerusalem, not the Jews. The Temple was symbol of political power, not actual rule.
“Certainly worship of the Lord had become symbolic lost hope for Israel.”
The crowds following Jesus to Jerusalem knew of the recent resurrection of Lazarus in Judea!
They knew of Jesus’ miracle of raising a boy from his coffin in Nain of Galilee.
Scripture is witness of the great prophet Elijah raising a child from the dead.
Jesus Resurrecting the Son of the Widow of Nain (oil on canvas) by Pierre Bouillon
A King and Prophet rides into Jerusalem, then later curses a fig tree.
These hopeful jews captive in their own land most likely ignored Jesus when the Lord had preached from Jeremiah and many other prophets.
DYK: John the Baptist also quoted Jeremiah?
We can almost hear Jesus or John the Baptizer preaching these words of repentance to a people without ears to hear from Jeremiah 7:11 and in the Prophet's context understand Jerusalem even more.
Jeremiah 7:
Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.
16 “As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.
17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
27 “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you.
You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
28 And you shall say to them,
‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God,
and did not accept discipline;
truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.
When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’
… but my people know not the rules of the Lord. 8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 9 The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
… from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
… saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.
When I would gather them, declares the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
14 Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. 15 We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
… and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.
In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.” – Zechariah 3:9b-10 [circa 519 B.C.]
Looking Back to the Prophets
From Moses to the late Prophets at the time of Zechariah and Haggai, the LORD spoke to the faithful of Jacob. (Call them: Israel, Judah, Judea, Galilee, even Samaria at the time of Jesus.)
They were divided after David, captured after Solomon, conquered by foreign lands and driven into distant empires. Even after rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple, Israel would never be the same.
Prophets spoke judgment of evil nations, cities and leaders.
Prophesy during the times of the first dispersion accomplished the Lord’s purpose. Jerusalem and the Temple were rebuilt, then rebuilt again by Herod and Rome. Between the time of these two Temples, no word from above – generations of silence.
Surely those hearing of the miracles of the great Prophet approaching Jerusalem for the Passover festival had high expectations of this greatest Prophet, Jesus.
He is the Messiah of God!
The crowds cover the road with palms and shout:
“Son of David,”
as the King of the Jews (Jesus) rode victoriously up to the gates of Jerusalem.
‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed be the Lord.’ ‘Savior!’
And what had the prophet Zechariah written?
“and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day..
.. In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.”
The Sacrifice of the Lamb of God accomplished the removal of sin; yes, in a single day: Good Friday.
What did Jerusalem expect?
The Judeans, Galileans, Samaritans, even Jews on faithful pilgrimage to the Passover festival from other lands followed Jesus with different high expectations from nearly forgotten writings of Zechariah and others.
The oracle of the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach (Syria) and Damascus is its resting place.
[Of course, Rome would control all of these Mediterranean lands 500 years later, not just Judah, Galilee and Samaria.]
The Coming King of Zion
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River A Powerful Professed King
The crowds, some who had followed Jesus for three years, knew the Son of Man riding victoriously into Jerusalem on a donkey had all power to defeat Rome in a day!
But it was not the Lord’s will to save Jerusalem in a day, but sinners.
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Consider the Creator of the garden approaching a fig tree before its season. Who will guard the Son of Man as He enters the Temple and fast-approaches the reproach of the Cross?
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons…
A triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as an anointed King of Israel. Jesus stays in a nearby town (Bethany) for the night, then returns to Jerusalem. A fig tree is not an uncommon sight along the rural roads leading to the gates of Jerusalem. He curses the tree with no fruit, then enters the Holy City, clearing the Holy Temple of unrighteousness.
The authorities will have to plot against this powerful and righteous Son of Man, lest their comfortable authority would be overthrown.
19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
Jesus leaves town.
Another night away from Jerusalem (probably once again with disciples in Bethany).
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
Another miracle (kind of a scary one, though). Jesus had cursed a tree and it withered and died in a day.
(Have you ever thought that your life could pass just as quickly?)
Now, in typical rabbi fashion Jesus makes a teaching moment from fulfillment of His curse.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mark 11:25
“Even a holy week spent in prayer is of no value to the unforgiving worshiper. You with ears to hear, forgive ,” learn the lesson of the fig tree.
Forgive, “… so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Tend the tree of life and forgiveness.
Bear the fruit of love.
Guard the Lord, our Master and Savior.
He will curse the tree without fruit at the Judgment.
Roger@talkofJesus.com
Scripture has much more to say about the fig tree. Jesus does not choose such an important symbol of Israel to curse without cause.
To be continued
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