Friday in the Eighth Week of Ordinary Time, May 27, 2021

Mark 11:11-26

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve. The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!” And his disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area. Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written:   My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples? But you have made it a den of thieves.”  The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city. Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots. Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions.”

“The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.”  The custom of the time and place was to eat a single meal, normally around noon.  Work would begin soon after the break of day, continue till noon, and then after dinner work went on until the sun began to set.  Everyone went back to the house and went to bed then.  One of the most noteworthy aspects of the Passover meal was that it was decreed to be eaten after sunset, contrary to custom.  Jesus is hungry because he has not eaten since noon of the previous day, when he did not have enough time or opportunity to eat much, or he may have been fasting during this last journey to Jerusalem, but now after he has reached it, he can break his fast.  “Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it.”  So frequently in the Gospels we see the Lord performing miracles or delivering momentous teaching.  Here we see him performing a very human, natural action, peering through the branches and leaves of a tree in search of fruit.  He does this as a sign to the Apostles, however.  He knows very well that this tree has no fruit on it.  “When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs.”  This comment by Mark assures us that this is a prophetic action in the tradition of actions performed by the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  “And he said to it in reply, ‘May no one ever eat of your fruit again!’ ”  Ordinarily, this outburst would have been thought to be a sign of insanity: cursing a fig tree for not bearing fruit when it was not time for it and the Apostles do not immediately understand what Jesus is doing.  St. Matthew tells the story in a slightly different way and reports that the Apostles remarked to him about this.  But then Jesus leads them on to Jerusalem. 

“He began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”  While this may seem like a different story, it is in fact key to understanding the curse of the fig tree.  The Lord finds corruption and filth in his house and he begins to purify it.  This is also a prophetic sign, since the Temple courtyards were vast and he set on the money changers and animals sellers in only one corner of it.  Nor does he set a guard of Apostles to keep these people from returning.  Jesus performs this sign in order to show that this was his house inasmuch as it was his Father’s house, and that he was displeased with how it was being treated.  The money changers and sellers signify the high priests and the Sanhedrin.  The Lord casting them out shows that those entrusted with his house are now expelled from it as unworthy, as profaners of the holy place: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”  The high priests and Sanhedrin heard of this and, understanding the sign he performed, were livid, rather than repentant.  And instead  of examining their consciences and turning away from their wickedness, they would kill the one who had shone them up: “The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death.”

The next morning finds the Lord and the Apostles once again leaving Bethany for Jerusalem.  The Apostles are probably wondering what he will do next.  But then “they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.”  Peter points this out to the Lord with wonder.  It is dawning on Peter that the Lord’s action with the tree the day before was meant as a sign.  Now he is trying to put it together.  It seems to me that the story ends there, with Peter’s remark, and that the Lord’s teaching about faith and prayer comes at a later time and is not related to the tree, since the Lord does not mention it again, and the teaching he gives next does not really apply to the message of the withered tree.  The fig tree signified the Jews, and particularly their leadership (much as the cedar tree, shown on the Lebanese flag, signifies Lebanon).  The Lord looked for fruit upon it at a time when there should be no fruit, and he cursed it.  Now, how much more would he have cursed it if it had been time for fruit and he had found none on it?  Going into Jerusalem and coming to the Temple, he found no “fruit”: he found only the corruption of the high priests and Sanhedrin, though it was indeed the time for fruit, for he had now spent three years preaching repentance and the coming of the kingdom, and this after the years of preparation by John the Baptist.  He had healed the sick, cast out demons, taught the Gospel, and raised the dead.  Instead of recognizing their Messiah and welcoming him with joy, the Jewish leaders tried to thwart him every step of his way.  The time for fruit had come, but there was no fruit to be found.  The story ends there, with Peter’s observation, and the meaning would be clear to anyone who thought about it.  The Lord did not have to spell it out for them.  As he would say later to the high priests and the elders, “Therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation yielding fruit” (Matthew 22, 43).  This other “nation” is that of the Gentiles, and ultimately meaning the Church.

While we can wonder at this sign, we ought to apply its lesson to ourselves as well: We have heard the Lord’s call to repent, and so it is time for fruit from us.  What will he find when he looks for it?