I am praising the Lord for the salvation of my brother Jud Kelley. I was surprised by his recent profession of faith because I watched him get baptized in our Papa’s pond when we were children. He recently realized that what he engaged in earlier in life was not a true repentance and acceptance of Jesus’ shed blood as his atonement for his sins. He will be baptized into truth next Sunday. Hallelujah!
On the Monday after Jud had walked the aisle to give his confession and testimony, I had a devotion that spoke to Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree and was amazed to recognize that this was Jud’s story!
This inverted miracle/parable that is found in both Matthew 21:18-22 and in Mark 11:12-14, have disturbed me because it sounds like Jesus is just being harsh for no reason. I urge you to read both accounts in Scripture, but I want to focus on the passage in Mark 11.
12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet.14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard it.
This is the only negative miracle (inverted) found in Jesus’ earthly ministry, and like all Scripture, one must look at the context the passage comes from in order to understand its reason and meaning. I can honestly admit that I never liked this story because I did not understand it.
I need to give you a quick Botany lesson on the fig. It is in the Genus Ficus, and there are at least 7 different species found in Israel. The fig is a unique plant and had a very rich history with the Jewish people. The most unique feature is that the flower of the fig is totally encapsulated within the fruit (most trees flower with that flower developing into the fruit). The fruit comes on the tree before the leaves, and there are two fruiting times in one growing season. The first fruiting is in the spring and is called the Breba fig. This fruiting was not as big or sweet, so it was often only picked by the poor and called the “poor-man’s fruit”. If the tree does not produce the Breba fruit, then it will not produce any for the season. The second fruiting occurs later and is referred to as the “real” season of the fig. This harvest was more toward fall and was considered the “time of the fig”.
Are you wondering why this is important to the story? I think the reason I misunderstood the story is because I did not fully know the full fruiting cycle of the fig. It always seemed that Jesus was just being selfish because He was hungry, and it angered Him that this tree had no fruit to be eaten. Upon researching this story, I found that many commentaries had differing interpretations of the events. I want to teach you what the Lord impressed upon my heart concerning this parable of action instead of words.
Remember, this story takes place on the Monday after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in that last week of His life on earth. He and the Disciples were coming back into Jerusalem from Bethany where they had stayed the night. Scripture tells us that Jesus was hungry. This shows us that He was fully man just like us – we get hungry! He saw a fig tree fully leafed out ahead of them on the road. He knew that this was a sign that there should be Breba figs (green, not as sweet, but edible) on this tree. Upon closer inspection, He found no fruit, but only leaves. Jesus, being the excellent teacher, saw this as an opportune time to use this tree as an object lesson or illustrated sermon for His Disciples.
Jesus speaks a curse upon the tree and all the Disciples heard it. The tree immediately starts to die, but the leaves are not lost at this point in the story. The account in Matthew almost seems contradictory because it says they withered at that time. Mark’s account stresses that the next day on their way back into Jerusalem, Peter points out that the tree Jesus cursed was fully withered and dead. Believe me when I tell you that was truly a miracle that it died that quickly!
My daughter Rylee had a fig tree in her backyard that she absolutely hated because it attracted so many animals in the yard and her dogs would go crazy chasing them away. We worked for two full years at killing that fig tree. We cut, we poisoned, we burned – basically, we did every mean thing we could to kill this tree, and every time we thought it was dead, out would pop some green! Jesus just had to speak to that tree, and it was dead. Miracle turned into parable.
Lessons to be learned:
- The fact that the tree had no fruit was symbolic of the nation of Israel and many in our churches today.
- This tree was a fraud, a hypocrite, giving the appearance of fruit, but had nothing but leaves.
- Jewish people associated a fig tree having leaves with excuses for not doing right. (Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig leaves and used each other and the serpent as their excuse for not doing as God had commanded).
- Listen to Jesus, heed His instruction, and believe He does what He says.
Jesus is using this fig tree to convey the message that He doesn’t want your “show” of relationship through following religious rituals, ceremony, and appearances of worship. How many times in Scripture are we told that we will know a person by their fruit or lack thereof? Jesus hates mediocrity or partial obedience or lukewarmness.
This was Monday, and Jesus would be on the cross for our sins by Friday. He knew that the very people that hailed Him as King of Kings and Messiah would call for His crucifixion on another tree. This fig tree was His judgement upon the nation of Israel for their rejection of identifying Him as the Son of God, the Savior, and the true Messiah.
I am so thankful that Jud realized he needed “true” salvation before it was eternally to late. He testifies that he wasted a lot of years and wants to reclaim the time. My question for you is, are you nothing but leaves?
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for being our atonement for sin. Thank you for providing us a way to have eternal life with You and for allowing us to bear fruit for Your glory. We know there is no season in which we are excused from bearing good fruit. Help us to stay in the center of Your will. I know that You hunger after my fruit of worship, praise, prayer, and passion for the Kingdom work.
Amen.
In Jesus the Christ,
Rebekah Marsh
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#rebekahmarshblogs