My house shall be called a house of prayer

Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written,

“My house shall be called a house of prayer”;

but you are making it a den of robbers.’

The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, they became angry and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read,

“Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise for yourself”?’

He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’

- Matthew 21:12-22

This passage contains several significant events: the cleansing of the temple, many healings with the declaration of those in the temple who call Jesus by a messianic title and scriptural reference: "Hosanna to the Son of David," and the withering of the fig tree with Jesus' teaching on faith and prayer. In other gospels, the cleansing of the temple is treated as a great vivid event, but here it is treated with a few sentences of description. It is, significantly, Jesus' first act after being heralded into Jerusalem with the cries of "Hosanna to the Son of David!" and "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" As we read in yesterday's commentary, these greetings and titles were those associated with the coming of the awaited Kingdom and the Messiah who would establish it.

In the temple, the moneychangers exchange Roman coins for temple money. The Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, and this was considered to be defiling. So, Roman coin was exchanged for temple money with which one could purchase animals for sacrifice, such as the doves which are mentioned - and which would have been the affordable sacrifice for the poor in the temple. Jesus quotes from both Isaiah and Jeremiah: "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'" Jesus acts against the commercialization of worship, which abuses the poor. My study bible notes that the cleansing of the temple is seen as an image of the cleansing of our souls.

Then the blind and lame, we read, are cured by Jesus in the temple. These healings are, as other acts of healing before them in this gospel, a clear sign of messianic identity. The cries of "Hosanna to the Son of David" by the children, who act as a kind of hidden chorus in the Jerusalem setting, are an indication of the recognition and receipt of Jesus in the popular understanding among the common people as Messiah. But the chief priests and scribes are scandalized. They chastise Jesus: "Do you hear what these are saying?" But Jesus replies with a truth of his own and more quotation from scripture (Psalm 8:2): "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself.'" We recall that earlier in Matthew's gospel, Jesus has said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

After going to Bethany, and spending the night there, Jesus returns the next day to Jerusalem. This tells us about his determination to meet his fate, what God has asked of him. He deliberately confronts the chief priests and scribes, the corruption in the temple, and defends the children who welcome him as Messiah. Today he returns again to Jerusalem. And on the way there, we have this encounter with a fig tree that bears no fruit. We understand the significance of the fig tree: it's a symbol of prosperity and peace. But this tree has produced no harvest of fruit, only leaves. "Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once." This is a curse, on those who are offered a gift and who fail to bear fruit. We recall that Jesus is to be crucified on such a "tree" without fruit. Although Jesus goes willingly to his death, submitting to torture and execution, it does not mean that the choices that made this necessary are embraced nor free from consequences. The act of withering the fig tree is a prophetic act of condemnation, a "withering" reproach to those responsible who cannot accept a spiritual reality made manifest before them.

"When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ The disciples respond to this prophetic withering of the tree with amazement. Although presumably they've seen a great many miraculous healings, this particular incident is of a different cast and tone. It's not a healing, it's a prophetic curse on that which cannot follow its own true spiritual nature - which is corrupted and refuses to recognize spiritual reality at the time of its appearance. We have seen the cleansing of the temple, we understand the greed and arrogance and self-interest there where worship of the Lord is to be the priority. We hear the chorus of the children welcoming the healing Lord. But those who are in charge of worship are scandalized; they do not want to hear it. So, this is an "amazing" event of a different nature than that which we have seen, a prophetic withering, and a curse of fruitlessness. This is a different teaching on the nature of spiritual power, and its rejection or refusal. Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." My study bible has a note that reads as follows: "To receive whatever things you ask in prayer, one must have the faith and discernment to ask for what is in accordance with God's will. God cannot be manipulated by our prayers." And neither, I think, are we to come away with the understanding that spiritual power is for manipulative use. Rather, spiritual truth is what it is, spiritual reality, the manifestation of the holy in some form in our lives, creates its own judgment depending upon our response to it. This is a part of the potent mystery of spiritual reality, and its "breaking in" upon our awareness. It is not something we apportion or control for ourselves. It is something to which we respond via acceptance or rejection. Fortunately, mercy gives us time for this response. And again, I'm reminded of the "binding and loosing" Jesus has promised his disciples, and the rock upon which he will build his church. Faith is a tremendous power, that binds us in that rock of the kingdom. The acceptance of a spiritual reality is much more than understanding or knowledge. Πιστις ("pistis"), is faith, belief, trust and more. It is that substance that binds us in a bond with Father, Son and Spirit strong enough to break the gates of hell.

The question here for me is one of placing ourselves in the current time. Are there things we see with spiritual eyes, and are we able to hear with spiritual ears? There may be Spirit all around us calling out for us to hear and to respond; the holy is always taking new shape and, as in Jesus' metaphor to the wind, we can't predict what that will look like. So we ask ourselves about our faith: is it helping us to see? Does it prompt us in our hearts? How do you accept or reject what is before you now? Which way do you turn? Just as the people of Jerusalem, we always have a choice before us to be made. How do we face our own stumbling blocks and the things that scandalize us?