Too Late or Too Gracious?

[S] Mark 11:11, 13, 14 --
¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

¹³Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

¹⁴He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.

[O] This verse perplexes me because does this mean the almighty Son of God came too late behind schedule and so had to leave the city until the morning?  That sounds too much like what I would do.  I am trying to picture what was going on at the temple at this time.  Were there lots of people still wrapping up their "market stores"?  Were they all gone?  I don't know the answers to these questions but I'm hoping God will reveal to me the insights of this verse.  What I can pick out is the fact that Jesus went to the temple first (it seems from this verse) and that shows how important this place was to Him.  I also picked up that He cared for this place -- looking around carefully at everything (NLT) -- and took time to examine all aspects of the temple.  Perhaps that process took longer than expected because the temple had transformed into a totally new place (again, woulnd't He have known that already?).  The following fig tree incident shed some light for me.  As He went to the tree looking for the fig fruits and found none, perhaps His grace, long-suffering, and mercy sought to find some "good fruits" in the temple but just like the fig tree, He found none there and returned to Bethany.  I wonder if He's come by my life looking for some good fruits lately....  Even though I mess up so many times in following God, Jesus nevertheless cares for me to come along graciously seeking for the fruit of the Spirit.

[A] I really need to bear the good fruits in my life in or out of season.  Regardless of my shortcomings, Jesus still seeks in my life the fruits that He labored for at the cross.  I need to push onward in ministry at workplace, home, and church to care for others and passing on His goodness to others especially those who do not have the personal relationship with God yet.

[P] Dear Jesus, when You come by next time looking for good fruits out of my life, I want to present to You the lovely fruits not because I got my life in perfect order but because I rely totally on You to work through my life every day.  I ask that You would continue to pour into my family Your goodness such that it will overflow out of our lives.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.