"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Mark 11:17/Isaiah 56:7

According to Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19, Jesus returns to Jerusalem after spending the night in Bethany and passing the withered fig tree on the way. He speaks to his companions about the importance of faith. Jesus is upset upon entering the Temple and seeing such irreverence. Jesus clears out those who were seeking profit and teaches on how the temple should be a house of prayer. Jesus fulfills the prophesies of Jeremiah 7:11 when he emphasizes and rebukes the treatment of the temple of the Lord.

SCRIPTURE: For further study, read Matthew 21:12-22 and Mark 11:12-26 in your favorite translation or below.

MATTHEW 21:12-22 (TPT)
Jesus in the Temple
Upon entering Jerusalem Jesus went directly into the temple area and drove away all the merchants who were buying and selling their goods. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the stands of those selling doves. And he said to them, “My dwelling place will be known as a house of prayer, but you have made it into a hangout for thieves!”

Then the blind and the crippled came into the temple courts, and Jesus healed them all. And the children circled around him shouting out, “Blessings and praises to the Son of David!”

But when the chief priests and religious scholars heard the children shouting and saw all the wonderful miracles of healing, they were furious. They said to Jesus, “Don’t you hear what these children are saying? This is not right!”

Jesus answered, “Yes, I hear them. But have you never read the Scripture, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?”

Jesus then left at once for the nearby village of Bethany, where he spent the night.

While walking back into the city the next morning, he got hungry. He noticed a lone fig tree by the side of the path and walked over to see if there was any fruit on it, but there was none—he found only leaves. So he spoke to the fig tree and said, “You will be barren and will never bear fruit again!” Instantly the fig tree shriveled up right in front of their eyes!

Astonished, his disciples asked, “How did you make this fig tree instantly wither and die?”

Jesus replied, “Listen to the truth. If you do not doubt God’s power and speak out of faith’s fullness, you can also speak to a tree and it will wither away. Even more than that, you could say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and be thrown into the sea’ and it will be done. Everything you pray for with the fullness of faith you will receive!”

MARK 11:12-26 (TPT)
Jesus and a Fruitless Fig Tree
The next day, as he left Bethany, Jesus was feeling hungry. He noticed a leafy fig tree in the distance, so he walked over to see if there was any fruit on it, but there was none—only leaves (for it wasn’t yet the season for bearing figs). Jesus spoke to the fig tree, saying, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again!” And the disciples overheard him.

Jesus Drives Merchants Out of the Temple Courts
When they came into Jerusalem, Jesus went directly into the temple area and overturned all the tables and benches of the merchants who were doing business there. One by one he drove them all out of the temple courts, and they scattered away, including the money changers and those selling doves. And he would not allow them to use the temple courts as a thoroughfare for carrying their merchandise and their furniture.

Then he began to teach the people, saying, “Does not the Scripture say, ‘My house will be a house of prayer for all the world to share’? But you have made it a hangout of thieves!”

When the chief priests and religious scholars heard this, they began to hatch a plot as to how they could eliminate Jesus. But they feared him and his influence, because the entire crowd was totally captivated by his teaching. So he and his disciples spent the nights outside the city.

Lessons of Faith
In the morning, they passed by the fig tree that Jesus spoke to and it was completely withered from the roots up. Peter remembered and said to him, “Teacher, look! That’s the fig tree you cursed. It’s now all shriveled up and dead.”

Jesus replied, “Let the faith of God be in you! Listen to the truth I speak to you: Whoever says to this mountain with great faith and does not doubt, ‘Mountain, be lifted up and thrown into the midst of the sea,’ and believes that what he says will happen, it will be done. This is the reason I urge you to boldly believe for whatever you ask for in prayer—be convinced that you have received it and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, if you find that you carry something in your heart against another person, release him and forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also release you and forgive you of your faults. But if you will not release forgiveness, don’t expect your Father in heaven to release you from your misdeeds.”