The Barren Temple

"It is a sad reality that often those who claim to know and worship God fail to bear the fruit that would validate that claim. As Lord of the temple Jesus arrived at Jerusalem to expose the barrenness in His house. For all its outward show, just like the fig tree that Jesus cursed, it failed to bear the fruit that God desired.
The withering of the fig tree demonstrated the power of the very thing that was missing in the temple: faith in God! It also symbolized the judgement that was to come upon those who masqueraded as God's people. He did not see Himself as a reformer but as the One who would, by His dying and rising, create a living temple – a Holy Spirit indwelt, blood purified people who would produce real fruit for God!