Holy Week 2012 – Monday: Cursing Fig Trees and Cleansing Temples

Mark 11:12-26

Greetings Dear Reader,

As we move toward the cross together I often wonder why we focus so heavily on the resurrection and not the events leading up to it.  I realize how vital the resurrection is to our faith.  If I could work my own will Holy Week would be a time when all Christ Followers were free to prepare for that celebration free of work and other endeavors.  I cannot assure that they would but it would be a lovely thing to see.

In light of that I ponder why Christ chose the week of his death to curse the fig tree and cleanse the temple.  With Christ’s popularity so strong as he entered Jerusalem the priests must already have wanted his life.  The gospels tell that they had attempted to take him before but had failed.

I think that the underlying note between the two events is a form of preparation.  One of the commandments is to never carry the name of the Lord for a vain purpose.  Both the fig tree and the temple were not being what they were meant to be for God.  The fig tree claimed by its full leaves to have fruit.  It was not an “honest” plant.  Jesus made it clear that the temple was to be a house of prayer and that it had become a den of thieves. 

Perhaps the focus on these two events leads us to cleanse ourselves in preparation for the atonement.  This would also be in harmony with the idea that those in Jerusalem that week were to be preparing for Passover. 

So as I approach the pain and suffering of the cross and eventually the beauty of the resurrection I must first assure two things.  I must be who I am before God.  Pretense has no place in his service. I must also be sure that I follow for the proper purpose.  I must follow Christ for the sake of Christ, not for my own gain or benefit.  I am to be set apart to God so fully that I am fit to communicate with him.  I cannot do this without a purity of purpose.

Today is not just Monday.  It is the day I set aside for examining these things and hoping that I can become more the ideal and less the idea.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."