Are We too Busy to Worship?
It was a busy Sunday. I invited a couple of friends to church, even though I was serving that day. Later, I was supposed to host a huge lunch! Afterward, my family and I had to quickly jet to a conference. Not to mention during all of this, I had a baby to care for.
I thought I had it all under control, only to soon find out that my plans were a bit ignorant.
After I stepped down from the pew, insecurity instantly flowed through my mind and heart. Unsure of where it came from, I felt overwhelmed. Suddenly, many people were demanding my attention.
As I was fumbling through the diaper bag, looking for my son’s bottle, a friend asked if I was okay. At that moment, I was not. I knew I was getting it wrong, that I couldn’t do it all. More importantly, I knew I was worshipping work over God.
In our passage today, as Jesus was making his way back to Jerusalem, he came looking for fruit. But when he found none, he declared that the tree would be barren forever. When you casually read this passage, it seems a bit odd. Why would Jesus curse a tree that wouldn't provide food? Here, the withered fig tree was an object lesson of the barren temple. Just as the temple was alive with religious activity, it was spiritually dead. The leaves were green, thus there should be fruit! But there was none. As Jesus destroyed the fruitless fig tree, so too Israel’s temple worship will be destroyed.
The place of worship is not in the temple, for it will soon be destroyed. Instead, it is found in the person of Jesus, who through his death and resurrection becomes the new and everlasting temple. He is indeed greater than the temple, the high priest, the atoning sacrifice, and the glorious presence of God.
During this Holy Week, let us prepare our hearts for the reality that Jesus' death and resurrection signifies the coming of new life and fruitfulness that extends beyond Israel. Just like the fig tree, Jesus was cursed to death, yet on Easter we celebrate that he was raised to life. This demonstrates God’s power to bring life out of apparent barrenness. Because of all this, we too can bear fruit in worshipping the risen king Jesus.