Lost Purpose

Is Jesus getting mad evidence of his human side or his God-like nature?

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." - Matt. 21:12-22

Matthew puts a lot into this one paragraph, from overturning tables in the Temple to healing the lame and blind, and causing a fig tree to wither and die.

If this was all we knew about Jesus, what kind of person would we think he is?

The money changers existed because the Temple Priests demanded a sacrifice by all who came, even the poor, who had to scrape together whatever money they had to afford to buy a pigeon, the cheapest sacrificial animal.

By throwing the money changers and vendors out, Jesus was slapping those Temple Priests in the face.  How dare you turn My Father's house into a money-making entity.

All should be able to come and pray, to be close to God.

So, he defies the leaders of the faith, accusing them of dealing in self-interest.

While he is there, he cures those in need of healing.  So, his anger is focused.  He is compassionate toward the poor and the sick.

But what about the poor fig tree?

The way Matthew tells it, his action was an example of faith, done to teach the disciples.  It was not about the fig tree at all.

But how can you not feel for the poor tree?

Remembering the parable of the vine grower, you could rationalize it away.  The tree produced no fruit, so it was rejected, but look at what actually happened.

When the tree was told that it would never produce fruit again, it withered and died.

It's purpose was lost.

What it tells me is that we all need to produce fruit.  We all need to do whatever it takes to improve this world.

When we can no longer do that, we die.

More to come...