Holy Monday: Cursing Trees and Flipping Tables
Matthew 21:12–22
Thank you for joining us for Day 2 of Tables, Tears, and Triumph, a devotional through Holy Week.
Imagine you were walking with the apostle John. We believe his perspective would have looked something like this:
Yesterday left me confused. Everyone was shouting praises, but Jesus was weeping. I didn’t understand.
Then today, two more things happened that seemed out of character for Jesus.
While heading to Jerusalem, Jesus got hungry. He saw a fig tree full of leaves, which is odd for late spring. But that amount of foliage is a sure sign it must already have figs. He checked… no figs. Now, I can understand Jesus being disappointed, but I didn’t expect him to curse the tree, causing it to wither from the roots, never to bear fruit again! Why curse a tree?
Soon after, we entered the temple. It was noisy, crowded, chaotic. Folks from all over were exchanging currency with the money-changers in order to purchase animals from the merchants. Furious, Jesus fashioned a whip, overturned tables, and drove out both groups, shouting, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” I’ve never seen him that upset.
But when the blind and lame come to him, he heals them. He smiles as the children cry, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
And I wonder: What’s going on here? Is the stress of the week causing Jesus to lose control of his emotions?
Commentary:
Like John, we don’t always understand Jesus. Cursing fig trees and fashioning whips don’t seem like the Jesus we imagine. Here is where some insight may help us better understand the why behind the what:
The barren fig tree represents Israel’s failure to be fruitful. Israel was supposed to be a blessing to the nations. But Israel, for the most part, was spiritually depraved—focusing on the outward appearance (lots of leaves) while neglecting the inward condition of the heart. Jesus’s curse upon the tree was a metaphor for divine judgment upon Israel.
The temple was intended to be where the people could draw near to God in worship. However, the money-changers and vendors were using the temple grounds—with the apparent blessing of the religious officials—to extract extra money from pilgrims, especially women and the poor. Jesus was angry that the religious leaders were allowing the temple to be used to make it more difficult and more expensive for the marginalized to draw near to God.
As Jesus’s time on earth drew short, so too did his patience with a people who simply would not fulfill their God-given purpose, making it harder for others to connect with God.
For reflection:
Is my life bearing true fruit, or is it more like a bunch of leaves?
In what ways might I be making it harder for others to draw close to Jesus?
