The Cursing of the Fig Tree

In the New Testament we find a story that often baffles people. It describes how one morning the Savior saw a fig tree and desired to eat of its fruit. But as He draws near to the tree He discovers that it has no fruit and so He curses the tree. This seems very uncharacteristic of the Savior unless one knows a little about fig trees.

Unlike the cherry trees in my yard which produce leaves then blossoms then fruit, the fig tree produces fruit and then leaves. This means that the tree the Savior saw should have had fruit on it. This was symbolic of the Pharisees and the Sadducees who dressed in the robes of the priesthood and claimed to have power, but they did not bear the fruits of the gospel. Thus the cursing of the tree was a condemnation of hypocrites and a demonstration of what will happen to them.

There are many other lessons to be learned from this story. It symbolizes what will happen to those who refuse to repent. It is an illustration of the power of faith. But the most stunning lesson for me is that Jesus had before demonstrated that He had power to restore life such as when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Now He shows that He also has power to take away life. In a few days He will hang upon a tree (the cross) but He will not be killed by the soldiers; He will voluntarily give up His life for you and me. Jesus Christ has power to give life and He has power to take life away—His own and ours.

Instead of demonstrating this power to take life away on a person, He demonstrated His power on a tree that was not doing what it was designed by nature to do—it was not bearing fruit to feed and sustain the sons and daughters of God.

The Monday Before the Resurrection

About two thousand years ago this Monday morning the Savior and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem when the Savior saw a fig tree in the way. Under the law of Moses trees that were growing “in the way” were common property and anyone could freely partake of the fruit. In addition this fig tree was full of leaves and fig trees normally produce fruit before leaves. Being hungry, the sight of a fig tree with leaves meant food, but when Jesus approached the tree He discovered it had no fruit and said, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever” (Matthew 21:19) and the fig tree withered away.

For many this story is difficult to understand. Why would the Savior curse the tree just because it had no fruit? There are several answers. First, the fig tree that has leaves but no fruit is a symbol of hypocrisy just as people who create a self-image of righteousness but produce no righteous “fruits” are hypocrites. Thus by cursing the tree Jesus warns of the fate that awaits the impenitent and the hypocrites. Second, it was a witness to all who beheld the miracle that Jesus had power over death. They had seen him give life by raising Lazarus from the dead, but now they saw that He also had the power to administer death. The fact that He demonstrates this on a tree and not a person is testimony of His great love. The lesson had to be taught, but He teaches it in the kindest way possible. Third, it teaches those who had eyes to see about faith. On the morrow He will instruct his followers about faith and this experience will help them understand. It is also a foreboding of what is about to occur.

After cursing the fig tree, Jesus moves on to the temple and as He approaches discovers that it is polluted with moneychangers and animal vendors. You can imagine the scene. Thousands of people have come from far away to celebrate Passover and in order to perform the rituals they need to offer sacrifices in the temple. Rather than journey with animals they intend to buy their animals in Jerusalem and so enterprising vendors have set up their stalls not as close to the temple as they can, but in the temple compound. These men are shouting for people to buy from them, and the competition is shouting louder to buy from them. The animals are bleating, bellowing, and cawing. The waste is filling the air with noxious smells, and all around is the chaos and confusion of an outdoor market. In addition, the temple would not accept Roman coins. Thus eager moneychangers are on hand to change Roman coins for temple coins—all for a price.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record how Jesus chases away the vendors, but not one of them depicts Jesus as angry. The anger is something we readers assume. But the fact that there are possibly scores of offending vendors and moneychangers and yet not one fights back leads me to believe that because He is so calm and collected as He disperses them their own hearts are inflicted with guilt and they leave. If He had approached them with anger it would have ignited anger in them and they would have retaliated.

But the most important thing to realize in this account is that this is the second time Jesus has cleansed the temple. He did it during the first year of His ministry and at that time declared to the people, “Make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise” (John 2:16). But now, at the end of His ministry he says to the people, “My house shall be called the house of prayer” (Matthew 21:13). The house is now His! But on the morrow, Jesus will condemn the people for their wickedness and because of that relinquish the temple with the words, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matthew 23:38). This is fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy, “But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord that this house shall become a desolation" (Jeremiah 22:5). 

About forty years from the time Jesus proclaimed that the temple had been polluted and was no longer His house, the Roman general Titus invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the temple so completely that there was not one stone left. This is amazing when one considers that some single stones of the temple were about 67 feet long and 7 feet high and 9 feet wide. The pillars supporting the porches were 37 ½ feet high. But a temple from which the people have evicted God, cannot stand.

It was a memorable Monday those many years ago. By refusing to believe in and bear the fruits of righteousness, the wicked people and their beloved temple, like the fig tree, were destroyed forever.

Mirror Addendum

Wow! I just found this and couldn't wait until tomorrow to share it with you. I found a scripture that says exactly what I was talking about in the last post on storytelling and how when we pass judgment it is often because the thing we condemn the other person for is the very way we think or react. The verse I read is in Romans 2:1, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."

The NIV Bible says it like this: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things."