Easter: Daily Meditations On Holy WeekSample

Holy Monday: Fig Tree

INTRODUCTION

Text: Today we pause to engage with Holy Monday. We will focus on Jesus cursing the fig tree before entering the temple. 

Reading: Read and consider this verse: “On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' ...” (Mark 11:12-14 ESV) 

Text: Take a few moments to fill your imagination with what this might have looked like. Try to place yourself at the fig tree with Jesus and the disciples. 

Prayer: Pray this prayer and consider its words: “Holy Father, you are the king and ruler of all. Complete justice is in your hands alone. You weigh and judge. You remember and keep an account. You are perfectly righteous in all your ways and pronouncements, yet you also extend forgiveness. Help me, today, to see the severity of your curse and the fullness of your blessing.” 

BACKGROUND

Text: Many in Israel had constantly shown themselves to be a fruitless tree. Though adorned with the trappings of health, their faith and trust in God were dead to the root. They outwardly claimed to know the Lord, but inwardly knew him not. 

Verse: Read this warning from God: “The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” (Isaiah 1:3 ESV)

Text: Fig trees always show their leaves after they bear their fruit. Therefore, leaves should be a sign that the fruit is ready. However, the tree which Jesus cursed claimed fruit was present when it was not. It bore leaves, but no fruit. Take a moment to let Jesus’s object lesson sink in. Meditate on what this tree represents. Think about there being the trappings and signs of fruit, but no fruit. Think about how that connects to Israel’s life and your own. 

Verse: Read the following verse. If you can, speak the words of Jesus aloud: “... seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again! ...” (Matthew 21:19 ESV)

Text: This was a symbolic cursing of the sin and apostasy of Israel. Jesus is the judge of the world. His word is final and unchangeable. He holds the power to curse and the power to bless. He is mighty. 

RESPONSE 

Verse: Read this declaration of Jesus as judge: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31 NASB) 

Text: God granted Jesus the position of judge over the world and proved his appointment by raising him from the dead. 

Prayer: Take the next few minutes to pray your own prayer to Jesus the judge. Honor him for his power. Marvel at the perfect measure by which he weighs all humanity. Thank him for keeping evil accountable. Celebrate in the fact that he rewards goodness.  

CONFESSION 

Text: It is a sobering fact to realize that we would be in no better position than the judged fig tree without Christ’s intervention. Without God’s help, we would all be faking our fruit with lying leaves. Take a moment to consider, lament, and confess your need for help. 

Prayer: Pray this prayer: “Loving God, you are the creator and ruler of this world. As such, you have granted Jesus, your son, with all power to rule and reign. Jesus, we worship in the truth that you are the judge. We worship because you are a judge who does not stay on his throne. You are a judge who leaves his throne to take the judgment we deserve. Glory to your name!” 

GOSPEL

Text: The fig tree is as much about the state of Israel’s salvation as it is about the timing of all salvation. 

Verse: Read Matthew’s account of Jesus explaining what the fig tree represents: “... as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.” (Matthew 24:32-33 ESV)

Text: At the fullness of time Jesus came to the earth and at the fullness of time Jesus will return. He is both the one who came to bear sin and the one who will come to judge sin. Jesus is the judge who cursed the fig tree. But Jesus is also the suffering servant who took our curse on a tree. The judge has become our advocate. The only sovereign who holds the world accountable has interceded for us.

Prayer: Spend a few minutes in prayer. Thank Jesus for taking the curse we deserved on himself. Rejoice that he came at the perfect moment. Express your expectation of his perfectly timed return in the future.  

Verse: See in this verse how we stand before Christ our judge: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NASB)

Prayer: Spend these remaining moments in joyful prayer, thanking Jesus for his power as Judge, his perfect timing as Savior and his ultimate sacrifice of becoming the curse for us.