Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
February 20, 2024
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus' curse of the fig tree is emblematic of His "curse" of the "Fig-Tree-Nation".
Introduction: Last week we wound up our studies of Mark's chiastic presentation of the issue of participation in the Kingdom of God.
This evening we are beginning a study of the next major sub-section of Mark's presentation of the issues involved in the Kingdom of God. The first of these issues has to do with the question of how we know that Jesus was correct in His split from the national leadership because of the greatness of their perversion of both "Love" and "Truth".
- I. The Structure Of This Section.
- A. Following the chiasm of 9:1-11:11.
- 1. This chiasm has the main point in 10:13-16 where the issue of the entire chiasm is brought into focus: participation in the Kingdom of God is rooted in "receiving the Kingdom like a child": this answers the question, "What does it take to participate in the Kingdom of God?"
- 2. Following upon this major sub-thesis is the material of 11:12-12:44 which consists of "Jesus' rejection of the nation's leaders" (11:12-12:12), the leaders' attempts to trap Him with deceitful questions (12:13-34), and Jesus' justification of His rejection of those leaders (12:35-44): this answers the question, "Why did Jesus reject the nation's leaders?"
- 3. Following this record of the "rejections" (Jesus of the leaders and the leaders of Jesus), there is chapter 13 which answers the question, "When, then, will the Kingdom come?"
- B. The record of "rejection" begins with Jesus' curse upon the fig tree (11:12-26); a record that is structured in terms of "The Curse", "The Reason", and "The Necessity of Faith".
- 1. The record of Jesus' treatment of the fig tree is interrupted by the record of His treatment of those in the Temple who have perverted the essence of "worship" as it affects "others" (a category that reaches to the nations).
- a. The actual curse.
- b. The violent attack upon those in the Temple.
- c. The return to the curse with instruction about the missing element of "Faith".
- 2. The record of the actual "curse" is deliberately puzzling: it was not the season for figs.
- a. The issue of "the season" in Mark.
- 1) In 1:15 (within Mark's extended introduction to his record: 1:1-20), the beginning of the ministry of Jesus has his declaration: "The season is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand..."
- a) Prophetically, this is the time of the coming of "Messiah" (Daniel 9:25).
- (1) The time frame is the sixty-ninth week, the last set of seven years in which there is a convincing manifestation of "Messiah".
- (2) This time frame would be from somewhere in the year 27 A.D. to Passover in the year 33 A.D. according to the calendar that is now in place.
- b) This fits the statement of Luke 3:23 that Jesus was "beginning, as it were, His thirtieth year" (the Greek is flexible).
- (1) But not as "flexible" as the NASB implies because the phrase in that translation inserts "His ministry" and, thus, corrupts the actual statement by Luke.
- (2) Luke does not say "Jesus was beginning His thirtieth year", but, rather, "Jesus was beginning, as it were, His thirtieth year" which allows some level of imprecision, but not a lot.
- c) This is Mark's first mention of a "season".
- 2) Mark's second use of "season" is in 10:30.
- a) This "season" is the life span of the person who "follows Jesus" to the degree that certain significant sacrifices have to be made (10:28-29).
- b) This "season" is a time of "harvesting" the benefits of making the sacrifices.
- 3) Mark's third use of "season" is the one before us in 11:13.
- a) In this case, "season" refers to the typical time of fig production by fig trees.
- b) The jarring statement that Jesus cursed a fig tree when it was not the season of figs forces us to see some things that are not "obvious".
- c) The context argues that Jesus is using the "fig tree" as a metaphor of the nation's fruitlessness which, like the fig tree, has been seriously damaged by Sin's presence in the world.
- (1) There is no "legitimate season" for fruitlessness.
- (2) But, ever since the fall, trees have not borne fruit throughout the year as was the case in the Garden.
- 4) In 12:2 Mark records Jesus' parable about the greediness of those to whom the owner of the vineyard had entrusted his vineyard.
- 5) And Mark's last use of the term in 13:33 addresses the reality of a coming "season" when the days of tribulation will reach their climax.
