Though the Fig Tree Should Not Blossom

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.  And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.  – Mark 11:12-14

This event occurred at the time of Passover.  In fact, the day before was marked by Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem which we commemorate as Palm Sunday.  Therefore we would say that Jesus cursed the fig tree on Monday of Holy Week leading up to His Crucifixion. 

The fig tree produces two crops per year – one in the spring and a main crop in the fall.  The fruit of the main crop is preferable, but in spring, the fruit begins to grow before the leaves emerge.  Though it was not the “season for figs”, a fig tree in full leaf promised the presence of fruit.  When Jesus saw the tree, He was drawn to it that He might satisfy His hunger.  Upon finding it barren, and even deceptively so, He cursed it. 

Bible expositors often tell us that the fig tree is symbolic of the nation of Israel.  In fact, Matthew 24:32-34 is a frequently quoted passage among students of Bible prophecy, especially those advocating a pre-millennial, pre-tribulation rapture.  Here is what it says, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.  So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”  This is believed by many to be a prophecy of Israel’s restoration to the land and the return of Jerusalem to the Jewish people as it took place in 1948 (or possibly 1967).

Jesus was not cursing a mere plant when He caused that fig tree to wither.  The curse of Mark 11, as well as much (if not all) the prophecy of Matthew 24, was fulfilled with precision in 70 AD when the Roman forces under Titus destroyed Jerusalem, leveled the Temple, and drove the Jews into exile.  Assuming that Christ was crucified somewhere around 30 to 33 AD, the Jews would exist as a nation in their homeland for a “generation” of about 40 years (or perhaps exactly 40 since resistance remained at Masada until the year 73).

This curse, however, did not fall upon the fig tree because it failed to bear fruit out of season.  It was cursed for its deceptiveness, for the appearance that it would provide nourishment for the hungry and weary when it fact, it offered nothing.  The religion of the Pharisees and Sadducees in the First Century was a religion of appearances.  They liked to look good, to receive the praises of the crowd, to be noticed, but they had nothing to offer those whose souls were famished and desperate.  Lacking the courage to acknowledge their own emptiness, they had nothing more than a dead letter to offer the sinners and seekers.     

The Messiah came to His people, and they, for the most part, rejected Him because He upset their notions; He was not what they expected.  He did not concern Himself with their shallow rules or adhere to their misguided standards.  He shattered appearances and struck at the heart. 

As He approached Jerusalem amid the shouts of a fickle mob, He paused:  And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

The season had come, the time of visitation, the time to turn from illusions to reality.  God does not blame us or expect fruitfulness out of season.  But if we practice hypocrisy and pretend to be something we are not, we will find ourselves withering and suffering under the curse that falls relentlessly upon the deceptive. 

My friend Eddie used to speak often of Nicodemus who came to Jesus “in secret”.  He said that Christ does not want any “secret disciples”.  And he was right.  In the end, Nicodemus had to come forward along with others who perhaps feared for their social standing and acceptance to express his devotion to the Lord by helping to provide for embalming and burial.  Nicodemus did not fail to bear fruit in his season.  

We must not hide our light under a bucket or refuse to be salt in a decaying world.  But above all, we must be as honest about where we are as we can be.  There are going to be times in our lives when we are barren and unfruitful, when we seem dead to the world.  At those times, it will be easy for our enemies, our friends of Job's Friends, the world, and especially our own carnal minds to mock us and call us failures, to ask where God is in our lives, to ask why He has forsaken us.  We will be tempted, at times, to cover ourselves in fig leaves, to appear to have something we do not have.  Yet if we are willing to stand naked in our barrenness, stripped and silent before ridicule, the season of figs will come around again.

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
-- Habakkuk 3:17-19