Slices
Prepare
Ask God to create in you the kind of hunger that declares, ‘My food … is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work’ (John 4:34).
Bible passage
Jesus curses a fig-tree and clears the temple courts
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 courts 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”? 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, Jesus and his disciples 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!’
22 ‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. 23 ‘Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.’
Explore
Jesus is hungry and angry. Both the tree-cursing (vs 12–14,20,21) and the Temple-cleansing (vs 15–17) are acted‑out parables pointing to the heart-condition of God’s people.
A fig tree in leaf is an implicit promise of fruitfulness. While the comment ‘it was not the season for figs’ (v 13) makes Jesus appear unreasonable, commentators explain that before figs appear, fig trees produce taqsh – small knob-like fruits that, though edible, soon fall off, making way for mature figs. Since this tree has produced no taqsh, its abundance of leaves represents a false promise of fruitfulness, prefiguring the action‑packed scene in the Temple. With its impressive appearance and abundance of rituals, the Temple looks good but is actually no good. Like the fig tree, Jerusalem’s religious establishment is guilty of a false profession of faith.
The word ‘hangry’ – added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2018 – is defined as ‘bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger’. The Temple authorities are power-hungry, the Temple traders are money-hungry, but Jesus is hungry for holiness! The lack of holiness in the very place that should have embodied it makes Jesus ‘hangry’ – not for figs but for spiritual fruitfulness.
Respond
Does your life produce an abundance of leaves but fail to bear fruit, or is your profession of faith well-supported by fruitfulness? Reflect on this now.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 36,37; Psalms 126–128
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that those from the 95 who are intrigued by faith will find the people and places they need to explore the Bible and who Jesus is. Pray that churches will be ready for any ‘turner-uppers’ at their church, and prepared and equipped to help them explore effectively.
