Matthew 21:18-22; Cursing the Fig Tree

“Even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.”  Jesus in Matthew 21:21

“Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God…if you love darkness and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be content with little faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of great rejoicing, covet earnestly this best gift, ‘great faith.’”  (Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, March 7)

 It is early during Holy Week.  Jesus is in Jerusalem, very well aware of what waits for Him at the end of the week (Matthew 20:18-19).  Having spent the night outside of Jerusalem in Bethany with his friend Lazarus, (John 11:1) or perhaps Simon the leper (Matthew 26:6), He returned to the city and He is hungry (v.18). 

He sees a fig tree.   He notices that there is nothing on it except leaves.  And He says to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.”  And at once the fig tree withered (v.19).  This miracle has understandably troubled people.    When His other miracles involve healings, provision or protection, here the tree dies.   Why does Jesus curse the fig tree for not being fruitful, when it is not even the season for figs (see Mark 11:13)? 

Jesus is a Master Teacher.   He regularly employs word pictures in His teaching.   The fig tree is a metaphor for unbelieving Jerusalem.    The Jewish people rejected their Messiah and embraced other gods.   The need to cleanse the temple illustrates this.    The teaching of the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13:6-9 is an illustration of the Lord’s patience with Israel; the Old Testament chronicles the Lord’s faithfulness to Israel in spite of her faithlessness.   Yet the Lord’s patience has limits and the cursing of the fig tree is a metaphor of that limit.   

A careful student of the Bible will notice there seems to be a discrepancy in the timeline between Mark’s version of the cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11:20) and Matthew’s version.   Matthew puts the cleansing of the temple first with the cursing of the fig tree following, while Mark has the order reversed.   Gleason Archer, in his book, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, provides this explanation: 

“Matthew’s tendency to group his material in themes [while Mark groups according to chronology]…is quite clearly exhibited in the series of eight parables of the kingdom of heaven that make up chapter 13.  Once a theme has been broached, Matthew prefers to carry it through to its completion, as a general rule.”

Jesus then moves from the visual metaphor to the spoken metaphor and repeats the same metaphor He used in Matthew 17:20, “even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.”  Jesus emphasizes the theme of faith and the need to believe because He is surrounded by a lack of faith.   His disciples are often confused by His teaching (19:25) and make astounding, selfish requests (20:21).  The temple, which was built so that the Lord could commune with His people (2 Chronicles 5-7), has been turned into a robber’s den (21:13).   The Son of Man is not finding faith on the earth (Luke 18:8).

Yet Jesus emphasizes the value of belief in Him by saying, “All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (v.22).   Good Biblical interpretation interprets one verse not in isolation but in view of the rest of Scripture. When taken together with other verses on prayer (i.e., John 14:14; James 4:3, 1 Peter 3:7) we learn the promise of answered prayer is not a “blank check” for the comfort of the believer.  Rather prayer is a war-time walkie-talkie so those who labor “in His name” as His ambassadors can strengthen weak faith and bring saving faith to those who do not know Him.     
 
May we rejoice that the great God of the Universe has reached out to us and made Himself known.   Praise Him that the conduit of knowing God is not our own efforts but simply believing in Him.    For God affirms that “without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).