My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations

 

 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response Jesus said to it, Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it. 

 

 So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city. 

 

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter remembering, said to Him,  "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."  so Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

 

- Mark 11:12–26

 

On Saturday we read that Jesus and the disciples came to Jericho while traveling on the road to Jerusalem.  As He went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. 

 

 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response Jesus said to it, Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it.   My study Bible explains that "it was not the season for figs" means that this fig tree had sprouted an early full foliage, which would indicate a first crop; however it did not bear any fruit.  Jesus, having found not a single fig, condemns it.  This is a symbolic action.  My study Bible further notes that a fig tree is often a symbol of Israel (Hosea 9:10).  Figs being a rich and nourishing fruit, symbolize spiritual richness and productivity.  But her fruitfulness has ceased; this is found in the corruption and hypocrisy Jesus condemns in cleansing the temple (in the next verses) and in the rejection of Christ the Son after three years of preaching, teaching, and healing.  Thus the Kingdom will be taken from her and given to another people, who are called to bear spiritual fruit (see Matthew 21:43; Galatians 5:22-23).  

 

  So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city.  Those who bought and sold traded in live animals to be used for sacrifices, while the money changers were trading Roman coins for Jewish coins.  This is because Roman coins, bearing the image of Caesar (worshiped as a god), were considered to be defiling in the temple.  The ones who sold doves were selling the smallest and therefore least expensive of animal sacrifices, most affordable to the poor.  We can speculate as to Jesus' intent and meaning, but clearly those who come in faith to worship and offer sacrifice have no choice in this system but to support those who are profiteering from these practices.  My study Bible adds that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.   As each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), so this is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of that which distracts from our orientation toward God.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11.  

 

 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter remembering, said to Him,  "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."   My study Bible comments that the cursing and withering of the fig tree is a prophetic act which signifies the judgment of Israel.  For the disciples, it's a lesson that the old covenant with Israel is becoming "obsolete" and will "vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13).  They will establish His Church, which will ultimately be filled with both Gentiles and Jews, and they need assurance that they are following Christ's will.  This fig tree will be an unforgettable image for them.  

 

 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."  My study Bible notes here that while it's not recorded that an apostle literally moved a mountain, according to Church Fathers they had this authority if the need had arisen (some saints are reported to have made crevices appear in mountains).  Moreover, not all things the apostles did was written down.  But beyond that literal meaning here, this promise is an illustration of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  Most importantly, Jesus attaches here the discipline of forgiveness in prayer and notes how contingent the effectiveness of our prayer is on lived discipleship.  As in the final teaching appended to the Lord's Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:14-15), Jesus reminds us that realizing God's forgiveness also depends upon our own practice of forgiveness. 

 

It's perhaps easy to take Christ's words literally here at face value, regarding prayer and faith.  But if we do that simply and easily, then we do not see that these words are couched within the need for discipleship.  They are spoken to His immediately disciples, who have learned from Him for three years, and who will go on at great risk for themselves to be apostles to the world.  These are men who will not seek to please themselves, but to please God, and to spread the word of the Church.  It's in that context that He teaches about faith and prayer.  Moreover, the teaching on the requirement of the practice of forgiveness in order to realize our own forgiveness, conveys a subtle understanding in it regarding our own relinquishing of our passions to the will of God.  In the Greek, the word for forgive means to let go, to relinquish, to give up.  We let go of the things we hold against others and give them to God, seeking God's will for such a situation and for our relationships with others.  In giving us the Lord's Prayer, Jesus refers to sins first as debts ("Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" reads Matthew 6:12), and then as trespasses.  But in both cases, forgiveness or "giving up" these unpaid debts or unanswered trespasses to God is a requirement for our own forgiveness.  It reminds us -- as in both the withering of the fig tree, and the cleansing of the temple -- that Christ is the judge.  So, we come to the words about prayer He teaches here, and the discipleship that goes into prayer for what is spiritually profitable.  St. Paul reminds us, "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26).  So, in this context of forgiveness and of discipleship, prayer becomes a matter of not simply making a list for God of the things we want, but of finding what God wants from us and for us, and giving all things to God for that clarity.  The cleansing of the temple teaches us there are things which get in the way of right relationship to God, sometimes even when they seem nominally "good."  The withering of the fig tree shows us our dire need for letting go of whatever prevents our spiritual fruitfulness.  Let us find the freedom in Christ for our fruitful prayer.  The prophet Habakkuk writes, "For though the fig tree will not bear fruit, and there be no grapes on the vines; the labor of the olive tree fail, and the fields yield no food; though the sheep have no pasture and there be no oxen in the cribs; yet I will glory in the Lord" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).  Let us seek Him and His kingdom first before all things.

 

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 

- John 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read that, on the sixth day given of Christ's newly-beginning public ministry, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. 

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."   Here in today's reading is another distinctive element of St. John's Gospel.  In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) this cleansing of the temple occurs at the end of Christ's ministry.  But John places it here right at the beginning.  There are certain patristic commentaries which teach that Christ performed this act twice.  This is the first of three Passover feasts included in St. John's Gospel; it's one way that we know His public ministry lasted three years.  In this incident, those who sold oxen and sheep and doves were trading live animals to be used for sacrifices.  Sacrifices were a true function of the temple, meant to be part of communal meals "setting right" the people with their God and community, a part of the amelioration of the effects of sin, and the understanding of righteousness.  The money changers traded Roman coins for Jewish coins, since Roman coins bore the image of Caesar (worshiped as a god) and were considered defiling in the temple.  Christ's cleansing of the temple is about the corruption which had become endemic and penalized the poor, the greed and hypocrisy of the religious leaders.  My study Bible comments that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered a temple of God, it notes (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  The disciples remember "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up" as written in Psalm 69:9.

 

 So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  My study Bible explains that, since Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged.  In St. John's Gospel, the term Jews is meant most often to refer specifically to the religious leaders.  In this case, it refers to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  It's important to remember that all the people in this story are devout Jews, including Jesus, His disciples, and the author of this Gospel.  As Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, my study Bible says, He answers in a hidden way.  The ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection.

 

The Gospel presents us today with an interesting contrast between what is hidden and what is not.  Here Jesus performs a very open and public act, one which would clearly garner much attention, as it is openly done against the system of the temple and its leadership.  The first question that opens itself up in this circumstance is one of authority, and it is there where the religious authorities zero in and begin to ask Jesus questions.  He needs to prove He has the authority to do this, and show them a sign to do so, as some sort of extraordinary proof of God's presence.  Well, Jesus is not going to do that, and He openly tells them so.  He's not going to give signs and proofs because unfaithful people demand it of Him.  Christ's signs and miracles come to the faithful.  Importantly, as our reading today deals with sacrifices, Christ's signs come in fulfillment of righteousness and communion between God and the faithful, God's people, and through the power and will of God -- not on demand by scoffers or hypocrites whose minds are already made up against Him.  And yet, we've just read (in yesterday's reading, above) about the first sign of St. John's Gospel, the turning of water to wine at the wedding in Cana.  Here was, in a sense, a "quiet" miracle, a sign given through the prompting (or intercession) of Christ's mother.  They had run out of wine at the wedding, and so this first sign of God's extraordinary presence occurred in the 30 gallon stone waterpots filled with water for cleansing, and it was transformed into the best wine.  Note the contrast between that almost private community affair of the wedding (and those who knew and understood about the wine) and this busy Passover festival, with all the noise and hustle and bustle of pilgrims purchasing sacrifices, and the money changers exchanging coins.  It must have presented quite an extraordinary and even cacophonous scene.  There can be no doubt of the attention which Christ's action would have brought upon Himself from both religious leadership and the people.  Now the power of human religious authority will focus its attention in Him, the One who has now challenged that authority with this act of cleansing the temple, and we already know where it will all lead (as Jesus forewarned His mother in quoting the widow Zarephath's question to Elijah in response to Mary's prompting about the wine -- see yesterday's reading and commentary; also 1 Kings 17:17-18).  Here is another riddle, another mystery of our faith?  How is a "sign" hidden?  How is the Christ hidden in plain sight?  How are the religious leaders blind, while the disciples and John the Baptist see?  How is Christ a temple, and so are we?  These are all questions we must begin to ponder and to consider as the Gospel unfolds.  Like the three days He was hidden in the tomb, so we understand the power of God at work, even though we may be completely unaware.

 

 

 

 

Let no fruit grow on you ever again

 

 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 

'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have perfected praise'?"

Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there. 

 

Now in the morning as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

 

- Matthew 21:12-22 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.   They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!"  And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"   So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

  Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  Those who bought and sold in the temple were trading in live animals which were to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers were trading Roman coins for Jewish coins, as roman coins bore the image of Caesar, and were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible comments that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As every person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), so it is also a sign that our hearts and minds should be cleansed of earthly matters.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11.

 

But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  My study Bible quotes from the Vespers service of Palm Sunday:  "Keep the feast with the children, and holding branches in your hands, sing 'Hosanna.'"  It notes that many liturgical hymns of this day emphasize the perfect praise of the children, which differentiated from the adults in that it was innocent, fitting, unashamed, and from hearts of pure love.  So we also are called to glorify Christ in the same spirit (see Matthew 18:1-4).  In contrast, it says, the adults' praise carried earthly expectations and agendas which, when left unfulfilled, led them to rebel against Jesus only five days later (Matthew 27:20-23).  Jesus quotes from Psalm 8:2.

 

 Now in the morning as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."  Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  The fig tree, as my study Bible explains, is a symbol of prosperity and peace, and it withers because it is fruitless.  This is a prophetic act by Jesus which is directed toward the nation, as after three years of His preaching, teaching, and healing, both the leaders and the crowds were destitute of spiritual fruit.  He curses the tree also to warn those in every generation what will befall anyone who fails to listen to His message. 

 

 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  While there is no recorded incident of an apostle literally moving a mountain, my study Bible says, in patristic commentary it's clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (certain saints did make crevices appear in mountains).  Moreover, not all things done by the apostles were written down.  Beyond the literal meaning here, this promise illustrates the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  According to Theophylact, "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for things which are spiritually profitable.  

 

 

The story of Jesus' withering of the fig tree is what we might term "a hard saying."   Why would we term it that?  Because what it indicates is judgment, and the kind of judgment that we don't really want to hear.  It's about Christ's pronouncement of judgment on those who are "unfruitful."  That is, upon those who have benefited nothing from His ministry, who cannot receive it nor honor it, who refuse the salvation that He offers.  What it teaches us is something hard that, normally speaking, we don't want to accept.  That it is possible for people to lose this priceless gift through rejection, because they don't want to receive it.  When Jesus forgives from the Cross, saying, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34), we may understand this in a number of ways.  There is first of all a sense in which people really do not know what they reject when they reject Christ.  That is, the life of salvation that He offers, and the eternal life of the Kingdom.  This certainly would have applied to the Roman soldiers who followed their orders to crucify Him.  It can apply to all kinds of people in all of these stories in the Gospels of Christ's ministry.  The religious leaders and others know that Christ is a holy Man, and yet they reject Him; they know the works of the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament Scriptures.  But still, there may be ways in which they "do not know what they do," and yet are in some sense and through their own hard-heartedness, beyond repentance.  But we are assured in our faith that there is no sin which cannot be forgiven through repentance.  The question remains, however, what of those who reject and never repent?  This is, fortunately, not up to us, but up to only Christ who is the ultimate Judge, and the ultimate knower of hearts (Acts 1:24; 15:8).  In St. John's Gospel, Jesus tells the religious leaders, "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me" (John 8:15-16).  So we must ask ourselves again about this withering of the fig tree, a symbol of condemnation of that which is fruitless, which does not bear the spiritual fruit of its promise and potential -- even that for which it was created.  It certainly tells us something powerful about life itself, that there is life in Christ, and without His light we have the darkness that is death, that does not bring life into this world.  Is our life meant to be only about eating and drinking, or survival on its barest level, or the goods we can consume?  Life in Christ's light is so much more than this, and teaches us that we are so much more than this.  We diminish ourselves and our communities by refusing Christ and His love and light guiding us in His compassion.  Jesus will lament over Jerusalem, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"  (Matthew 23:37-39).  Let us consider the reality of this rejection, and what it means for people's lives, for we can see the barrenness of life without God's love and hope and compassion.  There are no systems or philosophies that can replace the intrinsic understanding of the priceless value of the soul placed upon it by God, by the One who died so that we can live.  Let us give careful thought to the reality of this teaching in the withering of the fig tree.  

 

 

 

 

Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away

 

 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it. 

 

So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city. 

 

 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

 

- Mark 11:12-26 

 

On Saturday we read that when Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; and He said to them, "Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat.  Loose it and bring it.  And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here."  So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.  But some of those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the colt?"  And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded.  So they let him go.  Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.  And many spread their clothes on the road, and the others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"  And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple.  So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve. 

 

Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it.   It was not the season for figs, my study Bible explains, means that this fig tree had sprouted an early fall foliage, which indicated a first crop, but without bearing any fruit.  So Jesus, finding not even one fig, condemns it.  In Scripture, my study Bible says, a fig tree is often a symbol of Israel (Hosea 9:10).  Her fruitfulness has ceased, so the Kingdom will be taken from her and given to another people, who are called to bear spiritual fruit (see Matthew 21:43; Galatians 5:22-23).  After three years of ministry, Christ has arrived in Jerusalem, where He will find refusal and rejection, rather than spiritual fruitfulness.

 

 So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city.  Those who bought and sold in the temple were trading in life animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins; this is because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar, who was worshiped as a god, and they were considered defiling in the temple.  The cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 to make His point clear regarding the use of the temple.  

 

  Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."   The cursing and withering of the fig tree is a prophetic act which signifies the judgment of Israel.  The disciples need to learn that the old covenant with Israel is becoming "obsolete" and will "vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13).  My study Bible explains that they will establish His Church, ultimately to be filled with Gentiles and Jews, and need assurance that they are following Christ's will.  The fig tree will be an indelible image in their minds. 

 

 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."  To have faith in God is to believe and follow.  From this faith in God, then, it follows that what one asks in prayer means necessarily prayer according to the will of God, not simply our own whims or aspirations alone.  My study Bible comments that while it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved mountain, patristic commentary is clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (certain saints did make crevices appear in mountains).  Additionally, it explains, not everything the apostles accomplished was written down.  Beyond the literal meaning, my study Bible adds, this promise is also an illustration of the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  Theophylact comments that "whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.  This passage is inseparable from Christ's words that follow regarding forgiveness.  

 

 "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."   Here Jesus insists upon mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven -- period, my study Bible claims.  This teaching is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), which concludes with this same teaching.  To not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.  

 

In today's reading, St. Peter draws attention to the fig tree, now dried up from its roots.  He says, "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."   All the disciples know very well this sequence of events, the curse by Jesus for fruitlessness (noted as metaphor to people), and then witnessing its complete desiccation (dried up from the roots).  Jesus' response is interesting, as He does not speak of the tree per se, but rather He speaks about faith.  He says, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."  There are those who seemingly read these words as if Jesus is saying that no matter what we think we want or need, if we just pray for them without any doubt that Jesus will make them happen for us, then they will.  But this is not what Jesus is teaching here.  Prayer is not a magical incantation; it's not bargaining or bribing or manipulating God; it's not a formula for manifestation.  First of all, in the prayer that Jesus gave us Himself (the Lord's Prayer), He has taught us to pray, "Our Father in heaven . . . Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:12; Luke 11:2).  Moreover, we recall from Christ's own life and practice His memorable prayer to the Father on the night before His Crucifixion.   Christ's first prayer, as reported by St. Matthew was as follows:  "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."  Christ's natural human response to death is to seek to let this cup pass from Him.  But His prayer ends with "not as I will, but as You will."  His next prayer is as follows:  "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."  This further enforces that Jesus prays above all not for His own (human) will to be done, but for the divine will He shares with the Father, "Your will be done" -- even if it means this cup of Crucifixion He wishes to avoid cannot pass away by any other means except that He drinks it, accepts it.  So Jesus is not saying that all we have to do is believe that God will do what we ask God to do; He is teaching us about the power of faith in God, and the reality that brings to us in seeking God's will.  This is the way to effective prayer.  That is, as my study Bible puts it, when we ask for spiritually profitable things.  What He says next emphasizes this, for He speaks about forgiveness: "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."   To forgive is to give up, to let go (this is the literal meaning of the word in Greek translated as forgive).   It is precisely as it is when a debt is forgiven; it is let go off the books.  When we thus "forgive" in this sense, when we let go and give it up, we are turning it over to God for God's will.  It's the same sense in which we are reminded by St. Paul that "'Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,' says the Lord" (Romans 12:19; quoting Deuteronomy 32:35).  To forgive in this sense, and particularly in the sense of giving up seeking vengeance, is to seek God's will instead of our own.  We let things go, and ask for God's way.  In this sense also, we are reminded that it is our work to seek God's will in all things, and to pursue that as best we can.  In this sense, our practices help us to discern God's will, to give ourselves to that will, to ask for the things we're led toward by that faith in God which Jesus says is of utmost importance.  And in this way, our prayers become effective and powerful.  We seek to align our will with God's will, to learn how to do that as best we can, and not the other way around.  Christ Himself gives us the ultimate example in seeking God's way.  It is this in which we are to place our faith and do not doubt.  Let us try as best we can to follow His word and teachings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!

 

 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  

 

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.   But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 

- Luke 19:41–48 

 

Yesterday we read that, after giving a parable to the disciples to prepare them for what will happen in Jerusalem, and their lives as apostles after His Passion, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, "Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, 'Why are you loosing it?' thus you shall say to him, 'Because the Lord has need of it.'"  So those who were sent went their way and found it just as he had said to them.  But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, "Why are you loosing the colt?"  And they said, "The Lord has need of him."  Then they brought him to Jesus.  And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him.  And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road.  Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: "'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples."  But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones  would immediately cry out."  

 

  Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes."  My study Bible says that Jerusalem means "foundation of peace."  Only faith in Christ, it says, brings true peace, which is a truth hidden from a city that will soon rebel against its Savior.  Peace here should not be confused with "false peace," which my study Bible calls a shallow harmony resulting from ignoring issues of truth.  Genuine peace, it says, is reconciliation to God through faith in Christ and surrender to truth.  Genuine peace has division as a byproduct, because not everyone wants truth.  Moreover, in the fallen world, divisions become necessary for truth to be manifest (see Luke 12:51; 1 Corinthians 11:18-19).

 

"For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  Jesus foretells the destruction of Jerusalem which would occur in AD 70.  My study Bible adds that this also describes the spiritual end of every person who lacks faith.

 

 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.   But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.  Those who bought and sold in the temple were trading in live animals to be used for sacrifices.   My study Bible says that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it's also a sign for us to cleanse our hearts and minds of earthly matters.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11.  Note how despite Christ's open conflict with the religious leaders, the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 

 The cleansing of the temple is an important lesson to us all, my study Bible says, because we are each a temple ourselves.  This places an emphasis on our knowing choices; that is, on our own initiative to guard ourselves and our hearts for what is good, and to cast away what is not good.  See, for example, Matthew 5:29, Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount:  "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."  Of course the "right eye" in this statement is a metaphor for something precious yet causing ailment -- perhaps a way we look or see, a covetousness that causes sin.  But Christ's cleansing of the temple, in today's reading, is also coupled with His warnings about what is to come in Jerusalem, and imply the consequences of "not knowing what makes for your peace."  That is, the rejection of Christ Himself by the people and the city.  There's an implied connection that the destruction of the city that was to come at the hands of the Romans is linked both to the cleansing of the temple and to the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by the nation.  The devastation to Jerusalem, and indeed, to all the Jewish people, which was to come in the Siege of Jerusalem, encompassed the most extreme levels of catastrophe and destruction.  The temple itself was destroyed to a remarkable extent, so that Christ's description here was absolutely true:  "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  So much so, that literally not one stone was left upon another, the Roman soldiers having believed rumors that there was gold between the stones, with a fire so intense it no doubt destroyed whatever gold there was.  Only one retaining wall remains of that splendid second temple as it was left by the building and refurbishing of Herod the Great, considered in its time one of the architectural marvels of the world.  (That wall for many centuries was known as the Wailing Wall, today called the Western Wall, remaining a site of prayer.)  This complete destruction and devastation in mayhem and fire is surely an image of hell -- in that sense reflecting Christ's words teaching us to cast off harmful habits (even those precious to us) so that our "whole body" is not cast into hell (again, see Matthew 5:29, quoted above).  For a devastation like this it must surely have been required that much was rejected, just as much corruption was practiced for a very long time.  In effect, it teaches us about rejecting what grace is on offer, especially when we know better.  It is evidence of the harmful effects of treating a priceless treasure, such as our faith, as if it were worthless.  One wonders if so much of what passes for popular culture might fall into this category today, where human beings considered to be precious and loved creations of God and meant for adoption as God's heirs -- are instead paraded as so much flesh for consumption, exploitation, and self-harm.  One doesn't have to look far from headlines, media, popular apps and websites, or the devastation of homelessness and destruction rooted in drug culture and the slavery of addiction.  Do we know better?  Like the people of Jerusalem, we may be very attentive to hear Christ.  But how do we follow Him in faith?  Let's note again the context of our reading today, coming after yesterday's statement by Christ that if His disciples were not witnessing their faith He is their Messiah, then the very stones would cry out (see yesterday's reading and commentary).  Today He speaks to Jerusalem, lamenting the ferocious fighting that will "level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  We should all take it as a warning for our own lives, and the world we create with our choices, lest we lose even that which we have.  For the things that make for our peace are found in Him.

 

 

 

Take these things away!

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.   And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 

- John 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read about the sixth and seventh days of the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry given to us in John's Gospel:   There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.   And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) this event occurs at the end of Christ's ministry, at the start of what we call Holy Week.  But John places it at the beginning.  There are certain Church Fathers who teach that Christ performed this act twice.  Those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves traded in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Roman coins, my study Bible explains, bore the image of Caesar and so were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible adds that the cleansing of the temple also points to the need to keep the Church free from earthly pursuits.  Moreover, as each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), so it's also a sign that our own hearts and minds be cleansed of earthly matters.  The disciples recall a passage from Psalm 69:9.

 

 So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Because Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by the religious authorities.  The term Jews in John's Gospel is most often a reference specifically to the Jewish leaders.  Here, it's a reference to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  As Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, my study Bible remarks, He answers in a hidden way.  The ultimate sign will be Christ's death and Resurrection. 

 

 My study Bible cites St. Paul, who teaches that each of us is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).  In that respect, Jesus' example of cleansing the temple serves as a reminder that our journey as Christians is not one merely of nice and beautiful things added to us, but it is also a call for us to be discerning, and even to put down boundaries toward things that take away or diminish this understanding of ourselves which Jesus gives, together with St. Paul.  Christ's action here is decisive.  While it's done in accordance with His identity as Messiah, the application of such decisive action also belongs to us in our own private lives.  It is in the nature of sin to be something that has effects that spread beyond the single person responsible, or the one separate act of sinning.  In Christ, of course, we have repentance and forgiveness, and we are blessed with grace through our baptism.  But the effects of sin nevertheless are always things we need to consider.  Perhaps the most stark example of such is the example of a parent who commits a serious crime, and goes to prison.  While the crime can be forgiven in the context of repentance and forgiveness in the Church, and the person may pay the adjudicated debt to society, nevertheless the effects of the sin persist on those who are affected in relationship and proximity.  Children pay a price for a parent who is in prison, or for violence encountered within the family, even for the social stigma that may be attached -- real or imagined by the child.  This is but one small example of how sin is not a private affair, but is rather like the effects of a rock cast into a pool.  The ripples continue and affect the whole pool.  The same can be said for something unclean or poisonous cast into that pool.  In this sense, we should think of what we decide we want to "cleanse" from our lives as that which we neither want to cast into the pool around us or perhaps want to distance ourselves from for protection of ourselves and others.  Gossip is one such thing we could consider under these circumstances.  The effects of malicious gossip can range from harmless if ignored to exceptionally tragic when they take their toll.  But either way, we don't want that to spread into our "pool," neither to us nor to others around us.  Perhaps we don't want to spend so much time around people who constantly bring this into our lives.  Especially as it is now Lent, let us consider giving up those things which pollute our own temples, and give them up in exchange for things we can think of doing that add beauty to our "pool" instead.  Rather than using time to spread a rumor or story we don't know is even true, why not take that same time instead to pick up a book on an uplifting subject, to plant some flowers, to walk in a park, to say a prayer?  There are all kinds of ways we can think of beautifying our lives in a spiritual sense, and so let us do so.  Equally important is to rid ourselves and our environment of the things which pollute and poison, for sin has such effects, whether we see them or not.  

 

Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. 

 

- John 2:13–25 

 

Yesterday we read that there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.  Yesterday's reading gave us the sixth and seventh days of the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry, corresponding to the sixth and seventh days of creation in Genesis 1.

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  In the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this event occurs at the end of Christ's ministry (it is His first act after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem beginning what we know as Holy Week).  But here in John's Gospel, it is placed at the beginning.  There are some patristic commentaries that Christ performed this act twice.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and doves traded in live animals which were to be used for sacrifices. Those who sold doves are profiting from the smallest animal for sacrifice, the one the poorest would purchase.  The money changers were trading Roman coins for Jewish coins; Roman coins had the image of Caesar on them (treated as a god) and so were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible comments that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  In the verses that follow, Christ will speak of His body as a temple.  But we are reminded that each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), and so the cleansing of the temple is also a sign that our hearts and minds should be cleansed of earthly matters that draw us away from the love and guidance of God.

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  As Jesus is not a Levitical priest, my study Bible explains, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by the religious leaders in the temple.  The term the Jews, some say, is more properly translated as "Judeans."  In this context, we remember that the temple is in Jerusalem (in Judea), and Jesus is from Galilee, where His ministry is based.  Moreover, by the time this Gospel was written, persecutions had begun of the followers of Christ.  So, this term "the Jews" when it appears in John's Gospel is used most often to indicate the religious leaders.  Here it refers to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  We need to recall that Jesus, His family, and His disciples (including John the author of this Gospel) are all Jews.  My study Bible also comments that as Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, He answers in a hidden way:  the ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection.  

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  In John's Gospel we find three Passover feasts reported that were attended by Jesus, between His Baptism and Passion (see also John 6:4; 11:55).  This is how we know His earthly ministry lasted three years. 

 

 It's interesting that today's passage ends with this statement:  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  Over the course of the past several readings -- in particular the readings of Wednesday and Thursday, when Christ was choosing His first disciples -- we have seen Christ repeatedly using this characteristic, that He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  This is part of His divinity, and He is known as the Discerner of Hearts.  In the Book of Acts, there is a particular Greek term applied to Christ, a noun used when the disciples, now founding the Church, seek Christ's discernment through prayer.  That word in Greek is καρδιογνώστης/kardiognostes ("heart-knower").  It's usually translated by invoking an address to Christ, using the term Lord, or God, referring to One who knows the heart (see Acts 1:24; 15:8).  But the term "heart-knower" as direct translation from the Greek, is important, as it gives us a solid and foundational identity of the Lord, and this expression manifest in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, as experienced and witnessed by the disciples.  For this is part of the power of faith, a kind of experience that they who knew the human Jesus Christ have witnessed directly, but that all believers can witness through prayer and worship in spiritual experience, if you will.   With the experience of living our faith, we come to perceive that Christ knows our hearts before we do, and we continually witness through the stories in the Gospels that Jesus manifests this ability; it is characteristic of Him.  There are times when He will assertively draw out from people their heart's desire by asking, for example, "What do you want Me to do for you?" (Matthew 20:32 and other locations).  But in John's Gospel, we have already understood it clearly established that this is part of who Christ is; it is part of the manifestation of His divinity even in the human Jesus in the world.  It is in John's Gospel that Jesus explicitly tells us (in His final address to the disciples at the Last Supper), "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7).  This is such an important tenet of our faith that we must remember it when reading the Gospel, for it is one of the purposes of the Incarnation, that through Christ we know God the Father.  We are given explicit knowledge of God's desire to save, to heal, to restore, together all of us to God.  This is God's love explicitly expressed for us, so that we know God's love, and we learn love as well.  Again, it is John the Evangelist who will also tell us, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).  The "heart-knower" then, we can be assured, is also love, and the author of love, the One who teaches us love -- and we need love to know God.  So when we read in today's reading that Christ also fulfills the prophesy of the Psalmist, "Zeal for your house has eaten Me up" (Psalm 69:9), we should know also that this zeal is a zeal born of love, a compassionate, rigorous love for human beings who need God and God's love.  The full text of that psalm verse reads, "Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on Me."  This is surely true of Christ, who out of love bore those reproaches Himself.  Let us consider today that zeal, the love that motivates Christ to cleanse the temple for it is the place where the people are cared for and nurtured by God, but unfortunately can also become a place of corruption, where people are led astray.  May we all carry and experience Christ's love for ourselves, and grow in that love in response.

 

Let no one eat fruit from you ever again

 

 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response, Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it.  

So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "  And the scribes and the chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city.

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.  And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

 

- Mark 11:12-25

On Saturday, we read that Jesus and the disciples came to Jericho (as they traveled on the road to Jerusalem).  As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

 

 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.  And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it.  When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  In response, Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  And His disciples heard it.   Between Saturday's reading (see above) and today, is Mark 11:1-11, the passage which describes the events of Palm Sunday, or Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Presumably, it's not included as today's reading because Palm Sunday was celebrated in most Churches yesterday.  The exception is the Eastern Orthodox, for whom Easter comes in May this year, as in Eastern Orthodox tradition Easter is calculated to fall after Passover.  (Passover this year takes place April 22 - 30, 2024).  So this "next day" described in today's reading is Monday of Holy Week, the final week of Christ's earthly life, and corresponds to today in most church calendars.  My study Bible comments that it was not the season for figs means that this fig tree had sprouted an early full foliage, seeming to indicate a first crop -- but it had not borne any fruit.  So, Jesus, finding not a single fig, condemns it.  In Scripture, my study Bible says, a fig tree is frequently a symbol of Israel (Hosea 9:10).  So, in this case, it is a sign of the lack of fruitfulness, even after the fullness of Christ's earthly ministry.  The Kingdom will be taken from her and given to another people, called to bear spiritual fruit (see Matthew 21:43; Galatians 5:22-23).  In the poetry of the ancient world, and even of Scripture (Song of Solomon 2:13) figs are the sweetest and richest of fruit, and so symbolizing spiritual treasure.  Here, the lack of figs shows spiritual barrenness.

So they came to Jerusalem.  Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.  Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'?  But you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "  And the scribes and the chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.  When evening had come, He went out of the city.  Those who bought and sold in the temple were trading in life animals which were used for sacrifices.  The job of the money changers was to trade Roman coins for Jewish ones, as Roman coins bore the image of Caesar (worshiped as a god) and so were considered to be defiling in the temple.  Here Jesus -- clearly upset at the trade which seems geared to make profits at the expense of the pilgrims who come to worship at Passover -- quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:1 in order to make an explicit statement about the practices of the religious leadership.  My study Bible says that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  As each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), it notes, this is also a sign that our hearts and minds must be cleansed of earthly matters.  

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look!  The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."  My study Bible comments that the cursing and withering of the fig tree is a prophetic act signifying the judgment of Israel.  It notes that the disciples need to learn that the old covenant with Israel is becoming "obsolete" and will "vanish away" (Hebrews 8:13).  They will establish His Church, filled ultimately with both Gentiles and Jews, and they need assurance that they are following His will.  Thus, my study Bible asserts, this fig tree will be an indelible image in their minds. 

 

  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."  My study Bible comments that, while it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved a mountain, the patristic literature is clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (there are legends of certain saints making crevices appear in mountains).  Moreover, my study Bible adds, not everything the apostles accomplished was written down.  Beyond the literal meaning, this is a promise which illustrates the power of faith and prayer in all areas of life.  My study Bible quotes Theophylact as saying, "Whatever we ask, without hesitation and believing in God's power, we shall receive" when we ask for spiritually profitable things.  

 

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.  But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."  This is a very essential addition to Christ's teaching regarding the power of faith.  Forgiveness is inescapable as a component of the effectiveness of faith, and a part of faith.  In forgiveness, one does not necessarily invite close relations with people who will abuse or hurt, but it is similar to confession.  Forgiveness, in the Gospels, is a word that means to "let go."  Essentially, we "let go" of hurts, debts, trespasses (in the language of the Lord's Prayer) and give them to God, to guide us through the proper response and to heal us.  In this way, they do not stand as obstacles to our relationship to God.  This mutual forgiveness assures us of our own forgiveness from God.  In this way, we also affirm for ourselves that judgment -- for all, including ourselves -- is ultimately in the hands of God.

 

In today's passage, we're given rather vivid images of Christ acting decisively, even somewhat violently, with coercive action designed to make an indelible impression (in the words of my study Bible).  The first such action is perhaps His curse upon the fig tree, overheard by the disciples, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."  The way the passage is written seems designed to let us know that this act by Christ was not necessarily one intended with calm foresight as a demonstration or teaching action, but rather one made out of the depths of Christ's reactions to the things He finds in Jerusalem, and even what He knows is going to come.  Perhaps it is only He who knows that this is the final week of His earthly life, and what is to come in a few days.  But this decisive action on His part has clearly the significance of a judgment coming from Christ.  Then He moves on to the temple and again, the vehemence of what is in His understanding about the corruption in the temple and the practices of the religious leadership results in the strongest and perhaps most violent action undertaken by Christ as He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  If we want to understand the indignation expressed here, we have only to look at Matthew 23, the fullness of His scathing indictment of the scribes and Pharisees and their corruption and hypocrisy.  These incidents come at this stage because it is the closing week of Christ's earthly life, so if we wish to extrapolate, we could say that the time has come because His "time" (or His "hour") draws near, and after that He will not be in the world any longer, and so circumstances for these institutions and these men whom He addresses will change.  John's Gospel focuses a lot of attention on Christ's "hour" (the time of glorification, of the Cross, His Passion), and so repeats several warnings by Jesus saying that it is only "a little while longer" that He would be with them (John 7:33; 12:35; 13:33).  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus says flatly, "For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: 'And He was numbered with the transgressors.'  For the things concerning Me have an end" (Luke 22:37).  Therefore, the things that appear surprisingly violent in some sense to us in today's reading come as Jesus knows the time is very near that His "end" is at hand, and the spiritual fruits that could be hoped for from the religious leadership are not forthcoming.  In this sense, we do well to consider that Christ's ministry is decided not by Himself alone, but by the Father, for it is the Father who determines the times of things (Mark 13:32), and so if no fruits have been produced by now, these leaders who now seek to put Him to death are far from likely to produce any fruits of repentance at all.  Let us remember that we are now in Holy Week, and walk with Christ knowing what is to come.  For the message here to us is clear, that things do eventually have an end, even our very lives in this world.  "Ever again" is long time.  Therefore, today's events indicate to us that our time in life is precious, and every moment is one in which we may meet Christ and find where He calls us, what fruits He desires from us.  What do you need to change?  Today's reading ends with a note endorsing and emphasizing faith.  Let us remember where to turn when we feel stuck, or when we need a new start.