Gateway’s Core Values 2008
Nothing But Leaves
Mark 11
Turn in your Bibles, please, to the biography of Jesus written by Mark, the eleventh chapter. As you find the eleventh chapter of Mark’s gospel, let me remind you that when you are reading this biography, scholars agree that you are seeing the life of Jesus through the eyes of His disciple named Simon Peter. Mark was an associate of Peter, and there is strong evidence that in the years after Jesus death and resurrection, as Peter spent the rest of his life preaching and teaching from city to city, Mark was by his side much of the time. The experience of listening to Peter’s sermons, coupled no doubt with those intimate times with just the two of them discussing what it was like to follow Jesus, resulted in the manuscript you have before you.
When we come to chapter 11, we have reached the high-water mark of Jesus’ popularity among the people of Israel. In the first section of the chapter, we see Jesus coming from Bethany, the small village where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived, up over the Mount of Olives, and into Jerusalem. The view would have been similar to this, but the huge mosque sits close to where the Temple would have been. He entered through the Golden Gate, which was a gate that was directly in line with the temple from the Mount, and still is to this day. To this day, the Jews believe that one day Messiah will enter Jerusalem through that gate, which is why the Muslims bricked it up in the 7th Century. They also know that it is unlawful for a Jewish teacher to walk through a cemetery, so they put a cemetery in front of the gate – it is there to this day. The Jews wait for the Messiah to enter through that gate in fulfillment of Ezekiel 43, the Muslims believe it enough to try to prevent it, while Christians know that He already has entered the gate once, and believe that He will do it again!
In Mark 11, we have the account of what we call the “triumphal entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. The people are ready to anoint Jesus their king. Their words of praise speak of One “coming in the name of the Lord,” and the “coming kingdom of our father David.” Without question they are ready to anoint Him their king. Verse 11 tells us that Jesus entered Jerusalem, and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was late, he went back to Bethany with the Twelve.”
Follow along as I read Peter’s recollection of what happened the next day, beginning with verse 12, Try to “see” it, in your mind’s eye, as we read it together.
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 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. 14 Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. 15 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, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? 17 But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" 18 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. 19 When evening came, they went out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"
Jesus is known for the great parables he told - “The Good Samaritan,” “Sheep & Goats”, “The Prodigal Son,” “Grains of Wheat,” etc. A Parable is a story that allows us to learn a profound truth through the means of an easily envisioned story. I believe that what we have just read is a “living parable.” Instead of painting a word picture for His followers, Jesus actual acts out a parable before them. If I had to give this parable a name, it would be “Nothing But Leaves.” Let’s see what this parable teaches us.
As Jesus walks over the Mount of Olives on that second morning, He’s hungry. It’s possible that Mary, Martha and Lazarus simply didn’t have enough to feed Jesus and all the disciples adequately. Regardless, Jesus knows the agenda for His day, and recognizes that He’s going to need extra stamina. So He sees, in the distance, a fig tree in full leaf, and goes over hoping to find some needed nourishment. Now, fig trees in that region will produce leaves in March or April, and will usually produce fruit in June, and again in August, and sometimes a third time in December, depending on weather. When Jesus comes, it’s around March – just before Passover. The leaves have come in full, and it is possible that Jesus was hoping for what is called “early ripe” figs – their little buds of small fruit that sometimes appear with the leaves. These are considered a real treat, and are described in Hosea 9:10. Or he may have been looking for some fruit on the tree from the previous season, that had not been picked. Either way, He went looking for fruit, and there was none. Verse 13 says, “He found nothing but leaves.”
Jesus is not happy to find a tree that looks promising from a distance, but has no fruit up close, so He passes judgment on the tree. In essence He says, “since I can not eat from you, no one else will either – ever.”
They go on their way. They enter the same gate they entered the day before, and go into the Temple compound. The temple was made up of concentric courtyards, surrounding the large structure of the temple itself. The outer-most part of the Temple compound was the area called the “Court of the Gentiles.” It was, just like it sounds, a place where non-Jewish worshipers could come and seek the God of Israel. It’s a large area, with open courtyards to the north and south of the temple itself, from their a Jew could proceed into the inner courts, the court of women, and closer in the court of Israel (men only), then beyond that the areas only accessible to the priests.
Jesus knew what He was going to find, or course. He had been there the evening before, and looked around, watching what was going on. For the second time that morning, He did not like what He found. The Court of the Gentiles had become a huge open-air market. One historian found evidence that a single merchant in the Temple courtyard sold 3,00 sheep on a single day! When Carol and I were in Jerusalem this past summer, we were obviously not permitted on the Temple Mount, but we did go through a typical middle eastern market place outside the Damascus Gate. It was music from instruments being sold, bright linens, colorful spices, fresh fruit and vegetables, every sort of knickknack you can imagine – from plastic cars to fake Rolex’s. And of course the barkers – trying to get you to come to their shop, their stand, and buy.
That’s what Jesus found in the Temple courtyard. Of course, it was all being done under the guise of “spirituality,” but booths were found everywhere selling animals for sacrifice, exchanging filthy Gentile currency for “acceptable” Temple currency (with appropriate exchange fees, or course!) For the people manning these booths, this was their livelihood. What they were able to take in, after paying the kickback to the priests, was what they had to live on, so they were clamoring to get you to buy from them! Imagine the scene! With the noise of the animals, and their associated mess and smell, combined with the barking of the booth owners, the courtyard must have seemed like anything but a place of worship.
Couple that sensory confusion and offense with the inner workings of what was going on – in the hearts of the people. The order of the day was GREED – pure and simple. There was no intent to assist with worship – the only motive was to get wealthy. The fees on money exchange and the cost of the animals were all meant to squeeze as much as possible from the people who came to the Temple. Do you notice in the story that Peter specifically mentioned to Mark that Jesus overturned the benches of the men who sold doves? A sacrifice of doves was the lowest available sacrifice – only the poorest were permitted to bring such a simple offering to the temple. You might remember that in Luke’s biography of Jesus, he tells us that Jesus’ parents, Joseph and Mary, 33 years earlier, had come to the temple, and brought a sacrifice of…doves. Jesus always had special care for the poor and oppressed, and I can imagine that seeing poor people being victimized within the walls of the Temple would have sent Jesus into a righteous wrath.
Then, in verse 17, we find Him teaching them. He pulls two verses from the Old Testament. The first is Isaiah 56:7, where Jesus teaches them what the Temple is supposed to be – “a place of prayer for all nations.” The Jews saw it as a place of religion – “follow the rules, bring your sacrifices, recite words that had long ago lost any meaning to them, but do it anyway!” Jesus reminds them that it is to be a place of prayer – a place for connecting to God, for seeking God and finding Him. Then he quotes Jeremiah 7:11, to show what they have made the temple: “a den of thieves.” G Campbell Morgan points out that “a den of thieves is the place the retreat to to hide.” The priests, scribes, Pharisees and the rest were using the Temple as a place to “cover up” their sin and hypocrisy. They would run to their “den” to hide the guilt of their hollow, ineffective lives behind the cloak of “religion.” Both of the prophets Jesus quotes had warned that the Temple was not a guarantee of God’s blessing, but what happened inside the heart was important (Is. 1:10-17 & Jer. 7:1-6).
Verse 19 tells us that they made their way back to Bethany.
The next morning, as they took the familiar path over the Mount of Olives, they walked past that same fig tree that Jesus had gone to the previous morning, but on this morning, it has withered from the root up. Peter, in typical fashion, says, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you have cursed has withered.”
I find it interesting how Peter, through Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “bookends” the story of the cleansing of the Temple with the account of the fig tree. The tree is a picture of Israel, particularly the religious life of the people of Israel. From a distance, it looked great – the temple mount was a wonder of the first century – it dominated the Middle East in grandeur. The blood of animal sacrifices flowed like a river into the Kidron Valley from the alters as they burned night and day to consume the offerings. The priests in their formal attire, designed to follow the instructions God had given to Moses, were magnificent. It all looked healthy, like a tree in full leaf. But when Jesus came looking for fruit – it had none. “Nothing But Leaves.” Like the fig tree, Jesus had previously said that the Temple would be destroyed, “Not one stone on another.” Thirty-four years later, that’s exactly what happened.
The Living Parable of “Nothing But Leaves.”
The idea of a parable, as we said before, was to present profound truth through vivid word pictures. So what are the truths we can learn from this parable, as we begin our study today of Gateway’s Core values?
First – Jesus reserves the right to come at any time and look for fruit. You may not think the timing is right, or that its fair, but He’s God, and if He comes looking for fruit, we’d better be producing! Jesus said in John 15 that, “any branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off and cast into the fire, and those branches that produce fruit will be lovingly pruned.” Are we producing fruit? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident? Are we making disciples?
Second – The church is to be a place for “all people.” Do outsiders in our community think of our church as a house of prayer? A place to meet God? Is everyone welcomed, embraced and loved?
Third – Do we, as church members, run to the church once a week to hide our sins under the cover of religion? Is it about maintaining our image and reputation, or is it to worship and glorify God? Is our experience like the Temple – “nothing but leaves?” All show, no go?
Finally – If Jesus were to walk into our church on any Sunday morning, what things would he clear out? What distractions would he rebuke us for? What attitudes of the heart would He challenge? In a Deacons meeting about two months ago, we discussed the number of distractions prior to the Worship Service for many of our ministry leaders. People were coming to church and being so pressed with questions about meetings, and appointments, and curriculum that by the time the service started, they were so frazzled that they couldn’t even worship! So we’ve started gradually, behind the scenes, pulling the plug on activity before the service each week, and today, we’re formalizing it.
We want the cafeteria area, and the auditorium here, to be a “worship zone” prior to the services. The Library, Scrip sales, and other “church business” are to take place after the service only. If you need to talk with someone to set up an appointment or get some materials – wait until after the service. Prior to the service, prepare for worship, and helping others do the same. Greet visitors, escort them to a seat, sit with them and make them feel welcomed and loved. Be the presence of Christ in someone’s life. Or come and pray in the auditorium, preparing your heart. Pray for the speaker, the praise leader, the nursery workers, the people who will be joining you here. Pray that you will be found fruitful when Jesus comes to you.
In the next few weeks, we will be looking at the basic elements of the church as laid out in the Bible. We want to be a church of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and mission. We want to be a church that is much more than “just leaves,” we want to be a church that bears fruit.
As Roy comes to lead us in songs of praise, worship and contemplation, we want to invite you to experience much more than leaves…we want you to meet with God. During these last minutes of our time together, we’re going to give you several means of connecting with Him. Along the far wall, there’s a table set up where you can go to meet with an elder, and pray. In the back, a table is set up where you can worship the Lord by leaving an offering. Here in the front, a place is set for you to come an meet the Lord through Communion. During these moments, you may remain seated, and listen to the songs, contemplating the lyrics, praying and meditating. You may sit, or stand, and join in the singing, if you feel led. You may go to one, or all of these tables to pray, give or receive communion.
For some of you, this may be the first time you’ve been here for a communion service. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are welcome at this table. The Bible makes it clear that we are to examine our hearts, confess any sinful act or attitude, and come. If you are here today, and have not decided if you believe all the claims of Jesus, then we ask that you refrain from this part of the service – but we encourage you to use this time to really contemplate what might be keeping you from accepting His offer of forgiveness, freedom and eternal life. In these moments, perhaps you’ll here the Holy Spirit urge you to trust Him – if so, do it! And join us here at this table!
The key here is to be more than just leaves. It’s not about outward appearances. This is about you connecting with and worshiping the God of the Universe, who loves you and gave Himself for you.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for your Word that allows us to be “witnesses” to the events of your life here on earth. Lord we feel like we’ve walked with you along that dusty road from Bethany to Jerusalem, and witnessed all that transpired. More importantly, we get it. We understand what you meant from the parable of “Nothing but Leaves,” and we want to be found fruitful when you inspect our lives, and our church. Lord as we gather in this place, and around this table, we ask you to make your presence known. Help us to see the things that are distracting us from worshiping You. Convict us where we have been oppressive or neglectful to those who come in seeking You. Help us to be found faithful, and fruitful. Bless this bread, and this cup, and all who come to partake of them, in Your powerful name, amen.