¹⁷ And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

¹⁸ Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!

²¹ Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

²² And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matt. 21:17-22)

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, there are only four chapters devoted to the first thirty years of the life of Jesus. There is very little information about the formative years. We find the story of the birth of Jesus, and His flight to Egypt. We know about the visit of the Magi when Jesus was about two years old (Matt. 2:1-12). We read of His presence in the Temple at age 12, and how He astonished the Rabbi. But apart from that, the early years are quietly passed over. 

Following the resurrection and ascension of Christ to heaven, a series of writings called the Gnostic Gospels appeared to provide additional information about events in the early years of Jesus.  These documents were rejected as being non-canonical because they were inconsistent with the writings of the received texts embraced by the majority of local churches. However, the ancient stories do have historical value. One of the more entertaining of these pseudepigraphal writings is The Infancy Gospel of Thomas & the Childhood of Jesus Christ.

According to the Infancy Gospel, Jesus was a difficult child, though sometimes fun to be around because He could perform miracles. On one occasion, Jesus took some soft clay and formed out of it twelve sparrows. However, Jesus was not to be made angry.

One Hebrew boy made Jesus angry because he broke up a little water project in progress. To punish His childhood friend, Jesus caused the body of the boy to become paralyzed. When confronted with His overreaction, Jesus healed the boy, “leaving only a small body part paralyzed that other childhood playmates might take warning.”

According to the Infancy Gospel, as a child, Jesus was rude to his father Joseph, a show off at school, and did not receive correction very well.

In contrast to the Gnostic Gospels are the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which faithfully records the events that took place during the life of Christ, with special attention being paid to the Final Week in the public ministry of Jesus. One event that occurred during the Week of Passion was striking to Matthew because it involved the Lord’s cursing a Fig Tree.

Matthew never forgot what happened.

As Jesus traveled from Bethany toward Jerusalem, the Lord became hungry (Matt. 21:18). In the distance He saw a Fig Tree by the side of the road. It seemed to be in full foliage, which was unusual for that time of the year. Normally, the fig trees in Israel produce two crops.

There is an early fruit, and there is a latter fruit. The early fruit is small, and undesirable. It begins to appear in the end of March, and ripens in May or June. The latter figs are edible, as they ripen, and are gathered from August to October. Since the Passover was being held on April 15th, it is obvious that what Jesus witnessed by noticing many leaves on the tree was a sign of some early fruit. Since the fig tree appeared to be mature, Jesus went up expecting to find fruit, but He found the tree barren.

Discovering only the appearance of productivity, the Lord cursed the tree, and said unto it, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth forever!” Immediately the tree began to wither in its roots (Mark 11:20). The luster in the leaves was suddenly gone.  

The tree was dying. When the disciples saw how quickly the tree withered away, they marveled, and wondered what it meant. From the vantage point of time, we know that the withering of the Fig Tree was not the caprice behavior of a petulant moment. No, there was something else taking place in that moment.

As He often did, Jesus turned the barren Fig Tree into a teachable moment. There is a spiritual truth that can be learned from the normal events in life.

On one occasion, when Charles Spurgeon was lecturing young pastors, he told the students they could find sermon material in everyday items, such as a candle. One day a student challenged him to find a sermon in a candle. Mr. Spurgeon accepted the challenge and gave to his students, and the world a book, Sermons in Candles.

Acting as a Prophet, the Lord chose to use the Fig Tree as an object lesson for His disciples. Jesus was about to say something cryptic about the nation of Israel. This would be easy, because the Fig Tree was a well-known symbol of Israel. The picture of the Land of Promise, was the picture of a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees (Deut. 8:8).

Following the Exodus Generation, when the reconnaissance spies brought back the treasures of Palestine to demonstrate the rich fertility of the soil, grapes, and pomegranates, and figs were put on display. The picture of peace and prosperity in Israel, was often represented by a man sitting under his own grape vine, or his own Fig Tree (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10).

In the Divine economy, Israel was God’s Fig Tree.

Israel was to be the recipient of Divine truth.

Israel was to be a holy nation.

Israel was to be a kingdom of priests.

Israel was to be the instrument of evangelism.

Israel was to be the source of blessing to all the other nations on earth.

But something terrible happened to God’s Fig Tree.

Instead of producing the fruit of righteousness, the nation produced only leaves of a religious facade. There was a show of spiritual activity among the people, led by the scribes and Pharisees. There was religious pomp and ceremony associated with the holy days. But truth, justice, and mercy, were not found in the hearts of God’s people. Glaring examples were everywhere.

In the Temple of God, the Merchants of Trade were exploiting the people. The House of Prayer had become a Den of Thieves. Such activities had to stop. Jesus knew that His Father would not let His Chosen People continue to transform everything that was decent and holy into that which is deplorable, and degrading. Jesus knew that His Father would not allow Israel to continue as a Fig Tree with leaves, but no spiritual fruit. A divine pruning would one day take place. Therefore, when Christ cursed the Fig Tree, He was in essence pronouncing God’s just judgment upon the nation of Israel.

Later, in Matthew 24-25, the Lord will amplify the judgment that was to come to Israel. The nation of Israel was about to endure the Great Tribulation, for it was a cursed nation. Judaism was withering up by its roots. In its present form, it was going to die. According to God’s plan, there would soon be no more need for the blood of bulls and goats. A new nation was going to arise to proclaim the gospel and become a kingdom of priests. God was about to make a new covenant, with a new people, called the Church (1 Pet. 2:9).

Though the disciples marveled at the cursing of the Fig Tree, within 55 days they would behold the power of Christ, to make for Himself a new creation. Within 55 days the disciples would understand completely the cursing of the Fig Tree, and begin to warn all of Israel to flee from the wrath to come.

Listen to Peter on the Day of Pentecost, as he cries out. “SAVE YOURSELF FROM THIS UNTOWARD [CROOKED] GENERATION!” (Acts 2:40).

The disciples would eventually understand what the cursing of the Fig Tree had meant. Israel was being rejected by God. It had become a crooked nation. But how did that happen? How did Israel reach the place that it was cursed by Christ? The answer is found in its history. There is always a spiritual history behind any conflict. There is always a process behind any moment of crisis. Things do not just happen. There is always a point of origin.

For Israel, the point of origin that would culminate in a cursing, began when individuals forgot that the essence of religion is internal, not external. The beautiful ceremonies of worship, that God ordained, were designed to reflect the spiritual worship of the heart. But when the heart became hardened, and the Word of God was no longer precious, the spiritual dimension vanished. Rather than repent, and seek God afresh, many Israelites decided to keep on performing their religious rituals. Then, they wondered why there was no meaning to life, but only dissatisfaction, discord, and disharmony.

Second, Israel allowed its heart to be divided. Individuals gave their time, energies, and affections, to peripheral things. However, God has not designed the human heart to have divided loyalties. A recent generation was taught that if God is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. People cannot spread themselves between the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and maintain a vital godly ministry. Those who try, hurt themselves every time.

“Rise up, O Church of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.”

~William P. Merrill

When Israel offered to God a divided heart, He rejected it as a jealous lover.

Third, Israel forgot to pray. The people read the prayers of the Psalms. They listened to the religious prayers of the Rabbis in the synagogue, but many forgot to personally pray in earnest. There was no sweet hour of prayer.

“Sweet hour of prayer,
Sweet hour of prayer,
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father’s throne
make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter’s snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer.”

~ William W. Walford
(A blind preacher of England, 1845)

“Give me your heart,” demanded God. And Israel said, “Lord, we will give you a divided heart.”

“Give me your time,” said God. And Israel said, “Lord, we will give you whatever time we can spare. But You know there is so much to do, and we are so busy.”

“Pray to me. Call upon me,” invited God. And Israel said, “Lord, just listen to the priests. They will pray for us.”

Finally, God had enough, and through His Son, He cursed those who did not really care for Him.

The lesson of a diseased, and degenerate Fig Tree, teaches the Church that profession without practice is meaningless, and hurts others.

Many years ago, a young Hindu lawyer was living in South Africa in Pretoria. He enquired into Christianity. For several Sundays he attended a Christian Church, and then wrote down his observation. “The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious; they were not an assembly of devout souls, but appeared rather to be worldly minded people going to Church for recreation, and in conformity to custom.” Mahatma Gandhi concluded there was nothing in Christianity which he did not already possess, and so he turned away.

The cursing of the Fig Tree is a clarion call not to turn away from God, lest we be doomed, and destroy others. Rather, let us see the great power of Christ through prayer. Prayer, taught Jesus, can procure anything, when it is supported by faith (Matt. 21:21-22).  

There is a great promise in this passage. The promise is that through prayer, there is the power to remove mountains. The mountains that we face in life are spiritual mountains, but they are very real.

Some people face a mountain called, Broken Relationship.

Some people face a mountain called, Addiction.

Some people face a mountain called, Loneliness.

Some people face a mountain called, Depression.

Some people face a mountain called, Unhappy Marriage.

Some people face a mountain called, Terminal Illness.

Some people face a mountain called, Rebellious Children.

Some people face a mountain called, Unsaved Loved One.

Some people face a mountain called, Job Insecurity.

Some people face a mountain called, Unemployment.

Some people face a mountain called, Grief.

Whatever our mountain, Jesus said that there is power to remove it. This does not mean the obstacle is going to go away, as much as it means it can be dealt with. That is what we want in life. We want to be able to handle our problems and find a good resolution to each one. Christ has shown us the way because He too faced a mountain called Calvary.

“Up Calv’ry’s mountain one dreadful morn
Walked Christ, my Savior, weary and worn;
Facing for sinners death on the cross,
That He might save them from endless loss.

Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer!
Seems now I see Him on Calvary’s tree;
Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading—
Blind and unheeding— dying for me!”

~ Avis B. Christiansen

We will either be cursed by Christ, or we will procure by faith all that God has for us. There are no other alternatives. This is the teaching of the Lord.