Cursing the Fig Tree

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply

Title: Cursing the Fig Tree
Keywords: “fig tree” “judgment”
Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.

Passage: Mark 11:12-14, 20-24*

12. And on the next day [after the Triumphal Entry], when they had departed from Bethany, [Jesus] became hungry.

13. And seeing 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.

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

20. And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots [up.]

21. And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, "Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered."

22. And Jesus *answered saying to them, "Have faith in God.

23. "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be [granted] him.

24. "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be [granted] you.

Question

Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?

 

Practical help

The Apostle Paul in his second letter to Timothy describes Jesus as the one “who is to judge the living and the dead…” [2 Timothy 4:1] It’s interesting that during Jesus’ time on earth, the only thing he brought final judgment on was a fruit tree because it didn’t have fruit ready for him to eat. Even this small encounter with the judgment of God is sobering, and as Paul reminds us, later he will indeed judge the living and the dead.

But why curse a fig tree? If you study the many verses in the Old Testament that talk about the fig tree, you begin to see that it symbolized a stable prosperous society that had the capacity to bless others. To grow and enjoy figs you first had to have strong walls or armies to give the farmers safety. The society needed to be stable enough to live in one place long enough to reap a fig harvest. The first crop one would plant would never be a fig orchard because they would starve before it was ready to provide any fruit. So figs were a luxury.

But fig trees were not appreciated for their beauty but for their figs. Take away the figs and you just have an average looking tree. There is a parallel that can be made for society itself. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish nation had to be more than just good looking, it had to bear fruit. In other words, God requires that we as nations or individuals glorify Him by blessing people. Although the Jews had built a large beautiful temple in Jerusalem and had grand ceremonies once in a while, there was no fruit or substance to their religious practices. Their dark underbelly was soon to be exposed when they crucified their own Messiah a few short days after this event with the fig tree.

But here is the point for you and me today. We also should be more than show. Our characters should reveal fruit that blesses others as well. Paul identifies some of the Christian’s fruit in his letter to the Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” [Galatians 5:22-23] Porn is a worm on the tree. Exterminate before it’s too late.

eXXit homepage
Index of three-minute studies
Copyright 2003 by eXXit
*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."