By: Obed Pineda
As the road toward Golgotha began to wind down, the Master was keenly aware that His time with His disciples was soon to expire. When their path led them to Jerusalem “six days before the Passover,” as the beloved disciple tells it, the Lord imparted a series of vital instructions to those whom He had selected to be His apostles (John 12:1). His final week leading to mankind’s redemption is often referred to as “the Passion Week,” because “passion” is a transliteration of the Latin word passio meaning “to suffer or suffering.” Unarguably, the lessons taught by the Great Redeemer during this week had a major impact in the minds of the twelve as evinced by the fact that all four accounts of the Gospel speak about this week (Matthew 21-28, Mark 11:-16, Luke 19:28-24:53, and John 12-21). Thus, once again our Lord bestows upon us, in example, the value of Paul’s wise counsel of “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16). This author, not too long ago, heard from a striving artist that if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the action is certainly worth a thousand pictures. This curious spin on this old expression made the banks of my memory flood with realization that the Gospel account of Mark can prove this theory true since it is known as “the Gospel of action.” However, when studying the Passion Week as presented by Matthew and Mark, it is fascinating to observe that both inspired penmen include two poignant actions taken by the Lord within the second day of His journey to the cross. All four Gospel scribes begin the week with the King’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the people rejoicing and cheering, “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9-10, Mark 11:9-10, Luke 19:37-38, and John 12:12-13), but only Matthew and Mark speak about both the Master’s actions of cleansing the Temple and cursing of the fruitless fig tree on the following day (Matthew 21:12-22, Mark 11:12-24). Luke and John both speak of Jesus casting out from the temple “those who bought and sold in it” (Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-22), but neither one mentions when He cursed the barren fig tree. An error frequently made when contemplating the life and lessons of the Lord (especially during His final days) is to separate the events that transpired as independent actions from one another. In other words, they are viewed in the spectrum of a series of different actions, thus the common link tying them together is overlooked. Remember that these were valuable teachings the Teacher was giving His disciples before His departure, all in the same week. Therefore, it behooves us to examine more closely the actions of our Savior to better learn the entirety of the instruction being presented by Him. It has already been established that only Matthew and Mark include both actions in their sacred manuscripts, but it is also wise to notice that both holy men describe these events within close proximity to each other. Although Matthew and Mark give a slightly different order of when these two events transpired, both men agree that they took place one after the other, regardless of the order given. When this subtle detail manifests, the Master’s doctrine begins to reveal itself. Many renowned and respected Biblical scholars agree that the order provided by Mark, where the Lord came upon the barren fig tree first and then entered the temple to find it transformed into “a den of thieves” is the most accurate of the two (Mark 11:12-24). This, however, must be not be interpreted as a contradiction between both transcripts since Matthew is using a literary device known as a flashback to unveil the lesson taught by the Master. It is essential not to forget that a flashback is an “interruption of chronological sequence (as in a film or literary work) by the interjection of events of earlier occurrence” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). His masterful use of this tool not only coincides with Mark’s timetable, but also with the Teacher’s reason for doing one after the other. Without a doubt, both inspired men understood that Jesus’ purification of the temple related to Him cursing of the fig tree prior in the day. Verily, when both of these occurrences are placed by each other, the full picture can be seen. Holy Writ recounts that because Jesus was hungry, “seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs” (Mark 11:13, emphasis added). Now, compare to the reason the Son of God provided for driving out the merchants from the temple: “Then He taught, saying to them, ‘Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’” (Mark 11:17, emphasis added). Observe the common thread shared by the fig tree and the money changers. The Lord came to the tree because the leaves it had given an appearance of fruitfulness. Yet, after inspecting it for figs, He confirmed its deceitful nature. Those selling and buying the animals in the temple had an appearance of good intentions. The supposed justification for carrying on with their mercantilism in the temple, was to ensure that the people would not arrive empty-handed to the burnt offerings and be able to comply with the Law. But this “honorable” intention was only so in appearance because the true greedy nature of their ploy was exposed by the Lord. Like the fig tree that had leaves, but no fruit, so were the thieves who had the animals, but no godly fear. In these two actions, Jesus was educating His disciples on the perils of hypocrisy by unmasking the feigned faith of the religious leaders of His time. He was demonstrating to His soon to be apostles that the time had arrived for the fulfillment of John’s proclamation, “now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11, 12, emphasis added). The greatest threat that insincere faith has is that it has no fruit to confirm its existence. This frightening reality is the warning Christ was imparting to His twelve when He exhibited to them the consequences of faith in appearance only when the fig tree He cursed “withered away” because of its deception (Matthew 21:19). Today, this is called nominal Christianity. These are those who, when gathered with the saints, speak and act as one of the saints, but revert to their true nature when they are in the safety of their home. Let us not make the mistake to forget that “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13, emphasis added).