How does the fact that Palm Sunday was yesterday change how you live today? What happened 2,000 years ago the day after Jesus is welcomed by shouts of “Hosannah!” and by the waving and laying down of palm branches?  According to the Gospel of Mark in chapter 11, at least two things happen: Jesus curses a fig tree and He cleanses the temple. The day starts with Jesus being hungry (v12) so He looks for something to eat on a nearby fig tree, but the tree doesn’t have any fruit (v13). Jesus gets angry at the tree and curses it loud enough for the disciples to hear (v14). Later that day, Jesus’ anger continues. He is turning over tables and yelling at people in the temple who were selling birds and exchanging money (v15-16). Jesus then teaches them about what the temple was supposed to be “is it not written, ‘my house shall be a called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ but you have made it a den of robbers” (v17).

What implications do these things have for our lives? How can we, today, learn from what Jesus did on Holy Monday?

These two events – the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple seem at first to be unrelated and even illogical, however, the Gospel of Mark is arranged strategically such that the events that are reported are meant to interpret one another – we should read the story of the fig tree in light of Jesus cleansing the temple and we should read the story of Jesus cleansing the tempe in light of the cursed fig tree. The fig tree is cursed because it did not bear fruit; the tempe is cleansed because it was no longer a house of prayer. Likewise, when Jesus explains the fig tree story later on, he calls the disciples to be a people of faith and prayer. The fig tree represents Israel – a faithless and prayer-less people. What happened to the fig tree is what is happening to Israel in Jesus coming.

Here is what we are to learn – if what we confess to be true on Sunday does not manifest itself in a life of faith, justice, and prayer on Monday, then we are just like the fig tree. We must be a people devoted to prayer and committed to a life Monday-Friday that honors Jesus as King, lest our confession of “God save us!” (the meaning of Hosannah) on Sunday be absolutely in vain.

Today, pray again the songs you sang yesterday at the church gathering. We are tempted each day to have the same heart as the Jews did on Holy Monday: let us not live without reference today to the truth we declared yesterday.

**Looking for a place to celebrate Holy Week? Join us for our Good Friday Service at 7pm or any one of our Easter services at 9:30am, 11:00am, and 5:30pm.**