Fig Tree Cursed And Temple Cleansed Series

-Monday-

Bethany to Jerusalem

(2) Fig Tree Cursed and Temple Cleansed

(Jer. 7:11) Matthew 21:10-19 (focal passage), Luke 19:45-48,

10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant

16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?”

17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.

19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

Introduction

In this Passage Jesus performed two acts of judgment: He cleansed the Temple, and He cursed a fig tree. Both acts were contrary to His usual manner of ministry, because He did not come to earth to judge, but to save (Jn. 3:17). Both of these acts revealed the hypocrisy of Israel: The Temple was a den of thieves, and the nation (symbolized by the fig tree) was without fruit. Inward corruption and outward fruitlessness were evidences of their hypocrisy.

Commentary

10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

11 So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Inside the city, there was bewilderment concerning His identity. Those who asked were told only that He was Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. From this, it seems that few really understood He was the Messiah—*the prophet promised by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15.

*Deuteronomy 18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. Moses directed the people away from magic and to the true prophets of God, who would deliver the truth from the heart of God. This prophecy was ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 6:14; Acts 3:22, 23).

There is a contrast made here between the men of the city, who were ignorant of our Lord’s identity, and the multitude that were able to answer their question. There were probably many Galileans in the multitude that had come up for the feast and who already knew our Lord through His preaching and healing ministry in the north.

In less than a week, the fickle crowd would be crying, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

Every Jewish man coming to Jerusalem for the Passover feast had to pay a temple tax equivalent to two days of a laborer’s wage. Many types of currencies were circulating, and, since only special temple coins were acceptable, moneychangers could charge a fee for the necessary exchange. *Moneychangers could make handsome profits at the expense of the people. This exchange became a source of extortion for the High Priest’s family who personally controlled it. In reality, it amounted to a public bazaar.

*Moneychangers Bankers who exchanged one nation’s currency, or one size of coin, for another. These people provided a convenience, charging a fee (often exorbitant) for their services. Some moneychangers operated in the temple area (the Court of the Gentiles), where they did their business of exchanging foreign coins for the official Temple coin, because all money given to the Temple had to be in the Tyrian silver coin. According to Exodus 30:11–16, every Israelite 20 years old or older was required to pay an annual tax of a half-shekel into the treasury of the sanctuary.

A temple visit usually involved a sacrifice. If a man brought his own animal, the temple authorities would inspect it for perfection. To make sure an animal passed inspection, many people bought their animal sacrifices at booths set up in the temple. However, these animal sellers often charged outrageous prices, thus making a high profit for themselves.