The eschatological restoration has arrived. Why Don’t the New Testament Authors Explain the Trinity? God promises to one day replant Israel and produce healthy figs from her again (Joel 2:22; Amos 9:14; Mic. And the Jewish crowds—gathering to celebrate God’s past act of redemption (Passover/exodus)—have just hailed Jesus as “king” while he leads a new exodus on a meaning-laden donkey (Zech. 1:3; Jer. The cursed fig tree is connected to Jesus’ actions in the temple. - When he saw a (μίαν, a single) fig tree in the way. This isn't the first time that Scripture has used fig trees as symbols for Israel. Mark, the author of the book, adds the comment that "it was not the season for figs" (). The cursing of the fig tree is an incident in the gospels, presented in Mark and Matthew as a miracle in connection with the entry into Jerusalem, and in Luke as a parable. The fig tree, once again, has failed. Resurrected Saints and Matthew’s Weirdest Passage, Greg Lanier on Teaching 1 Corinthians (Part 2). Jesus enters God’s house of prayer and finds it a “den of robbers” (Mark 11:17). Immediately: Matthew 21:19, “Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered. Its foliage signals that it should have early figs. So Jesus cursed the tree: "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again" (vs 14). 12:11; Jas. 10:35–37), which helps conceptualize their relationship to God: as his own special planting, they must yield spiritual fruit as his covenant people (Ps. "He found nothing but leaves," says vs 13, "for it was not the season for figs." So upon inspecting the fruitless tree, Jesus pours out divine judgment via two sign-acts: the future-pointing act of cursing the temple, and the enacted metaphor of cursing the tree. En route from Bethany over the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem, Peter notices the tree that Jesus cursed the previous morning. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is described as God’s vineyard, tree, or planting (Judges 9:8–15; Isa. 9:9). It was a false appearance of bearing figs that caused Jesus to become irate with this tree! Jesus has pursued the children of God with compassionate seriousness (Luke 13:34). A lack of fruitfulness is a sign of God’s curse for their rebellion (Deut. Don’t Outsource It. “And as they [Jesus and His disciples] passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots. Our personal lives can look like “in leaf.” Our leaves may look like those of a supermom, a winner, a perfect family, an A-team Christian with an overstuffed schedule of ministry activities. God was bringing a just judgment on Jerusalem for becoming a false Eden. The next morning (presumably Tuesday of Passion Week) Jesus Jesus cursed the fig tree because it had the appearance of fruitfulness, but it was deceptive. That is, … 8:13; Hos. Thus the fig tree cursing is not just about historical Israel. The fruitless fig tree draws us back to prior points in Jesus’s ministry, when God’s people were called to produce spiritual fruit (Matt. “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 9:10–17)—but he finds “no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.” So in two exiles (Assyrian and Babylonian), God pours out the curse of barrenness (Hos. What’s worse—our leaves may even fool us. The next day while returning to Jerusalem, He became hungry. Instead, Jesus is … Matthew the apostle wrote about Jesus, “in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered, and in chapter twenty-one and verse nineteen of his book, Matthew shares how Jesus did not see any fruit on a fig tree and said, “let no fruit grow on you henceforward for ever” where we read:. 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