Outline:

I. Curses the fig tree and drives sellers from temple (12-19)
II. Pray with faith (20-26)
I. Verses 12-19 Discussion Questions
Why did Jesus “curse” the fig tree? Did He just lose His temper? Was there deeper meaning
or a deeper lesson? What does the Bible say about believers, trees, and fruit?
Was this the first time Jesus had driven out the businessmen in the temple?
What does this passage teach us about people?
What does this passage teach us about Jesus' character?
Why did the people do these same things again after the last time Jesus cast them out? If
you had to guess, how long after Jesus cast them out the first time do you think they started
again?
Why did Jesus prohibit them from doing this? What was the core problem?
How did the chief priests and scribes react? Why do you think they defended this practice
instead of condemning it?
What lesson can we learn to apply to our lives today?

Cross-References
Luke 13:6-9 – If the fig tree doesn't bear fruit, cut it down.
John 15:5 – Abide in me and you will bear fruit.
Matthew 7:17 – A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit.
John 2:12-17 – This is the first time Jesus cleansed the temple.
Exodus 30:11-16 – Every man should pay a Jewish coin “half a shekel.”
Leviticus 14:22, Luke 2:24 – Birds were required for sacrifice.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. The fig tree – It is often asked why did Jesus “curse” this fig tree? Was it a careless act of
temper? Was He destroying someone’s property? Why would He destroy the tree if it was out
of season? We will look at a few of these questions.
A. A curse in the Bible is not the same as we consider a curse. In modern day cursing often
involves profanity or anger. In the New Testament a curse was a pronouncement of judgment
on someone or something (see also Matthew 25:41). Jesus was using His words to command
a miracle which would cause this tree to die.
B. Matthew 21:19 says that this tree was by the wayside. Also, Peter did not rebuke Jesus for
destroying someone’s property. It was quite common at that time for travelers to pick fruit
from trees that grew beside the road. In fact, one could even pick grain or fruit from other’s
fields/orchards, but there is no evidence that this was the case here. Because Jesus is the
Son of God, everything belongs to Him. He is sovereign over Creation and has the right to
use Creation for His own purposes. That applies to a herd of pigs as in Mark 5:13 or trees,
the donkey in the first part of Mark 11 or anything else.
C. Why did Jesus curse the tree when it was “out of season” for fruit? According to scholars,
in Palestine the fruit appears before the leaves. When they saw the tree from a distance the
natural assumption would be that since it had leaves it also had fruit. This would not be
surprising even if it was not the key season for figs because there were often more than one
crop per year and sometimes a fig tree could have fruit for as much as ten months per year.
D. We know that the Bible talks a lot about trees and fruit. A fruitless tree is considered to be
worthless, deserving nothing except to be cut down. (Luke 13:6-9). While this passage
doesn’t specifically mention the symbolism associated with this, many scholars believe that
through this event Jesus is pronouncing judgment on Israel (which is sometimes referred to
as a fig tree as in Jeremiah 8:13, Hosea 9:10) because it rejected Him and was fruitless
spiritually despite all of God’s blessings. One piece of evidence for this is the fact that this
passage is mentioned in connection with the cleansing of the temple which is another
manifestation of Israel’s “fruitless” status. While I am normally not a fan of reading into the
text symbolism or meaning which is not there, in this case it does make some sense. Even if
Jesus did not curse the tree to show God’s judgment on Israel for rejecting the Messiah, it still
shows that trees are for making fruit and if they don’t have any they should be cut down. The
same is true for us. God chose us that we may bear fruit. If we don’t bear fruit, then there is a
problem and we deserve the judgment that is coming. Israel too was planted, fertilized, and
tended for millennia. And it still didn’t bear fruit. So, it would be judged once again.
2. Cleansing the temple – This was the second cleansing of the temple, the first happening in
John 2:12-17. It is clear that the people didn’t learn their lesson. Because of Jesus’ authority
and their own guilt and shame, they had reluctantly submitted while He was around the first
time. But when He left, they were free once again to fulfill their own desires. And their desire
was money, lots of it. Their greed pushed them to ignore their own consciences, Jesus’
instruction, and all common sense of decency and use God’s house as a place for their
money making ventures.
3. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. – He had already said the same things
before. He had already cleansed the temple before. And yet here they were doing it again.
We learn that people are sinful and will easily keep going back to their same bad habits
unless their heart has been changed. A relationship with God is not primarily about external
behavior. Behavior can be faked. When the right peer pressure or authority is present, a
person may appear very contrite and teachable. Yet when that person leaves, they go right
back to their sin again. This is what happened in this passage. They hated the light because
their deeds were evil. Jesus’ force of authority could demand submission for a period of time,
but when He wasn’t there their motivation for doing what was right was gone. Do you do
what’s right in front of people and when they are gone fall back into your bad habits? Does
your behavior match your heart or are you doing it to please someone? Will you do what you
know what is right even if no one is around to catch you for doing wrong?
4. Extreme situations call for extreme measures. Jesus was called a Lamb in other passages.
He was gentle and meek, a servant. And yet in this case, decisive action was called for.
Jesus could not stand idly by and see what was supposed to be a holy place for worship
corrupted with love for the world. His principles demanded action. Only decisive and visible
action would have made any different. Imagine if Jesus stood next to these people conducting
their business, cleared His throat and said, “Excuse me. Can you do this outside? I really
think it’s not very suitable here.” How would the people have reacted? Firstly, they wouldn’t
have heard Him because of their commotion. Even if someone did they probably would have
ignored them, served their next customer, and kept counting their money. No, a polite “excuse
me” wasn’t going to work.
5. We may face situations that call for extreme actions as well. We should remember that
Jesus was the authority in the temple since it was actually His house. So we should feel free
to take bold action like this IF we are the authority (such as in your home if you are the head
of the household, or in church if you are the leader of the church, etc.) For example, maybe a
Father needs to confiscate a book, magazine, DVD, or electronic device of his child who is
being tempted by it. The point is if you are a leader act like it. Be a leader. Do not allow sinful
things to go on and just turn the other way because it is uncomfortable to confront it. If God
has placed you in authority somewhere, use your authority as an influence for good.
Sometimes if you do, people will think you are the bad guy for spoiling your fun. It doesn’t
matter. Do what’s right even if other people are unhappy about it.
6. The leaders were seeking to kill Jesus – These leaders were there everyday and saw what
was going on. Why did they do nothing about it? Perhaps they were in on it. If I had to guess I
would guess that they received money for turning the other way. We don’t know this, but we
do know that they were happy with the status quo and willing to turn the other way and let it
go on. When Jesus rocked their boat, they got made. Jesus was also angry, but His anger
was a righteous anger. They were mad because they lost a lot of face (and maybe a lot of
money). Jesus was making them look bad and they didn’t like it. So what is their solution?
Scheme together to kill Jesus.

From my notes on John 2:14-16 “When Jesus saw the temple He found that it was turned into
a place of business. People were selling the animals for sacrifice. They had money exchange.
Quite simply the temple had become a center of business and profit. The people who were
doing this had selfish motivations. They obviously didn’t really care about worshipping God or
offering sacrifices to God. They were using God as excuse to make money. They were doing
the exact opposite of what Jesus wanted them to do when He told them to render to God the
things that are God and to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. They were bringing God
down to a low and base level. They should have been going there out of service, worship,
and altruistic motives. Instead they were going out of greed, selfishness, and evil desire.
James 1:27 says that true religion is visiting orphans and widows in their distress and being
unstained by the world. Again, they were doing the exact opposite.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO GO TO CHURCH OR FELLOWSHIP EVERY WEEK WITHOUT TRULY
WORSHIPPING GOD! Many people have the exact same problem today. Evangelists,
pastors, and missionaries get on TV, radio, or in front of the church and beg for money. They
offer products like prayer cloths, holy water, and even prayer of blessings over any product
you send them (many years ago the Catholics also sold papers saying that the person who
bought it would have their sins forgiven!). Scandal after scandal has broken out where these
have been proved to be fake. Duh! The bad reputation of these evangelist money-grabbers
has tarnished the reputation of much of the church. However, this thought process has tinkled
down to mass numbers of church-goers. Most of these probably wouldn’t admit to going to
church for personal gain, but many do nonetheless. You can see it when people ask what
they will get because they follow God. Will they be able to pass their coming exam or having
a better job? One guy last week repeatedly asked me what physical benefits we could get
from following God. To Him, the spiritual side didn’t count for much if anything at all. So what
kinds of reasons to people go to “worship” on Sundays?
Social life – People go to church because that is where their friends are. Hey, churches have
lots of nice people that go to them and it is easy to make friends there. There are lots of
activities around the week to enjoy during one’s free time. This includes trips to amusement
parks, bowling, pizza parties, seafood meals, sports games, park parties, etc. Our church
even went on a mission trip to Alaska! This is not to say that any of these things are wrong.
One can fellowship in these kinds of settings and make an impact on others for Christ.
However, it is all too easy to begin going for the fun, food, or friends. Church is not meant to
be a club to meet your friends! Are you going to church to worship God and grow or to be with
your friends?
Safe feeling – Many others go to church for the feeling of safety that it provides. It makes
them feel they are doing well spiritually. Basically they get their assurance of salvation from
going to church rather than from faith in God. In this category can be included people who to
church so that they won’t feel guilty. Are you going to church because it makes you feel close
to God?
Warm feeling – I’ve invited lots of people to church with me for the first time. After they go to
church I often ask them what they thought and what they like about it. The most common
answer is that they like it because it makes them feel warm. Even many non-Christians have
given this answer! They feel comfortable and peaceful when they go to church. Many
continue in this state going to church for years without ever really knowing the gospel and it
what it means to truly worship God. Are you going to church because it makes you feel
peaceful?
Pressure – Another category go to church because their parents or friends put pressure on
them to go. They are the ones who go because they “have to.” Are you going to church
because you have to?
Pharisaic – Another very common reason for going to church is that it has become an
ingrained ritual. We go because “we have always gone” or it’s “what we do on Sundays”. In a
way this is good to set a habit. We should not choose not to go to church because we don’t
feel like it on a given Sunday. However, we need to be careful not to fall into the trap of letting
church become and impersonal ritual. Are you going to church because that is what you do
on Sundays?
Psalms 24:3-4. So what is the solution for us to avoid these church-traps? There is no magic
trick. We need to have the right attitude and motivation. If you have been going for the wrong
reasons confess and ask God to give you right motivation. When you go to church focus on
worshipping. Focus on listening to the sermon and growing spiritually. You can try some new
things to make church more fresh and personal. Pray on your own during the prayer times.
Think deeply about the words of the songs. Make notes and applications about the sermon.
Pray beforehand and afterward that God will teach you in that days service. Discuss what you
learned with others. Choose one or two points and practice them during the week. Most
importantly, remember to go to church for the right reason and don’t think about what you can
get out of it. Confess all selfish motivation. Go to worship, learn, grow, and encourage others.
Think about what you can give to God and people, not what you can get. John 4:24
1 Timothy 6:5-6.
Also, if the church you go to is not a place where you can truly worship and grow you should
think about finding another church.
Another angle to think about this issue from is what if Jesus came to your church and see you
there. Would He be happy with your reasons for going and your activities there? What
practices and things might He cleanse from your church?
Verses 15-16
Jesus saw the greedy and selfish business practices going on at what was supposed to be a
center of worship (the world religion during the tribulation will also be tied closely with
economy). He made a whip and then drove them out of the temple with it! He overturned the
tables where people were exchanging money! Wasn’t Jesus gentle? Wasn’t He like a quiet
sheep? What was it that set Him off? Quite simply, He was angry.
It is common for us to think that anger is not sin. But this is not so. There are two kinds of
anger. The second kind, the sinful kind, is very common to us so we naturally assume that all
anger must be bad. This kind of anger stems from selfishness. Someone does something to
us that we deem is unfair so we get angry. Someone gossips about us behind our back and
we get angry. Somebody steals money, cheats us, lies to us, takes our seat on the subway,
cuts in line, fouls us in sports, etc. and we get angry. In all of these cases this is probably a
sinful response. We are upset because someone did something to us. They violated our
rights! This kind of anger is sin and we should avoid it.

However, the first kind is a righteous or holy anger. This kind of anger is aroused because of
injustice and sin. This is the kind of anger Jesus had. He was angry because people were
sinning and violating the temple. See also Isaiah 57:16-17. Ephesians 4:26. In Greek this is
actually a command to be angry! We are supposed to get angry when we see sin in the world.
If we don’t ever have this kind of anger we have some problems. Probably we are too much
like the world. Either we are agree with their sinful practices or are apathetic and indifferent.
Do you ever experience righteous anger? Describe.