What's Up With The Fig Tree?

March 25, 2024

Today's Scripture

Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

— Mark 11:12-14; 20-25 (NKJV)

Today's Devotional

Flash back 2000 years or so. Jesus’ mission takes him to Jerusalem, Israel’s most important city. For several days, he debates religious leaders about the meaning of life. He offers care and healing to many who long to know it. He teaches his disciples principles for living and leadership. He shares several meals with them, including the Passover Seder. He talks them through their fear and anxiety. He prays for them.

It was a busy week.

But there is an act that Jesus does early in the week that I find hard to understand or explain. As the Bible tells us, there was this fig tree that Jesus saw as he went from Bethany to Jerusalem. Since he was hungry, he decided to help himself to a fig. When he reached the tree, he discovered that it had lots of leaves, but no fruit. So, Jesus announced to the tree, “May no one ever eat from your fruit again.” Not much later, the tree died.

Why would Jesus send this tree to its death? Yes, it had leaves, but it was too early for figs! This is behavior we do not expect from Jesus. There are some theories explaining Jesus’ action:

The fig tree symbolizes the lack of fruitfulness of the people.
This demonstrates the awesome power of God.
Knowing what he faced, his frustration became irritation — and the tree was right there!

Who knows? I must confess that I’m not sure what to make of Jesus’ encounter with this fig tree, but I’m intrigued that to explain the fig tree incident, Mark tells us that Jesus talks with his disciples about having faith in God.

Could this be Jesus’ way of emphasizing how essential faith is for those who follow him? Is faith sufficient to overcome his cross? Our crosses? Hmmm …

— Rev. Dr. Clifton Howard, Assistant to the Bishop, CTC

cliftonhoward@ctcumc.org