For Holy Week, 2024, I thought I would send you some thoughts each day about Jesus as he inexorably makes his way to the cross. As our journey toward that cross deepens this week, we may find something to comfort or even exhort us.
Can you imagine being one of the disciples on the Monday after Palm Sunday? Just the day before, Jesus had made his grand entrance into Jerusalem. They must have been on cloud nine.
You can bet that the disciples considered the week anything but holy — that is, until the following Sunday. It is apparent, however, that what was occurring, starting with Monday, was a deliberate march toward the cross beginning with pointing out hypocrisy and even corruption in trees and religious leaders of the day.
The celebration of Holy Monday can be traced back to when Lent was founded. Only Friday and Saturday were observed and considered holy days during the third century. In the fourth century, the term “Holy Week” was first used by St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and St. Epiphanius of Constantia. It now included the rest of the weekdays: Palm Sunday, all the way to Easter Sunday.
On Holy Monday, Jesus walked to Jerusalem from Bethany. During his journey, he saw a fruitless fig tree. He cast a curse on this tree until it withered. The tree wasn’t cursed only because of the lack of fruit. It had leaves that would normally indicate fruit on a fig tree. It appeared to be fruit-bearing, but it was not.
Unsurprisingly, he also cleaned the temple. "My Father’s house should be a house of prayer." Where was the fruit? Religious-looking activity is only worth so much. Like leaves on a fig tree, it’s all just false advertising without the fruit.
This topic of bearing or not bearing fruit has come up several times since the transfiguration, particularly in the book of Mark. Our Lord’s concern was that our lives would bear fruit. Some trees are supposed to have leaves that never bear fruit, but not if you were meant to be a fruit. Fig trees and temples and Christians that don't bear fruit are like clouds with no rain.
What is the fruit of your life? That answer might take some thought. Each of us will be a little different — different fruit at various times for other purposes. Ask your Father where you might bear fruit this week.
The key verses in the Bible that established Holy Monday were Matthew 21:19–22, Mark 11:20–25, Matthew 21:20–22, and Mark 11:23, detailing the actions mentioned above.
See you tomorrow.