Got Fruit?
Matthew 21:18-22
May 27, 2012
As you know we are now caught up in the events of
The final week of Jesus’ life.
Beginning in our text today it is now Wednesday morning.
On Monday
• Jesus rode into town on the colt of a donkey and was praised by the people as the coming conqueror.
• As soon as that event was over Jesus wept over Jerusalem for their hardness of heart and failure to recognize her time of visitation.
• He then entered the temple, looked around, and returned home to Bethany.
On Tuesday morning
• Jesus entered Jerusalem again, this time declaring war. Only He didn’t declare war on the Roman garrison, Jesus declared war on the temple.
The temple was full of hypocrisy, full of extortion, full of greed, full of deceit.
What was supposed to have been a house of prayer had become a den of robbers.
So Jesus threw over the tables of the money changers,
Made a whip and drove people out of the temple.
• He then healed the blind and lame, thus fulfilling prophecies about His true Messiahship and then He once again returned home to Bethany.
Now it is Wednesday and Jesus once again is returning to Jerusalem.
But the events we study this morning
Take place before Jesus ever makes it back to the city.
He curses a fig tree and then He explains it to the disciples.
• The fig tree is cursed for its lack of fruit.
• Jesus then explains to the disciples how to bear fruit.
The issue is fruit.
Jesus is sick and tired of the fruitless displays of Israel.
And this event is really a pre-cursor
To the preaching He is about to do in the temple.
Once Jesus hits the temple He first gets attacked by the Pharisees
Who question His authority.
And then Jesus does some questioning of His own
In the form of two parables.
“The Parable of the Two Sons” (28-32)
“The Parable of the Wicked Vine-Growers” (33-41)
Both of those parables indicate the judgment of the fruitless life.
Both of those parables indicate hypocrisy.
• The first is a man who says he will work and then doesn’t.
• The second is a group of men who say they will produce fruit from the vineyard and then don’t.
It is a lack of fruit that is irritating Jesus.
The cursing of the fig tree here is a living illustration
Of the anger Jesus has for the fruitless hypocrisy of Israel.
So let’s look at this a moment. In our text and discuss these two incidents.
#1 FRUITLESS LIFE OF HYPOCRISY
Matthew 21:18-19
Mark’s gospel records the incident a little differently.
He reveals that Jesus cursed the fig tree on the way to the temple on Tuesday
Before He cleared the temple, and that it wasn’t until Wednesday morning
That the disciples actually recognized that it was withered.
It is likely that Matthew lumped the two stories together,
And here focused on the conversation about the withered tree.
But either way we have here what many would see as another
Strange and hot-tempered event from Jesus.
I mean really, as if clearing the temple wasn’t enough,
If you were one of the twelve and on the very next day heard Jesus curse this fig tree wouldn’t you wonder what has Him in such a bad mood?
This is now two events where Jesus seems out of control, overly hostile,
And in need of just cooling down a bit.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact when we witness the final days of His life as a whole
We are not discouraged by the anger He shows, nearly as much as
We are amazed at the self-control and compassion He shows.
If Jesus is able to keep His wits while
• Being tried by Pilot,
• Mocked by Herod,
• Beaten by the Romans,
• Crucified between criminals,
I think it is safe to say Jesus is not impulsive.
Self-control was obviously not an issue for Him.
Neither was anger, or else He would have certainly shown rage from the cross. Instead, He said, “Father forgive them”.
And so when you take the story of Jesus clearing the temple,
And the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree
We realize that these were not impulsive decisions,
These were calculated decisions necessary to make His point.
And again His point is clear.
HYPOCRISY IS NOT WELCOME
And during His 3 years of ministry
Jesus has witnessed enough hypocrisy to last Him a lifetime.
In chapter 9
• It was the Pharisees asking why He ate with sinners,
• Then it was John’s disciples wanting to know why His disciples didn’t fast.
In chapter 12
• It was the Pharisees accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath because His disciples were eating grain.
• Then it was them saying He was filled with a demon.
• Then it was them demanding a sign.
In chapter 15
• It was the Pharisees again wanting to know why Jesus didn’t make His disciples wash their hands.
In chapter 16
• They want a sign again.
He has had His share of hypocritical run-ins with the religious elite.
And on this day Jesus is showing what He thinks of their hypocrisy.
Let me show you what I mean.
There are four things you need to see about this tree.
1) IT’S LOCATION (18-19a)
Now we recognize that this event gets started
Because Jesus is returning to the city and He is hungry.
There is another simple reminder to us of the full humanity of Jesus.
He had normal needs like every other human being.
And when Jesus reached the point of hunger He was in luck.
(19) “Seeing a lone fig tree by the road”
If ever a tree wanted to be useful, this tree was given the opportunity.
It was planted by the road, and extremely accessible.
This tree was strategically placed in people’s path
To be able to meet their needs.
THIS ALSO APPLIES TO ISRAEL
God had given them every opportunity to minister to others
• Brought them out of Egypt into a land already occupied
• Brought them out of Babylon into a land already occupied
• Jerusalem was called by Piny, a Roman historian, “by far the most famous city in the ancient Orient.”
But really those facts are insignificant, because God had told Israel.
Genesis 18:18 “since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?”
The Jews were to be global witnesses for God.
Exodus 19:4-6 “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Even later when Solomon built the temple he prayed:
1 Kings 8:41-43 “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake (for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.”
Israel was supposed to be a nation of witnesses, a kingdom of priests.
They were to bear witness of God to the world around them.
God had strategically placed them on this earth to bear witness of Him.
They, like that tree were given every opportunity to meet others needs.
Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”
Romans 3:1-2 “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.”
God selected them, saved them, delivered them, dwelt among them
To make sure all the world could see them.
They were like a fig tree by the road,
Extremely accessible in order to offer salvation to the world.
It’s Location
2) IT’S LEAVES (19b)
“He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only.”
We’ll get to the “found nothing” part here in a minute.
The first thing I want you to see is that this tree had “leaves”
There is a point to this.
Fig trees put on figs before they put on leaves.
That means if this tree had leaves,
Then a passer-by could be sure of something – it also has figs.
These leaves were like a sign.
It was an outward indicator that I have figs to share.
So if a person on the road is hungry, this tree is not only accessible,
But is also hanging a sign out that it can help.
This is a weary traveler’s dream!
And that was also Israel to a “T”
Remember what Paul said about the Jews?
Romans 2:17-20 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,”
Jews just knew they had all the answer for the world
And didn’t even mind saying so.
Consider their leaders:
Matthew 23:1-3 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”
These were not only a people strategically placed,
But also a people who broadcasted that they had all the answers.
• They could tell you what was right…
• They could get you to God…
• They could tell you how to go to heaven…
• They could guide you into the abundant life…
• They knew how to be blessed…
They were confident that they were a guide to the blind.
And that is like this fig tree.
Sitting by the road, and putting out the sign that it can satisfy you.
It’s Location, It’s Leaves
3) IT’S LACK (19b)
“He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only;”
Now here is the problem.
It said it had figs
It said it could help
But it couldn’t.
When Jesus approached the tree ready to taste of the fruit,
He found this tree to be just like Israel, nothing but a liar.
We read a moment ago the passage of out of Romans about how Israel was confident that they were a light in darkness and a guide to the blind.
Paul goes on to say this:
Romans 2:21-24 “you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,”
The implication is that you are a phony, a liar, and a hypocrite.
And you don’t help people get to God,
You blaspheme God!
Consider what Jesus said to the Pharisees
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
Think about what these Pharisees taught and offered people.
If a Tax Collector approached a Pharisee and said, “Sir, I see that you are a religious man who knows about the ways of God, can you please tell me how I can know God?”
Can you imagine the things that the Pharisee would tell him?
• Wash your hands before you eat…
• Fast, and let people see it…
• You need a bigger phylactery
• You need longer tassels
All a Pharisee would do is throw burdens on his head.
Matthew 23:4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”
The point was that Israel claimed to have all the answers,
And they didn’t have any.
• They were like this fig tree, all talk and no substance!
• They were like the plastic fruit your grandma used to put on her table; good to look at, but that is about it.
This tree was like Israel.
A good location, and a whole lot of leaves, but absolutely no fruit.
They couldn’t help people at all.
4) IT’S LEGACY (19c)
“and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.”
What happened to the tree?
Jesus cursed it and it withered.
Jesus is not ok with fruitless hypocrisy!
It is not ok for someone to claim to have all the answers
And not have all the answers.
All that person does is lead other people astray.
It is like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day:
Jeremiah 23:32 “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the LORD, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the LORD.
They don’t do anybody any good.
All they do is deceive.
And that was Israel.
She was useless, she was fruitless, and she was about to be cursed.
Now, I want you to know this is not the first time
Jesus has dealt with this notion of the tree.
Way back at the very beginning of His ministry:
In fact, even before His ministry began, when John was preaching.
Matthew 3:7-10 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘ We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Even later in Jesus’ ministry we received this word from Him.
Luke 13:6-9 “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'”
He has told them and told them, and they would not repent.
They were an outward shame of religion, never displaying any substance,
And now their time of destruction has come.
That is why Jesus wept over Jerusalem.
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
Israel was doomed to suffer destruction,
Because they insisted upon being a fruitless and hypocritical tree.
Before we move on,
We had better learn the lesson of the fig tree as well.
It is all well and good for us to make ourselves available to the world,
And hang out our banners that say we know the truth
And we know the way to be saved.
But on those occasions when the hungry of the world come to us for fruit,
We had better not prove to be a false hope.
We had better not be like Israel
And offer the hungry of this world nothing more than empty religion.
If Jesus didn’t spare the original fig tree what makes you think He’ll spare the replacement?
Romans 11:19-21 “You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.”
Hypocrisy wasn’t ok then and it’s not ok now,
We can’t be people of empty talk, we must be people of fruit!
But the first thing we see here is “The Fruitless Life of Hypocrisy”
#2 THE FRUITFUL LIFE OF FAITH
Matthew 21:20-22
This is really an interesting response to what just occurred.
It is apparent that, as is often the case, the disciples missed the point.
Jesus was foreshadowing the coming cursing of Israel,
And all the disciples could do was wonder how He did it.
(20) “See this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?”
Now it is apparent they were just curious at Jesus’ power.
They didn’t have a clue what this entire scene represented.
But, in answering their question Jesus manages not only to give them their answer, but give us very important information as well.
The question they should have asked is,
“How do we make sure we aren’t fruitless?”
And I hope that is the question on your mind.
I hope there is at least a hint of fear in your mind that desires to make sure
That you do not live your life as that lying fig tree did.
Well even though that is not what the disciples ask,
In answering their question Jesus tells us how to be fruitful.
(21) “And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will happen.”
Jesus is answering their question as to how things like this are possible,
But at the same time He is telling them how to live a fruitful life.
So let me ask you, based upon that verse.
How does one live a fruitful life that makes a difference?
The answer: FAITH
Remember previously when Jesus was being transfigured on the mountain He came down to find 9 of His disciples having a terrible time trying to cast out a demon.
After He did it for them, they were curious.
Matthew 17:19-20 “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
Here is the point.
Fruit problems are Faith problems
• Lack of fruit is directly proportional to lack of faith.
• Where faith is small, fruit is small.
• Where faith is abundant, fruit is abundant.
And Jesus reveals here that where there is faith,
Nothing is impossible.
That is what He means by “but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will happen.”
He wasn’t being literal there,
No apostle is ever recorded with that type of miracle.
Jesus is being figurative.
There are no problems too big that faith can’t overcome.
In fact Jesus goes on to say, “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Now here is a second thing that is important.
1) Lack of Fruit = Lack of Faith
2) Lack of Faith is revealed by Lack of Prayer
A person who doesn’t pray is a person who wreaks of self-sufficiency.
They are a person who is doing things on their own,
And in their own strength.
And when you do things on your own and in your own strength, do you know what happens? NOTHING
This is what Jesus meant when He spoke to His disciples:
John 15:4-8 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
Jesus was saying the same thing there.
Fruit comes from faith, faith is evidenced by prayer (or abiding in Me)
When you abide in Christ, when you call out to Christ,
Then you walk in His strength, not your own, and then fruit comes.
Now, let me give you another illustration of this.
TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 4
(This has become our banner for Mission Sanyati)
Zerubbabel is trying to rebuild the temple, it is an impossible task,
And he is trying to use weak people to accomplish it.
This was Zerubbabel’s mountain.
VERSES 1-5
(1) Zerubbabel is sleeping, either out of exhaustion or apathy. God startles him and wakes him up.
(2-3) Zerubbabel sees a vision. A lamp stand (because Israel was to be the light of the world). This lamp stand gets its oil directly from the bowl, which gets its oil directly from two olive trees.
(4-5) Zerubbabel wants to know who the olive trees are, the angel seems surprised that he doesn’t know and at the moment ignores his question.
AND HERE IS THE MESSAGE TO ZERUBBABEL
(6) It is not by working harder that you will accomplish anything Zerubbabel, God must do it through the power of His Spirit.
(7) The “great mountain” is Zechariah’s project of trying to rebuild the temple, it is an impossible task. And yet God promises it will be accomplished and afterwards Zerubbabel will praise God for His grace.
The point was that Zerubbabel could not accomplish this on his own,
And he had reached a point where he knew it.
If he was to accomplish anything, if he was to produce fruit,
If he was to move his mountain he must walk by faith.
WHY?
Because it is God’s Spirit that accomplishes the work, not our own flesh.
Now, here is the difference between being fruitless and fruitful.
It is whether or not you walk by the flesh or by the Spirit (by faith).
Israel walked totally by the flesh.
It was their ceremony…
It was all their religion…
It was their decrees and ordinances and traditions…
And although they looked the part and sounded the part, they couldn’t help anyone. They were fruitless and Jesus cursed them.
But Jesus was here telling the disciples to walk by faith,
Which is to walk by the Spirit, so that they can produce fruit.
They were to live by faith in Christ…
They were to live lives of prayer, trusting Christ…
They were to walk by His power and His Spirit, not their own…
And that is the lesson for us as well.
The title of this sermon is: “GOT FRUIT?”
If you don’t, it is because you are living in the flesh
And that is the life of hypocrisy.
If you do, it is because you are living by faith
And God’s Spirit is producing fruit in you.
And while the life lived in the flesh blasphemes God,
The life lived by faith glorifies Him.
Romans 8:9-14 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Now we have a lot more to say about genuine fruitfulness over the next few weeks, but at the very least this morning, understand this.
Jesus is looking for fruit in your life, and it is fruit that is only obtained by trusting in Him and letting His Spirit work in you.
If your life is fruitless and barren it is because everything is external,
It is a life of outward religion, but not a life of inward faith.
Now, regardless of what you’ve done in the past,
My encouragement to you is:
• To draw near to Christ,
• To abide in Him,
• To trust in Him
• To let Him work through you.
Let Him move the mountains and be glorified in your life.
Zechariah 4:6-7 “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘”
