Marked To Tear Down Barriers
Marked – Week 31
July 3, 2022
Key Scriptures
Key Points
- One story within another almost always points to parallel stories in the Bible.
- The presence of God produces fruit.
- Jesus cursed the fig tree because it did not produce fruit in the season of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
- The tables of the money-changers were overturned to show that atonement is not something that can be bought with money.
- The buyers and sellers of sacrificial animals were driven out to bring an end to sacrificing animals for forgiveness.
- Jesus stopped people from carrying anything through the temple to usher in the end of cultic rituals for purification.
- Jesus has been replacing the temple throughout His ministry: healing the sick, forgiving sins, and restoring people to society.
- Jesus replaced the tables of the money-changers with the Lord’s Table, where remember that He alone atoned for our sins.
- Jews thought that prayer was more effective in the temple, but Jesus tore down the barriers and invites all people to be a part of the new temple.
- We can’t hide a lack of fruit behind fig leaves of rituals and church attendance.
Discussion Questions
- Does your relationship with Jesus affect every part of your life? What areas of your life are still hidden behind fig leaves or rituals?
- If you were a priest, scribe, or Jew in the temple that day, how might you have responded to the scene Jesus made?
- What areas of your life are you trying to still earn a right standing with God rather than accepting His grace through Jesus Christ?
- Have you erected barriers that keep you from sharing Christ’s love with others?