Holy Week Reflections – Monday

Monday

Cleansing the Temple, cursing a fig tree, weeping over Jerusalem, back to Bethany

The Passages

Matthew 21:1-22

 In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.

The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

Matthew 23:37-39

 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

The Story

The Palms have fallen to the ground. A day filled with energy and excitement has come and gone. Depending on the Gospel account, Jesus either ended Palm Sunday with a cleansing of the temple, or with a sigh and a return to the Bethany. In any case, as the sun rises on Jerusalem, the energy around the dusty, miracle making Rabbi is mixed. His supporters still stand with him – though they are concerned. His detractors grow more restless and they begin to plan. Rome watches intently to see who will need to be stilled and stopped.

On Monday morning Jesus and his disciples, once again, make a journey down the same road as the morning before, but without the fanfare. On the way, Jesus is hungry and walks to a fig tree looking for food. When he finds none, Jesus “curses” the tree, which immediately begins to shrivel and die. The disciples are astonished and it appears Jesus shrugs it off – “even with a small ounce of faith, you can move a mountain.”

As they approach the city, and again depending on the account, Jesus either cleanses the temple, or he begins teaching and interacting with the worshippers coming to town for Passover. By the end of the day, Jesus begins to leave and as he makes his way back up the hill to Bethany he has a moment. Turning to look at the city, Jesus begins to weep. He cries over the city – not the bricks or the temple – but over the people who have made that city what it is.

“How I long to gather you, but you wouldn’t let me…your house is abandoned and desolate.”

A Devotional Thought

These 2 stories are strange. The first is just weird. The second continues to haunt and trouble me. And they are both great stories for the Monday of the week that would change the course of human history.

I love figs. I remember as a kid eating my grandmothers Fig Newtons after nap time. I remember trying to sneak into the pantry, trying so quietly to open up a sleeve and take a cookie or two. I also remember my grandmother warning me about eating too many of them. Figs are incredible little fruits and whether you get one fresh or dried, they are amazing little works of creation. In ancient times, figs were used not just for snacks and meals, but for medicinal purposes to treat a wide range of maladies.

This story of Jesus interaction with the fig though is weird. Hunger, sure I get that, but cursing it because it’s empty – what is that about? Obviously, Jesus uses it as a teaching moment on faith, but what else are we to learn from this story? Passover, which happens in March or April, isn’t the season for Figs. The leaves begin to blossom and there are often pre-figs (called taqsh) which bud and can be snacked upon. These little pre-figs are important indicators of what kind of Fig Season will come later in June.

It appears that this tree had none of these pre-figs. It was a leafy tree but it was not bearing a single piece of pre-fruit. To anyone living at that time, this tree would have been considered worthless – fire wood – not good for keeping. When Jesus walks up to it, he expects it (as would anyone else) to have these fruits and seeing none, he declares what the tree already is – useless and unable to bear fruit.

Sure it shrivels, but Jesus was only speaking to what the tree was already experiencing. When I think about a tree that is supposed to bear fruit and isn’t the image I get is one of “living death.” It’s not doing what it was created to do – bear fruit. It’s deceiving people from the thought or prospect of sustenance. It’s alive and yet it’s not living.

Couple this living-death with Jesus’ statement about faith and I think we have a picture of an expectation Jesus would have for his followers – it certainly appears that way to the authors. They got what he was saying and doing. His “cursing” the tree wasn’t a shock – it’s immediate shriveling, that was the stunner.

The second story is a haunting one. This moment Jesus has is almost out of place. As he leaves, he pauses and weeps. We only have one other occasion of Jesus crying – the death of Lazarus. A friend and a special city cause the Savior to pause and weep!

This city represented (and still does) so much hope and so much of the desires of God. Yet, it refuses to be brought home -to be what God longs for it to be. It was content to live inside the glory of it’s past stories. It was energized by epic moments of it’s history. It had the Son of God within its walls and yet it was about to turn upon him. And so the Messiah Weeps.

As I reflect on these 2 stories, I can’t help but wonder if fruit and unmet expectations aren’t important lessons for me today? There are a lot of distractions about – a lot of good and bad things vying for attention. There are cries for justice (Isaiah 42 is a good read regarding that today) and there are cries for peace. And yet, how much is missed out on because I won’t tend fruit or have a little more faith? I wonder how much weeping is done over my life and walk because I revel in some past moment of glory I had with God – while the Savior stands ready to be clutched close?

Prayer:

Father, I thank you for Mondays…and Lord, you know how hard that is to say. I thank you for this Monday and for the events of that day and for the warnings and invitations I am still given so many years later. You have planted me deep, help me in your grace to cultivate the fruit that you long for me to produce. Help me to stretch in faith. Help me to be thankful for the stories of yesterday, but always remember that you are still doing something today and will do something even greater in my tomorrow. Use this Holy Week to draw me closer to you and in doing so help bring about the Kingdom you desire in my world today.

IN Jesus Name, Amen.