ON THE WAY to the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus’ disciples heard him curse a barren fig tree: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” (Mark 11:14) Arriving at the temple, Jesus drove out all the merchants, and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:17) At this point, “The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him.” (Mark 11:18) As Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem this day, “they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.” (Mark 11:20) His actions were an indictment of the total failure of the priests of the covenant of the Law, and his scathing rebuke did not go unnoticed.
The next scene in Mark’s gospel displays the furious hatred of the entrenched religious leaders of Jerusalem towards Jesus. No longer do they merely tolerate him with sneers and indignation; now they actively seek to trap him into speaking heresy by means of intellectual sophistry. Their motivation is malignant, for they seek his death. “‘Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay, or shouldn’t we,’ they asked? But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ And they were amazed at him.” (Mark 12:13-17) Their desire to kill him mounts.
This is neither the first time, nor will it be the last, that Jesus has been challenged in this way. But this escalates a decided shift in the tone of Jesus’ responses. He now deliberately makes fools of the leaders in public, and, throughout the rest of this chapter, he does so in the full view of and to the to the delight of the on-looking crowds. And this happens at the temple, in the center of their base of power. Jesus is no mere agent provocateur of an obscure and schismatic separatist group. He is definitely different and decidedly dissident, and the religious leaders rightfully perceive him as a threat. However, they have misread the scope of this issue; it is existential in nature. They do not realize that this is not some ineffectual challenge from a weak minority, but instead portends a disastrous judgment by an all-powerful God. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” said the 19 th C. English Lord Acton of human abuses of power. The reform actions of the Pharisees that had begun so admirably in Jerusalem in the 5 th C. B.C. with Ezra and Nehemiah have now become irredeemably iniquitous.
As they left the temple again, one of Jesus’ disciples said “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” Jesus replied, “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1-2) So would end the temple and the nation. The ominous curse on the fig tree was carried out in the great destruction and diaspora of all Israel beginning in 68 A.D. Great nations rot from within before they are conquered by outside forces. The history of Israel is not unusual in this sense. Rome, Israel’s harsh and destructive ruler in Jesus’ time, would suffer a similar fate; perhaps today’s nations stand at the edge of such judgment.
It is the historical story of all past failed nations and cultures. Unchecked corruption will unavoidably and inevitably destroy all that it comes in contact with. If, however, instead of calling it corruption we call it sin, we change the perspective by which we attempt to understand such complex issues. When we look at it this way, through the lens of orthodox biblical theology and the evidence of history, we clarify the issues with irrefutable truth, just as Jesus did when he differentiated between what is of this world—Caesar’s—and what belongs to God. Great truth demolishes complex intellectual sophistry by bringing the core of any issue into crystal-clear focus. The issue for nations is the same as the issue for the individual: Who is in charge of the vision, the mission, the methods, and the outcomes?
It all began with this: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17)
It will end with this: “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’” (Rev. 22:18-20)
Seems pretty straightforward. Not hard to understand.
Q. Have I stepped fully into the now part of the Kingdom of Heaven?
Leave a Reply