In this sermon, Jesus enters into Jerusalem, making known that He is indeed the King of kings. But He finds lots of hypocrisy, false religion, and outer show. He turns over the tables in the Temple and curses a fig tree. How do these two relate as He shows His disdain for phony religion? When we are depending on and hiding behind our own goodness, we may look like a good, healthy fig tree, but inside, we are dying. God despises this kind of outer hypocrisy.
It is easy to start almost anything, but it is an entirely different thing to finish well. The author of Hebrews does not want his readers to miss out on this “so great a salvation,” and he gives a warning to them of that possibility. From these verses, there are at least two things we can recognize...first, we must heed the call to “take care,” this means we must do something to prevent this hardening of heart. And, secondly, we must remember that this warning simply for those who don’t profess to know Christ, but it is a warning to people who do profess to know Christ, who have seen the work of God. We must be realistic and open about our sin, and we then must come alongside each other, in gospel community, to equip and prepare ourselves to fight against it.
