Figs

Matthew 21:18-22

¹⁸In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.

¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”

²¹And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

This is one of those passages where you just have to throw up your hands, this time asking “why in the world would Jesus curse a fig tree?” It seems so totally random to us. But of course – it isn’t. Once again, context is so very helpful. Jesus has recently been to the Temple and expressed His righteous anger over the “money changers” doing business in God’s house. His anger at the Jewish leadership has been evident throughout the book of Matthew and now we see yet another expression of that anger.

As usual, the Old Testament sheds some light on Jesus’ actions against a fig tree. In the book of Jeremiah, on more than one occasion, figs are used as an object lesson for the people of God and their faithfulness (or lack thereof) Him. I have included just one of those references below.

Jeremiah 24:1-8

¹After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord.

²One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.

³And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to me:

⁵“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

⁶I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

⁷I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸“But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

The bad figs are discarded. They serve on purpose and God is rid of them. Just so, as Jesus leaves the Temple He turns to a fig tree that had leaves but not fruit and curses it for a lack of fruit. Generally, when a fig tree sprouts leaves, it also sprouts fruit. This particular tree apparently was diseased or lacking somehow and so no fruit was apparent. You can see where this is going. Jesus looks across the landscape of Jerusalem and sees no faith among His own people. The leadership is like a fruitless tree; looks good but bears nothing! His disciples see this tree wither and of course they have to comment. The Teacher uses this moment to share the important of faith with these men once again. Not only does He present a parabolic illustration about the faithlessness of Israel, He also teaches His disciples once again about the importance of even just a little faith.

Clearly, as these stories unfold in the next few chapters we will see that Jesus is bound with purpose and determination toward His final goal of dying for the salvation of all who would believe. Because it only takes just a little faith to accomplish great things, where no faith at all is exhibited, there is judgment.