Say One Thing, Do Another? (Mark 11:12-26)

Devotional

Day 1: A Life Built Day by Day, Not Week by Week

The fig tree’s barrenness exposed a truth: seasons matter less than daily faithfulness. Just as Jesus expected fruit despite the calendar, our lives aren’t measured by grand gestures but by small, consistent choices. A mission-driven life isn’t a vague future ideal—it’s the accumulation of today’s decisions to abide, serve, and love. Like the nubs of unripe figs hidden beneath leaves, God sees the potential in ordinary moments. What seems insignificant—a text answered, a prayer whispered, a kindness shown—shapes eternity. Time isn’t a river to float through but a field to tend. [02:28]

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15–16, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you treated this week as “preparation” instead of purpose? What one small choice today could align your minutes with Christ’s mission?

Day 2: Leaves Without Fruit: The Danger of Empty Appearances

The fig tree’s lush leaves deceived—it offered nourishment but delivered none. Hypocrisy isn’t just saying one thing and doing another; it’s building an identity detached from substance. Like temple merchants exploiting rituals, we risk reducing faith to routines that serve ourselves, not others. True fruit grows from abiding, not performing. Jesus’ curse on the tree wasn’t harshness but grief over wasted potential. What looks spiritual—church attendance, busyness, even discipline—can mask a heart distant from the Vine. [22:59]

"And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.'" (Mark 11:13–14, ESV)

Reflection: What “leaves” in your life (habits, roles, image) might hide a lack of spiritual fruit? How can you invite Christ to prune pretense today?

Day 3: Turning Prayer Into Profit: When Mission Becomes Transaction

The temple’s corruption wasn’t commerce but exploitation—holy things became profit centers. Sacrifices meant to draw nations to God were twisted into barriers. Similarly, we distort mission when discipleship becomes a checklist, prayer a negotiation, or service a means to approval. Jesus’ anger reveals God’s heart: His house exists to reconcile, not exclude. Every interaction—texts ignored, grudges held, hurried judgments—tests whether we’re building bridges or tollbooths. [19:16]

"And he was teaching them and saying to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"? But you have made it a den of robbers.'" (Mark 11:17, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you turned spiritual practices into transactions? How might your routines unintentionally push others away from grace?

Day 4: Withering Roots: The Cost of Disconnected Faith

The cursed fig tree didn’t just lose leaves—its roots died. Hypocrisy isn’t a surface issue; it starves the soul. Like religious leaders who prioritized tradition over transformation, we wither when faith becomes a weekly event rather than a rooted life. Abiding isn’t self-improvement but surrender—the difference between a cut flower and a vine-fed branch. Fruitfulness flows from intimacy, not effort. [27:09]

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." (John 15:4, ESV)

Reflection: What areas of your life feel disconnected from Christ’s presence? What practical step (prayer, Scripture, silence) could deepen your roots today?

Day 5: Mission as Abiding: The Rhythm of Remain and Go

Jesus’ final command wasn’t just “go” but “go… remembering I am with you.” Abiding fuels mission; mission deepens abiding. Like the disciples witnessing the withered tree, we’re called to see both God’s judgment on hollow faith and His power to resurrect barren places. A life on mission isn’t frantic activity but walking so closely with Christ that His heartbeat shapes our interruptions, conversations, and ordinary moments. [35:01]

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19–20, ESV)

Reflection: How can you intertwine “abiding” and “going” today? Where might God’s presence turn a routine task into eternal impact?

Sermon Summary

Life on mission is the sum of individual days, not merely a good intention held from week to week. The call to make disciples means that character and conduct matter because Christians are meant to represent God to the people around them. Christ remains the model: those who claim to be in him ought to walk as he walked, and Paul can say, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” The tension is not anxious people pleasing, but whether a life actually looks like the One it claims to represent.

Hypocrisy shows up when people judge others by their actions while judging themselves by their intentions. That “rule for you, but not for me” posture can hide behind busyness, pressure, personality, or a refusal to care how personal conduct affects others. Mark 11 brings that hidden hypocrisy into the light through a fig tree full of leaves but empty of fruit.

The fig tree carries the appearance of life. Its leaves should have signaled little early figs that hungry travelers could eat, even though the ripe season had not yet come. Christ finds only leaves, curses the tree, and then enters the temple. Mark’s sandwich puts the tree around the temple scene so that each part interprets the other: the religious system also has leaves, but no fruit.

The temple was meant to be “a house of prayer for all nations,” including Gentiles coming to worship Yahweh. The religious leaders had turned that space into a marketplace where the vulnerable were extorted through corrupt exchange rates, rejected sacrifices, and inflated prices. Christ calls it a “den of thieves” because the leaders used religious activity to cover lives and systems that robbed people. The withered tree pictures the final end of a faith that performs holiness while remaining empty at its core.

Fruit cannot be produced by frantic effort to prove salvation. A fig tree bears figs because of what it is, and a branch bears fruit only by remaining connected to the vine. Christ says, “Remain in me,” because abiding in him is the source of genuine character, conduct, repentance, and mission. The real question is not whether enough religious activity happened on Sunday, but whether a life is drawing near to Christ all week long.

The gospel gives hope to sinners and hypocrites alike. God’s holiness exposes sin, but Christ humbled himself, lived without sin, died the death sinners deserved, and rose again so that all who believe can live in him. The Bible, prayer, the church, and circumstances become practical places where believers can keep seeking and remaining in the God who is there in every high and low.

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Key Takeaways

1. Leaves without fruit invite judgment. The fig tree warns against a life that looks alive from far away but has nothing real when Christ comes near. Religious vocabulary, church attendance, and a polished reputation cannot replace repentance and actual fruit. Christ sees deeper than appearances and deals with what is true at the roots. [22:59]
2. Abiding produces what striving cannot. Fruit is not earned by stressing harder, performing better, or trying to manufacture holiness. Christ gives the image of a branch that can only bear fruit by remaining in the vine. A genuine life with God grows out of ongoing closeness to Christ, not occasional spiritual check-ins. [26:26]
3. Mission belongs in ordinary days. A life lived well is made up of days that are intentionally given to the mission of making disciples. Pressure, distraction, and busyness can quietly pull a person away from that mission. Daily abiding keeps the mission from becoming a once-a-week idea. [02:28]
4. God’s house welcomes the vulnerable. The temple was designed as a house of prayer for all nations, not a system for extracting money from people trying to come near to God. Religious power becomes deeply corrupt when access to grace is treated like a product for sale. Christ’s anger reveals God’s concern for those whom spiritual systems exploit. [18:58]
5. The gospel meets real hypocrisy. Sin separates every person from a holy God, leaving nobody able to claim moral superiority. Christ entered human weakness, bore sin on the cross, and rose again to give life to those who trust him. Grace does not excuse hypocrisy, but it makes repentance and real transformation possible.

## [30:33]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:43] - Living a Life on Mission
[02:28] - Life Is the Sum of Days
[04:15] - Does It Matter How People See You?
[06:14] - The Problem of Hypocrisy
[11:25] - Mark 11 and the Fig Tree
[14:45] - Jesus Cleanses the Temple
[18:58] - A House of Prayer for All Nations
[21:38] - The Withered Fig Tree
[22:31] - Leaves Without Fruit
[25:23] - Fruit Comes From Remaining in Christ
[29:29] - The Gospel for Sinners
[32:07] - Four Ways to Draw Near to God
[34:38] - God Is There

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 11:12–25
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city. As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
[[11:25]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=685s) [[14:45]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=885s) [[18:58]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1138s) [[21:38]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1298s) [[22:59]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1379s)

John 15:4
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
[[26:26]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1586s)

1 John 2:6
“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
[[04:15]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=255s)

1 Corinthians 11:1
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
[[04:15]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=255s)

Jeremiah 7:11
“Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.”
[[20:04]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1204s)

Observation questions

What details in Mark 11 show that the fig tree looked promising from a distance but had nothing for Jesus when he came near? [[22:59]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1379s)
What actions did Jesus take in the temple, and what words did he use to explain why he did them?
According to the passage, what was the temple meant to be for, and who was it meant to welcome? [[18:58]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1138s)
In John 15:4, what does Jesus say a branch cannot do when it is separated from the vine? [[26:26]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1586s)

Interpretation questions

How does Mark’s placement of the fig tree story around the cleansing of the temple help explain what Jesus was exposing in the religious leaders? [[22:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1351s)
Why was the temple marketplace more serious than simply selling useful items to travelers? How did the system keep vulnerable people, including Gentiles, from freely coming near to God? [[18:58]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1138s)
Jeremiah describes people using God’s house as a “den of robbers.” How can religious activity become a cover for an unrepentant life rather than a real return to God? [[20:04]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1204s)
If fruit comes from abiding in Christ rather than striving to prove oneself, what might abiding look like in the ordinary pressures and responsibilities of a believer’s week? [[26:26]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1586s)

Application questions

Life is the sum of individual days. What part of your normal week is most likely to drift away from living on mission—mornings, work, school, evenings, weekends, or time online? What is one small way you could bring that part of your day before Christ? [[02:28]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=148s)
Hypocrisy often shows up when we judge others by their actions but judge ourselves by our intentions. Where are you most tempted to give yourself a pass while being frustrated with the same behavior in someone else? [[08:49]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=529s)
Leaves without fruit can look like church attendance, Christian words, or a good reputation without ongoing repentance. Is there any area of your life where you are more concerned with appearing spiritual than honestly seeking Christ?
Abiding is not limited to a Sunday gathering; it is remaining in Christ through the whole week. Which practice would most help you draw near to him this week: reading Scripture, praying and being still, inviting trusted believers into your life, or paying attention to what God may be showing you through circumstances? [[32:07]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1927s)
Jesus cared deeply that God’s house would be a place where people from every nation could pray and come near to God. How can this group and church make it easier for a hurting, skeptical, poor, lonely, or unfamiliar person to encounter welcome rather than barriers?
Jesus calls his followers to forgive when they stand praying. Is there a person toward whom you are holding resentment, avoidance, or a quiet grudge? What would it look like to bring that honestly to God and take a faithful next step? [[22:17]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1337s)
The gospel does not excuse hypocrisy, but it gives sinners a real hope of forgiveness and change through Jesus’ death and resurrection. When you become aware of sin or inconsistency in your life, do you tend to hide, work harder to look better, or return to Christ? What would returning to him look like this week? [[30:33]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47W9zEO5GW8&t=1833s)

Sermon Clips

29s

“So it's not about like, oh, man. I... I'm an apple tree. Gotta really focus on producing apples. That's not what it's about. Instead, what it is, you say, okay. Look. I'm a Christian. I believe in Jesus. I must remain in the vine. And so we don't need to focus on the outputs. We don't need to focus on the fruits. We don't need to focus on the works. But instead, we just need to abide.”

35s

“are you more like these these supposed Pharisees, these people that were these den of robbers, these den of thieves? Or are you more like being fake throughout the week and you have this perception of all things good and godly that one day a week? Because you're not remaining in him throughout the week. Do you only choose to draw near to him on Sundays, or do you remain in him three sixty five, twenty four seven the whole rest of your life? Because he wants you to remain in him, not dip in and out.”

42s

“And so Jesus made a way, and when he became man, god humbled himself. Jesus humbled himself, became man, lived a perfect sinless life so that he could die on the cross and pay the debt of death that we deserve. And when he died on the cross, our sin was crucified with him on that wood... Those wooden beams. And when he was buried for three days and then rose from the grave three days later because he lives. That that means that we know that we too can live because our hope is in him.”

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Highland City Church - Pastor Jared Montana This sermon · AI assistant

How does hypocrisy reveal spiritual barrenness?

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