The Temple and the Fig-Tree

The Temple and the Fig-Tree
Matthew 21.12-22

Once upon a time there was a king who wanted to give his country a new lease of life. He decided to capture a city that none of his people had lived in before, and make it his capital, so that no one would feel either proud that their city had been chosen, or excluded because it was someone else’s.

The problem was that the city was perched high on a rocky crag, and was very easy to defend against attack. (That, of course, was another reason for wanting it.) The inhabitants saw this upstart king coming with his army, and knew they’d have no trouble warding him off. So sure were they that they sent him a message: ‘All the regular guards have gone off duty. We’ve put the blind ones on watch and told the lame ones to take the messages – they’ll do the job all right!’...

Taken from Matthew for Everyone – by Tom Wright