And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons… As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.  And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” (Mark 11:15, 20)

Why did Jesus, the Son of God, come to earth over two-thousand years ago, his first advent? And what awaits us at his return, his second advent? As we’ve seen in this series, these are questions we should always ask, but they are especially fresh on our minds in the Advent season. And there are a myriad of ways to answer these questions from Scripture. We saw last week that according to Mark 10:46–11:11, Jesus came in order to reign as your king. He reigns now on the throne in heaven and on the throne of our hearts. And at his return, he will reign on earth, and we will reign with him forever. We saw in that passage, that Jesus’ path to the throne was through the cross. And because of the cross, he is a king who gives boundless mercy. This is because, at the cross Jesus reversed the curse and cleansed his sinful people. Here, then, we arrive at another answer to the question of why Jesus came: Jesus came to be your curse and your cleansing.

A Curse and A Cleansing in Mark 11:12–25

In Mark 10:46–52, Jesus proves to be the promised Son of David who gives his people mercy in the healing of blind Bartimaeus. Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, complete with him riding a donkey (see Zechariah 9:9) and the people singing a song of God’s salvation (see Psalm 118:25–26) caps off the miracle, pointing to Jesus as the promised king who brings salvation to God’s people through mercy. Right after all of this, we see Jesus’ “first act as king” if you will: he cleanses the temple (Mark 11:15–19). However, Mark sandwiches Jesus’ temple cleansing in between Jesus’ cursing of a fig tree (Mark 11:12–14, 20–25). Taken together, this reveals Jesus purpose to take the curse from and cleanse his people.

Of Figs, Fig Trees, and God’s People

A few times in the Old Testament, God compares his people to figs or fig trees (Hosea 9:10; Jeremiah 8:13; 24:1–5). Jesus himself will use agrarian imagery to describe Israel in Mark 12:1–12 where he uses a vineyard to symbolize them in his parable of the unfaithful tenants. And here in Mark 11:12–25, Mark parallels a fruitless fig tree with Israel, the house of God, and the temple, which is in need of cleansing. Israel has failed to bear fruit. They have not loved God with all of their heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). They have not loved their neighbor as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). They have not kept covenant with God and have not been his treasured possession out of all peoples on the earth (Exodus 6:7; 19:5). Moreover, not only have they not borne good fruit, they have actually borne bad fruit.

God’s People and His Temple: Cleansed

In the OT, Israel was distinct from all other peoples. Their distinct identity was rooted in the reality that God dwelled in their midst in the temple (Exodus 29:45; 33:14–16; Leviticus 26:12). God’s people and the place of their identity, the temple where God dwelled, should have been a house for all peoples (Mark 11:17; see Isaiah 56:7) no matter their social status or ethnicity. If foreigners “join themselves to the LORD, to love the name of the LORD” they are welcomed by God (Isaiah 56:6–7). And God “gathers the outcasts” to himself (Isaiah 56:8). But, as Jesus’ actions and words make clear in Mark 11:15–19, the people by their sin have turned the house of Israel and the temple “into a den of robbers” (Mark 11:17; see Jeremiah 7:10). This is a sweeping condemnation that speaks to more than extortion. In context, the term for “robbers” in Jeremiah 7:10, which Jesus quotes, speaks of sinful violence and evil of all manner directed not only at neighbor but at God and his covenant (Jeremiah 7:8–12). Israel has borne the fruit of sin and evil. And now their king has come and, in an act of authoritative judgment, cleaned house. The parallel is clear, Israel has failed to bear good fruit, and just like the fruitless fig tree, they receive judgment. However, they receive a judgment that results in a cleansing.

Curse and Forgiveness

We see in Mark 11:20–21, when Jesus and his disciples pass by the fig tree again the next morning after Jesus’ temple cleansing, that the fig tree Jesus cursed has withered away. The consequence of breaking covenant with God is covenant curse resulting in death and destruction (Deuteronomy 28:45). But surprisingly, when the disciples point out the fig tree, Jesus does not begin to teach them about the breaking of covenants and the curse and death that results nor how all of this with the tree is meant to illustrate what Jesus did in the temple the day before. Rather, Jesus begins to teach them about faith. He responds with, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). And then Jesus goes on to teach that the prayer of faith can do miraculous, earth-moving things. He teaches that if one prays with faith devoid of doubt, they will receive what they ask. This can seem disconnected until we see Jesus begin to speak about praying for forgiveness in verse 25. The greatest miracle that the prayer of faith brings about is the miracle of forgiveness from sins. This is the gospel thread that binds these two episodes, the cursed fig tree and the temple cleansing, together.

Gospel: Jesus Becomes Your Curse and Your Cleansing

The sins of God’s people demand judgment, curse, and destruction of the offenders. However, Jesus makes clear in his temple actions that with this judgment will come a cleansing away of the sin. Here is the twist. The gospel tells us that this judgment, the curse of sin and the destruction of death, did not ultimately fall on God’s people. Rather, the judgment fell on their representative, their rightful, sinless king, Jesus, at the cross. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). Through becoming our curse, the king “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his possession” once again (Titus 2:14). Jesus purifies us, that is he “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The prayer of faith will take hold of Jesus and this gospel—trusting that God has cast into the sea the mountain of sin and violence that we’ve committed against others and against him—, and the one who prays it will receive not curse but forgiveness. Jesus came to become our curse and our cleansing. All other prayers of faith will flow from this reality.

Jesus’ Second Advent

Because Jesus became our curse and our cleansing, our identity is restored. We truly are God’s treasured possession (Titus 2:14; cf. Exodus 6:7; 19:5). God in Christ dwells with us now and we with him through the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:20; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 13:14; cf. Exodus 29:45; 33:14–16; Leviticus 26:12). However, we still long for our heavenly dwelling in the new heavens and new earth (2 Corinthians 5:2). At that time, all the clinging remnants of sin and death will perish forever (1 Corinthians 15:53–54). In that place, it will be said “ ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3–4).

Remembering Jesus’ First Advent, Looking to Jesus’ Second Advent

Jesus came to be your curse and your cleansing so that God dwells with us again right now by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus will come again so that we may dwell with God forever in the new heavens and new earth, where sin, sadness, pain, and death shall never tread again. This is why Jesus came. This is what we remember and this is what we look forward to this Advent season.