A Parable in Action
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
This is one passage that has confounded me for years, so I was uncertain how to proceed when I read the lectionary choices for today. Jesus’ action seems like one of pique and uncharacteristic of the an that deliberately includes children and forgives sinners. Why would he do such a thing, when it was clearly not the season for fruit?
I studied this using an interpreter’s Bible to try to understand. The Old Testament prophets, Jeremiah, Joel, and Micah, had used the metaphor of Israel as a fruitless fig tree. Also, the mention of the season is important, because who appoints the seasons? God. Jesus knew what we call the Old Testament very well, so this was fulfilling more prophecies.
Learning all of this helps to understand that this is a parable in action. Jesus, God incarnate, looked for a fig, but the tree of Israel didn’t have any, and so he rejected it. He even goes further and says that a mountain can throw itself into the sea by faith, fully remembering that the Temple in Jerusalem was situated on a mountain. God was promising Jesus’ resurrection and our salvation to more than the Jewish people, but to all who believed. This reiterates Sunday’s lesson of the faith the size of a mustard seed. Our faith is essential to our salvation. Thank you, God, for including all of us!
1 John 2:12-17
1 John 2:12-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; 16for all that is in the world — the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches — comes not from the Father but from the world. 17And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever” (1 John 2:15-17) Because Jesus was killed by the authorities of this world and because He rose from death and thus conquered...
Micah 7:7-15; Acts 3:1-10; John 15:1-11
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Jeremiah 17:5-18
Jeremiah 17:5-18 “Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat...
Psalm 5
Psalm 5 I’m not one of those Bible nerds who will geek out on something like punctuation… normally. But really, ya’ll, check out that semi-colon! Now, to be clear, biblical Greek does not have this sort of punctuation so what we’re seeing is a reflection of translation decisions by the editors of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), which is the translation we use as our pew Bibles and that I use every week for these devotionals. Now, as can be seen, not every translation utilizes the...
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Jeremiah 18:1-11 “The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel” (Jeremiah 18:4-6) The prophet Jeremiah makes a visit to his local potter and somewhere along the line of waiting for that new soup bowl to be...
Romans 5:1-11
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Jeremiah 3:6-18
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Deuteronomy 9:13-21
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Luke 18:9-14
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2 Timothy 1:15-2:13
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