You're Not You

Snickers to the Rescue

You’re not you when you’re hungry. 

We’ve all seen those hilarious Snickers commericals. You know the ones. Some cranky celebrity is whining about their situation. They use folks like Betty White, Abe Vigoda, Danny Devito, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minelli, Joe Pesci, Don Rickles, and Roseanne Barr.

That’s when a friend comes to the rescue with a candy bar. After a quick bite of Snickers, the crab suddenly calms down and transforms back into the friend they all know and love.

A Cranky Christ?

What in the world does THAT have to do with Mark 11:12-14? Well, I’m so glad you asked. 

At first glance, it looks like a hungry and cranky Christ calls down a heavenly curse on a poor little fig tree just because it fails to have any fruit. Seems like this is where one of His guys should rush in to offer our Savior a Snickers.

Hangry

I can just hear Peter saying, “Jesus, You’re not You when You’re hungry!”

At first glance, you may think the Son of God is simply hangry when He doesn’t get the snack He needs. But a deeper dive reveals that we’re not the real us when we’re pretending to be something we’re not.

The Hero from Heaven

It’s the Monday of the last week of Jesus’ life. The day before, He rolled into Jerusalem as Messiah riding a borrowed burro (Mk 11:1-10). The crowd goes absolutely crazy for the humble Rabbi/Carpenter as long awaited Hero from heaven.

This is major deal since Mark’s bio of the Lord opens with a long series of folks trying to figure out who He is (Mk 1:1-8:26). Could He REALLY be the Christ? Could He be the One?!?

Not the Messiah They’re Expecting

Eventually Jesus tells His team that He is the One whom God has promised to send (Mk 8:27-10:52). Not once (Mk 8:31). Not twice (Mk 9:31). But three times (Mk 10:33-34). 

There’s just one catch. He’s NOT the kind of Messiah they’re expecting. He’s come to bring victory through His own death and resurrection. Whatever you do, do NOT forget the resurrection part!!

Sunday ends with the Son of God getting a good look at what’s going down on the temple grounds (Mk 11:11). He just gets the lay of the land and leaves town to spend the night with the Twelve.

The Big Week ahead

We pick up the action on Monday morning of Passion week. Christ and His crew are commuting back into Jerusalem after spending the night in the ‘burbs. “The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry” (v12).

Put it this way. It’s Monday morning and the Lord is heading to work. I don’t have to tell you that this is gonna be a BIG week. It’s not just the biggest week of His ministry. This is the biggest week in history!!

We need to understand that work isn’t punishment but a precious gift from God. Our Creator gives Adam his assignment to take care of Eden BEFORE the fall (Gen 2:15). Let’s not see our job as a hard slog for the man but as an act of worship to God (Col 3:22-24).

100% God, 100% Human

With a big day ahead, Christ needs something to eat. Mark points out that “Jesus was hungry” (v12). You know what they say. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. 

It would be easy to blow right past the fact that Jesus needs something to eat. Remember, He’s not only 100% God but 100% human as well. He gets hungry when He fasts in the desert (Mk 4:2). He gets tired and thirsty after a long day on the road (Jn 4:6-7).

He Faced It All

Why is this a big deal? Simply, Jesus knows what it’s like to live life here on the Third Rock from the Sun. He’s not Superman disguised as Clark Kent. He laughs. He cries. He gets hungry. He gets tired. He sleeps. 

We can trust that He’s faced every flavor of trouble this world has to offer. The writer of Hebrews puts it like this. “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all the same testings we do, yet He did not sin” (Heb 4:15).

The Humble Fig

Looking for quick snack, Jesus spots the First Century version of a drive-thru. “He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so He went over to see if He could find any figs” (v13).

A couple thousand years before our friends at Nabisco will invent the Fig Newton, the humble fig is a common food around the Mediterranean Rim. Fig trees produce their fruit twice during the growing season. Once in late spring and later in early autumn.

The Ol’ Bait and Switch

There’s just one problem with particular fig tree. “But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit” (v13). The funny thing is that these trees produce new figs right after they leaf out. Green figs should be growing.

Because of the leaves, the tree looks great. But the fig count is a disappointing zero. It’s a case of fig false advertising. A serious case of the ol’ bait and switch.

Spoiler Alert!

So what’s going on? Christ certainly would know that there would be no figs. Spoiler alert! This little factoid should tip us off that this what’s about to happen has NOTHING to do with figless fig trees. Hmm, I wonder what it could be. Hang tight. We’ll get there.

The first clue is the word the NLT translates as “season.” This is the Greek term καιρος/kairos. Biblical scholars point out that this is NOT the agricultural term for the growing season. It describes a fixed or definite point in time.

Right on Time

This is the very same word John the Dunker drops when He prepares the way for the coming Messiah. “The time (Gr. καιρος/kairos) promised by God has come at last!” (Mk 1:15). 

It reminds us that God is never early, never late, and always right on time. And in this case, Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem at just the right time in history. God had this date circled on His calendar for eternity.

Talking to a Tree

That’s when something rather weird happens. Our Savior has something to the figless fig tree. “Then Jesus said to the tree…” (v14). Huh? He talks to the fig tree? I can just picture the Twelve wondering what’s going on.

But this isn’t the first time the Lord talks to creation. Remember when He commands the violent storm on the lake to stop? “He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Silence! Be still!’ Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was great calm” (Mk 4:39).

When you create something, you have the right to talk to it. You may not realize it but Jesus is THE Creator. I love how Paul describes our Redeemer’s role. “For though Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth…Everything was created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16).

An Object Lesson

So what does the Savior say? “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” (v14). Why does Christ call down a curse on some poor tree for not having figs before fig season? Is Mark’s point that we shouldn’t mess with Jesus when He’s hungry?

He’s turning the figless fig tree into an object lesson about people who say one thing but really do another. Specifically, the figless fig tree is playing the role of Israel in this story. 

A Symbol of Israel

Did you know that the prophets in the Old Testament love to use the fig tree as a metaphor for God’s chosen people (Jer 8:13; Hos 9:10, 16; Joel 1:7; Zech 3:10)? Confession time. Neither did I. 

So Jesus curses the figless fig tree as a symbol of God’s frustration with the fruitless Jewish people. In the ESV Study Bible, Hans Bayer says the Lord is on the look out “for the true fruit of worship, prayer, and righteousness” among the Hebrew people.

Context Is Key

This is where context is key to understanding Scripture. What a particular passage means is directly connected to what’s around it. It provides the lens for us to see what’s really going on.

We do it all the time when we’re not reading the Bible. We don’t simply look at one sentence of an email and try to figure it out what’s going while ignoring everything else in the note. 

A Fig Sandwich

Here Mark sandwiches two passages about the figless fig tree (here and again in Mk 11:20-25) around his account of Christ cleansing the temple (Mk 11:15-24). Jesus curses the tree, clears out the house of God, and then walks by the withered tree the next day.

That tips us off that everything that happens in and around the fig tree has absolutely nothing to do with the fig tree. It has everything to do with what’s going on at the temple.

Fruitless Trees and Prayer-less Temples

In the NIV Application Commentary, David Garland writes that the empty tree represents the empty worship of the temple that is totally not ready to accept Jesus as the God-promised Hero who’s coming through Abraham and David. 

Garland goes onto say, “Time can run out for fruitless trees and prayer-less temples. Fruitlessness now when the Messiah comes means fruitlessness forever.” That’s because EVERYTHING is shifting from the temple to Jesus. From ritual religion to personal relationship.

Shutting Down the Assembly Line

The sinless Lamb of God will die as the sacrifice for our sin, rebellion, and disobedience once and for all (Heb 9:26-28; 10:10-12). Once He gives His life for us, they can shut down the bloody assembly line of sacrifice at the temple.

That’s why when Christ dies on the cross, God rips the curtain separating the Holy of Holies (Mk 15:38). How do we know it’s God that does the tearing? Notice how it the tear starts at the top!

What the Disciples Heard

The author then includes a curious little detail at the end of the Lord’s one-way chat with the figless fig tree. “And the disciples heard Him say it” (v14). You have to wonder what’s going on in their heads at all this.

How does Mark know they’re hearing it all since he wasn’t personally there? Peter told him. The earliest followers of Christ were convinced that the second Gospel could actually be called Peter’s Story of Jesus as told to John Mark.

Connecting the Dots

So what do WE do with this weird little story? Should we start talking to our plants? Are we supposed to stop eating Fig Newtons? 

Bear with me while I attempt to connect a few dots. As Christ and His crew approach the temple, the incredible activity they see is like the leaves on the fig tree. It looks fantastic. There’s just one problem. There’s no fruit. 

Fig Leaf Speedos

Let’s flip back to the opening pages of God’s story in Genesis. What clothing did our first parents throw on to hide their shame of disobeying the Creator? Yup, fig leaves (Gen 3:7). 

They thought their fig leaf Speedos will cover their sin. Not so much. Could it be that we do the same thing? Do we try and use our religious activity as fig leaves to camouflage our lack of real fruit?

Foliage with No Fruit

Going to church, serving others, reading Scripture, and praying are great. But they are NOT the goal. They’re just the means to an end. And just to be sure, the goal is love God and love others. 

If all of those activities are drawing you into a deeper relationship with Jesus and allowing you to love and serve others better, you’re just wasting your time. Or as we see from this passage in Mark, they’re just foliage with no fruit.

Texans call this big hat and no cattle. You look really good but there’s no real substance to back it up. Let’s just call it big leaves and no figs.

An Ansel Adams Photo

We don’t need to just repent from the sinful bad things we do but our sinful GOOD things too! If we’re attempting to please God by piling up a sweet religious resume´, Isaiah lets us know, “They are nothing but filthy rags” (Is 64:6).

In other words, why don’t we just drop our leaves and admit our need for God? Face facts. Without Jesus we’re nothing more than one of those empty trees in winter from an Ansel Adams photo.

True Fruit

So what’s the fruit that the Lord is looking for in our lives? Paul describes what that is to his friends in Galatia. “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).

Jesus tells His team the only way that happens is when we stay closely connected to Him. “Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).

We DON’T Need a Snickers

Let’s stop playing the game. Let’s stop trying to cover our barren branches with the leaves of counterfeit religious busyness. You do know our Savior won’t be fooled by our smoke and mirrors, don’t you?

When I put up a fake front, I’m pretending to be something that I’m not. Our to paraphrase the commercial, you’re not you when you’re phony. We DON’T need a Snickers. What we REALLY need is Jesus.

©2020

Jay Jennings