There is a lot happening in today’s Gospel. It is marvelous to see how a holiness, confidence in prayer, and the Word of God are all connected in Jesus’ words and actions. We see a Jesus in today’s Gospel that we are not accustomed to seeing. This an angry, forceful Jesus. He has a judging attitude and a clear, forceful action.
Jesus arrives in the capital with his disciples and enters the temple. After spending the late afternoon looking around, he goes to a nearby town to spend the night. On the road back to the temple he comes across a fig tree and looks for fruit. But the tree has no fruit in the moment when it is needed. His reaction is to curse the tree.
Then he goes to the city and enters the temple. In the time of Ezekiel, the prophet, “the glory of God” left the temple due to Israel’s infidelity. In Jesus’ time the people had set up a relationship with God based on external rites and sacrifices that could be bought and traded. Jesus who is “the glory of God” comes to the temple looking for holiness, a people with a right relationship with God and each other. But he finds no holiness, only a den of thieves, a business system of external rites and sacrifices. His reaction is to drive out all the money changers and the sellers of sacrificial animals.
Afterwards Jesus explains to his disciples the importance of prayer, confidence in God, and forgiving each other as a way of life. He is obviously dismissing the business of trading or buying favors from God through external rites in a temple.
The fig tree’s purpose is to give fruit. The purpose of Israel was to be a sign of holiness, God’s presence in the world. Today we as a local church are the house of God and we have that same mission: to be a sign of holiness and forgiveness in our families, neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces.
Image: https://medjugorjemalta.blogspot.com/2010/05/mk-1111-26.html