Christians call the day after Palm Sunday, 'Fig Monday.' On this day Jesus curses a fruitless fig tree and chases the corrupt people out of the Temple.
At first these two events seem unrelated and frankly, quite odd. But viewed together, we see that they are what is known as, 'an acted parable.'
In Mark 11, these event appear in this order:
Jesus curses the Fig Tree
Jesus cleanses the Temple
Jesus revisits the cursed Fig Tree
In this final week of Jesus' life, he comes to both the Fig Tree and the Temple -seeking fruit, seeking life, seeking nourishment. His physical hunger drove him to the Fig Tree, but since it was barren he cursed it. His spiritual hunger drove him to the Temple, but when he arrived it had been transformed into a commercial enterprise -and so he blasted it as well.
In this way we can see a link between these two events. What Jesus does to the Fig Tree he will do to the Temple. This story challenges us to ask the question, what would Jesus find if he came to our Churches, or into our homes? Would he find fruit? Would he find life?
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