Appearances are often deceiving. What we think we see does not represent reality. Sometimes this difference can be a pleasant surprise. The hulking, brutish, hardened looking man turns out be someone who is very kind, compassionate, and humorous with a genuine interest in serving others. Other times, reality is not so pleasing. We cut into a beautiful looking fruit, only to find that it is rotten on the inside.
When people pretend to be something they are not, particularly when they show a righteous face to the public while living unholy lives, we call them hypocrites. During the last few days of His life on earth Jesus taught some important lessons about hypocrisy. In chapter 11, verses 12 through 26 Mark writes, “The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry.
Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Jesus told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” and his disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables, and the seats of those who sold the doves. He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple. He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!” The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, he went out of the city. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.” Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. For most certainly I tell you, whoever may tell this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and doesn’t doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is happening; he shall have whatever he says. Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.””
The incident of the fig tree troubles many people. Why would Jesus curse the tree for not having any figs when it was not the season for figs? Why blame the tree for not bearing fruit out of season? However, when we take a closer look, we realize that Jesus did not curse the tree for not bearing fruit out of season. Instead, he cursed it for giving a false impression. Though it was not the season for figs, the tree was in leaf indicating that it had figs as well. However, when Jesus examined the tree He discovered that the tree’s appearance did not match reality. It was a hypocrite.
Jesus dealt with a more serious form of hypocrisy when He entered Jerusalem. God intended the Temple to be a place of prayer and worship. Moreover, the Temple was not only for the Jewish people. Around the sanctuary was a large courtyard. Though non-Jewish people were forbidden to enter the Temple, itself, the courtyard was a place where they could pray and seek God. However, the religious leaders in Jerusalem had turned the courtyard intended for non-Jewish people into a place of business. They not only sold animals for sacrifice, they also exchanged the money used for the Temple tax there. Mark indicates that some of the things which were bought and sold were not even related to the Temple rituals. In short, the leaders who controlled the Temple had forgotten its purpose. Instead of helping and encouraging foreigners to seek after God, they were making it impossible for them to worship. They were serving themselves and profiting from the Temple instead of serving God. They were using a cloak of religion to mask their own greed.
Jesus would have none of it. He drove the businessmen out of the Temple and cleared the courtyard so it would be available for worship and prayer again. The religious leaders were powerless to stop Him. However, instead of repenting of their sin and hypocrisy, they plotted to kill the One who exposed them for what they were.
The next day the disciples noticed that the fig tree which Jesus cursed, had withered. Jesus not only used the fig tree as a lesson in faith, He also used it to teach about forgiveness. The tree was a metaphor for the corrupt, hypocritical religious leaders of the Temple. Jesus cursed the tree because, contrary to appearances, it had no fruit. The religious leaders would similarly be cursed if they continued in their hypocrisy. In the same way, the disciples could not expect God to forgive their own hypocrisy if they would not forgive others.
When Jesus arrived back at the Temple, the religious leaders confronted Him. In verses 27 through 33 Mark writes, “They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him, and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ If we should say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.””
The religious leaders showed their own lack of spiritual awareness when they asked Jesus about His authority. How could one man clear the Temple courts by Himself? The fact that none of the businessmen or, more importantly, the Temple police could stop Jesus should have been an indication that He was doing it in the power of God. Further, these men who prided themselves on knowing the Scriptures should have remembered what God said through the prophet Malachi, ““…suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” (Malachi 3:1-3 NIV) Just as a refiner’s fire causes the dross to come to the surface and as soap lifts the dirt from cloth, Jesus’ question exposed the dishonesty of those who confronted Him.