Matthew 21 - Withered at the Root!

And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21: 19-22.

As Jesus prepared to enter the city of Jerusalem again, He did something very strange - He cursed a fig tree beside the road. The Bible says that He was hungry and desired to eat some of the fruit resting under the green leaves, and yet when He lifted the leaves, there was nothing there. And so He cursed the tree, declaring "No man eat from you ever again!" The tree dried up from its roots and died, astonishing the disciples.

Why would Jesus do this? It was another metaphorical, spiritual teaching that revealed a profound truth. The fig tree represented Israel, God's holy people who were to shine forth His truth to the whole world; they were the ones charged with spiritually feeding the nations around them. But sadly, like this tree, they had the green leaves, but underneath all the artifice and religious rituals, there was no fruit. None of their law keeping and religion could save people and set them free from the bondage of sin.

Jesus, acting as God, cursed that system at its root, because it bore no fruit and it never would. Sure, the system would linger for a time, just as a tree or plant will do when its root dies, but eventually destruction came. The temple system lingered from 30 AD to 70 AD, a full 40 years, before it was destroyed by the Roman armies. God judged it for its unfruitfulness and ushered in the New Covenant.

Jesus told His disciples that the things that are impossible with man are possible with God. He told them that they, likewise, could be able to speak to the mountain of persecution, oppression, and hindrance IN FAITH, and tell it to be removed, and it would come to pass as they believed. This entire teaching of the fig tree was a prophecy that the cursed temple system would be destroyed, but that before its final removal, the world/religious system would be vehemently opposed to the Gospel message. We know this is true historically, as many in Jesus' generation were martyred for their faith and suffered terrible persecutions from their fellow Jewish kinsmen and the Roman government (the Antichrist, Nero) before 70 AD.

Today, there are many Christians who suffer terribly for their faith in Jesus. But praise God, we can speak to those mountains that stand in the way of the kingdom, tell them to be removed, and they will be removed. It may take some time, but that mountain must go. All of us must stand firm and believe! Our heavenly father will show us exactly how to pray and reveal to us exactly what we are to do. He has not left us as orphans - we have His wonderful spirit living inside of us!

Matthew 21 - The Triumphal Entry

And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. Matthew 21:6-9

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He announced Himself as Messiah in a way that may seem very strange to us Americans living in our day and time. Instead of making some huge proclamation and stating, "I am Messiah, I am the Son of David, etc." He announced Himself in the proper Jewish way, in that He entered in fulfillment of prophecy. Israel had always been told that the true Messiah (and there were many false ones!) would come in fulfillment of what God had told the prophets of old. God always delivered His Word through the prophets and then manifestation of that Word would come later - sometimes thousands of years later, as is the case with the prophecies speaking of Jesus.

And so, as Jesus entered the city gates, He did so riding a donkey (a sign of peace), in fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. He was also proclaiming Himself as the promised Anointed One who the prophets of old said would be rejected by His people. Acting on behalf of God, He then did something that might seem strange at first, but it makes perfect sense - He went to God's house and examined what was going on there. Instead of finding a house of prayer, He saw sin, corruption, thievery, that the leaders of Israel had turned His house into a nasty, evil business! As any of us would do in seeing filth in our houses, He set out to clean His house - and if we would react with violence in seeing corruption in our houses, how much more a holy God!

Jesus took the spiritual authority He had as God in the flesh and declared judgment against that wicked generation who had forsaken their obligation to be God's representatives on the earth. They turned a blind eye to God's truth, hardened their hearts, stiffened their necks, and stopped up their ears, ignoring God's pleas for them to repent. Finally, His great patience ran out, and all was destroyed in 70AD!