Jesus and the Fig Tree.

It was morning and Jesus was hungry.  He was looking for something to eat when he came upon a fig tree. The fig tree had only leaves and no fruit.   You might review the story found in Matthew 21 and Mark 11. He told the fig tree……”May you never bear fruit again!”  The tree died!   This has caused Christians to scratch their heads trying to figure out just why Jesus cursed this tree.  After all, it was not the right time of year for figs.  The non believer would say that this was an example of a petulant man not getting what he wanted.  It seems to indicate that the Lord had neither wisdom, or virtue in His curse of the tree.  So say the unbelievers.

Christian theologians have also added their ideas.  Most seem to think that the fig tree is symbolic of Israel and that Jesus is criticizing faithless Israel for not recognizing Him as the Messiah.  We don’t actually know why the Master said these things to the tree but we also know that He never wasted words or actions.  Perhaps we are overlooking a deeper meaning here.

Although the two accounts in both Matthew and Mark vary slightly, they both record this incident which I believe must have been rather important and was written for a specific reason.  There is nothing in scripture to suggest this was an off handed remark to be taken lightly.  That both men recorded this incident means that there was some significance attached to both the fig tree and the Messiah’s reaction to the lack of fruit.  We must then look beyond the incident itself to what lies behind his reaction to the barren fig tree.

Let’s dispense with the notion that Jesus was angry and frustrated with the tree.  This is our reaction to the incident……not what we read.  It wasn’t recorded that Jesus was angry at the tree.  If Jesus could turn water into wine and feed five thousand people with a five loaves of bread and two little fish……then He certainly could have found a few figs on this tree regardless of the season.

As for interpreting this as a curse on Israel, that seems to take dangerous liberty with God’s intentions, affections and promises that we find all throughout the Hebrew Scriptures…….. especially since Jesus equates His curse of the fig tree and the resulting withering of the tree as a demonstration for  faithful disciples. (Matt.21:21)

We need to look beyond the tree episode and read the story in its context.  Jesus has just made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, sandwiched between two visits to the Temple.  Therefore perhaps the temple and what it represents is central to the fig tree incident.

God had ordained the Temple to be a place where He himself would meet with His people, hear their prayers and forgive their sins.  But that was about to change.  The corrupt priesthood had so polluted the temple itself that God provided His own Messiah to come and bear the sins of the people.  No longer would the Temple be necessary and no longer would people need to bring their sacrifices to obtain forgiveness.

Jesus used the fig tree as a symbol of the temple.  He didn’t curse with fig tree in anger.  He was pointing to the judgment of God.

As the cursed fig tree would no longer be a source of food, so the Temple would no longer be the place for redemption. God always desired repentance from his people and it was offered to them through the sacrificial system.  Now … Jesus’ sacrifice became the one true source for redemption and therefore the system that had been in place for thousands of years was at that point, not necessary.  The brick and mortar of the Temple symbolized the place that God would meet His people.   Now that one place was no longer fit to serve God’s purposes.

No, Jesus wasn’t being ill tempered when He pronounced a curse on the fig tree.  He was announcing both the judgment and mercy of God!  Both the fig tree and the temple would no longer serve useful purposes.

It would be in 70 A.D. that the temple did fall and the curse of the fig tree would be remembered.