There is a Jesus floating around in our culture today that bears little resemblance to the Jesus in this passage. Today's Jesus is tame and tolerant, peaceful and progressive, loving and laid back. He is often depicted with long, hippie-like locks, wearing white pajamas with a sort of slumbering, sorrowful look about Him. This modern Jesus looks suspiciously like us—timid, wishy-washy, and fearful of offending.
But the Jesus who marched toward Jerusalem, face set like flint and eyes ablaze with zeal, meant business. His intent? To demolish people's misconceptions about who He was and what He intended to accomplish, and to confront the hypocritical pretense of the religious leaders of the day. And all that on an empty stomach!
When Christ approached the fig tree on His way to Jerusalem, He intended to grab a quick breakfast (v. 13). Even though this verse tells us it was not fig season, Jesus expected to find fruit on the tree because it was in leaf. (Ordinarily, fig trees do not have leaves without also having fruit.) Jesus cursed the tree not for its lack of fruit, but for its pretense. It was essentially "false advertising".
This living parable conjures up Old Testament imagery of Israel as a fig tree (Jer. 8:13; Hos. 9:10, 16; Joel 1:7), and bodes ill for the showy, outward appearance of the chief priests and teachers of the law. But the same could be said for us. We may be able to fool others with our religious activities and our pious pretense, but there is no fooling God. He searches our hearts; He knows whether or not we bear fruit.
Upon entering the temple, Christ began flipping tables and driving out the buyers and sellers. He did not sidle silently between booths, or meander meekly among the merchants. He cleared, He cleansed, He clarified: "My house is a house of prayer for all, not a den of thieves!" Maybe at this point the disciples were questioning Jesus' agenda. Perhaps they were doubting their decision to follow Him. Certainly Judas was!
Which begs the question: Do we understand what it means to follow Jesus? He will not share the throne of our heart with swindlers and crooks. Christ will overturn and expel anything and everything that threatens our right and pure worship of Him. We cannot "buy" from the world without selling precious pieces of our souls. Our hearts must indeed prepare Him room, and allow for His constant, refining Presence therein!
Judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Jesus did not come to advance our agendas, or affirm our errant ideologies, or accept our half-hearted, tainted devotion. No! He came challenging our self-centered lifestyles, confronting our watered down theology, and commanding our absolute, focused, singular pursuit of His will above all!
Do we truly understand what it means to follow Jesus? To live in the light of His word, the scrutiny of His Spirit? Do we know what it means to take up our cross and follow Him? To deny self even unto death? Let us think on these sobering questions tonight as the day of our Lord's death approaches. But let us also remind our heavy hearts of the inexplicable, indescribable joy that awaits, just on the other side of the cross!