Holy Week Devotional | Monday

Monday of Holy Week

On this day, Jesus made his way to Jerusalem to visit the Temple. On his way, he saw a fully leafed fig tree and, in his hunger, went to examine it for fruit. However, the fig tree, appearing by its leaves to have fruit, was fruitless. In his disappointment, Jesus cursed the fig tree. The next day the disciples noted and marveled that the fig tree had withered under Jesus’ word of judgment (Mark 11:20). In this event, Jesus is not simply “hangry” – that condition we are all familiar with of being so hungry you are angry. No, Jesus is performing a prophetic act. He was expecting fruit from Israel and her leaders, but upon examination, he has found her fruitless. She was invited to repent and to bear fruit in keeping with her repentance, but she, following her leaders, persisted in unbelief. They would eventually experience God’s judgment for their rejection of Jesus and their unfaithfulness. 

The charge to us as we begin Holy Week is not to enter into it too glibly or mindlessly. It is a time of reflection and self-examination. It is a time to repent, to realign our hearts with God, and to bear fruit that expresses our repentance. What kind of fruit is God looking for?

First, we are to bear the fruit of vital and obedient faith in his Son. Jesus has come to us, lived for us, died for us, and rose from the dead for our salvation. He is calling us to trust him and love him with the fullness of our lives.

We are also to bear the fruit of sincere worship, prayer, and fellowship. Jesus looked for that fruit when he entered the temple but found only commerce, ritualistic activity, and injustice. We are to reject performative spirituality and hypocrisy and give our hearts fully to God in worship and devotion and prayer. He wants his people to seek him with their whole heart; to cry out to him in prayer for His Kingdom to come and his will to be done in all the world.

He is also looking for the fruit of mercy, compassion, and love. Jesus consistently confronted the leaders of Israel on their lack of compassion and tenderness and encouraged them to learn what it meant that God desires mercy more than sacrifice. Our songs, services, and sacrifices do little to move the heart of God if our lives are void of genuine love and compassion for those made in God’s image. God is looking for his people to have hearts filled with love and mercy for others, beginning in our homes, our churches, and spilling out into the world.

This is the fruit he is looking for and it is the fruit the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us if we will yield our lives to him. As we begin Holy Week, let’s ask the Lord to cleanse our hearts and give us the grace to bear fruit that reflect our glad submission to his loving Lordship.

Questions for reflection: 

• In what ways, by God’s grace, am I bearing the fruit that Jesus is looking for? 

• What spiritual practices and disciplines could I embrace that would aid in cultivating the fruit that Jesus is looking for?