When Jesus came into Jerusalem, he did not go up to the court of the palace to meet the rulers of the people, though he came in as a King, but he went into the temple of God, the center of holiness, where he saw the multitudes who prayed indifferently, and were interested in changing money to buy sacrificial animals. He did not observe repentance in the hearts, but heard the noise of the traders who lost the sense of God’s appearance. Jesus looked at the city, and into the eyes of the people, and read their sin, their abomination, their pride, their lusts, and their malice. Then he went sorrowfully out of the city of peace, which was filled with hatred and murder.
As the beautiful cedar tree symbolizes Lebanon, so the fig tree, and the olive tree symbolize those of the old covenant. A peculiarity of the fig tree is that the fruit and leaves usually appear at the same time, with the fruit sometimes coming first. When Jesus passed by this particular tree he saw it covered with leaves, in which case it should have had ripened figs on it, although the time of ripe figs was in June. But this was worse than any fig tree, for there was not so much as one fig to be found on it. Therefore, Christ punished that tree and took the blessing from it that it might not bear fruit any longer.
Thus, we see that the old covenant has no power, for the Mosaic Law is unable to bear acceptable fruits to God. In fact, we find in the Old Testament, as in the fig tree, many leaves in books that are filled with statutes, judgments, laws, prayers, and rituals, but they are void of the true repentance, the eternal forgiveness, and the power of love.
Jerusalem was not the holy city indeed, for it did not receive Jesus, as it should. Therefore, destruction and condemnation began gradually.
As he came back to the city the next day, Jesus put a mark of the beginning of his kingdom. He neither preached, nor healed, but came once again into the temple, and drove out the merchants, the moneychangers, and the noisy from the courts and porches to show that the nation’s reformation begins with the religion reformation, and not with economic organization, systems multiplication, public instigation, revolution, or sacrifice.
Christ wants also to cleanse your heart, change your mind, and sanctify your body. He is not pleased to see an evil spirit, hidden hatred, or love of money dwelling in you, but he wants to dwell himself in you that your body may become a temple of God filled with his Spirit.
It is the same with your church. Christ does not allow strange spirits to meet, but he wants all to become broken before his holiness, and the elders and the young to obey the motives of his gospel with sincere prayers that he may dwell in you in groups and individually, and that you may become altogether the apparent temple of God. Your pure walk and mutual love prove God’s presence in you.