On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.
˜ Mark 11:12-14
After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus and the twelve go out to Bethany. On their way back to Jerusalem the next day, Jesus becomes hungry and looks for figs on a tree but finds none. He tells the fig tree it will never bear fruit again, and the group journeys on.
When they reach the temple, Jesus becomes angry and drives out the people who were buying and selling there. This scene is particularly striking to me because it's the only one, to my knowledge, where Jesus becomes truly angry. He has been frustrated in some instances, but this is the only time when he is so furious that his anger becomes physical. He overturns the tables of the moneychangers and the animal vendors and says: "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers. "
Whenever I try to determine if something is worthy of my righteous anger, I look to the person of Jesus. What angered him? What frustrated him? Of all the things that happen to him — the nails, the scourging, the mocking and the ridicule — the only thing that truly brings his wrath is when people are ripping off the poor. Jesus, as the incarnation of God, wants his house to be a place of holiness and prayer. He wants the poor to be lifted up and treated with compassion. Instead, the people in their human blindness have figured out how to turn the temple into the ancient world's version of a tourist attraction.
Jesus is teaching us what is worthy of our anger and how we can use that anger to break down systems of injustice that take advantage of the poor. Because Mary and Joseph were poor, they had to exchange their limited funds with a moneychanger for temple currency to buy two small sacrificial doves to present their son at the temple. The usual sacrifice in these circumstances was a lamb, but the poor were permitted to purchase doves. Mary and Joseph were some of the poor people being exploited every day in God's house.
After Jesus and his disciples leave the temple, they once again pass by the fig tree. The disciples are amazed that it has died and withered. The cursing of the fig tree symbolizes Jesus' anger at his own people for practicing piety and collecting huge sums of money from believers and yet bearing none of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When religion becomes an empty moneymaking machine, it contributes to its own death.
Reflect: As we move into Holy Week, what are some issues that your faith calls you to engage? How can you bear the fruits of compassion in those situations?
This Lenten Meditation can be found at Episcopal Relief and Development