Matthew 21:18-22

Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus curses a fig tree

What do you think is going on in this incident?

On his first day in Jerusalem, Jesus uses tactics we have seldom seen him use in the past.  He is no longer concerned about attracting attention.  He has made a dramatic entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, driven money changers and sellers out of the Temple, healed people in the Temple under the indignant noses of the chief priests, and now cursed a fig tree.  What is going on?

One way to interpret this is that Jesus is doing what many Old Testament prophets did: he is using dramatic public actions to illustrate symbolically what the leaders have ignored when he has merely spoken.  These kinds of actions might be thought of as acted-out parables.  (Protest movements would call it “street theater.”)  Here are some of the things Old Testament prophets did that seem to be similar to Jesus’s actions in these acted-out parables:

• At the Lord’s direction, Jeremiah called the elders and senior priests together and destroyed a clay jug in their presence, telling them that this is what God would do to their houses and the house of the king if they did not repent (Jer. 19:1-13).

• Ahijah bought a new garment and tore it into 12 pieces to dramatize the breakup of David’s kingdom (1 Kings 11:29-31).

• Ezekiel baked bread on dung in the sight of the people and ate it for a year (Ezek. 4:9-17).

• When the people did not wake up to the calamity they faced, Ezekiel cut off his hair, divided it into three pieces, and then burned one-third, went around the city striking one-third with a sword, and scattered the last third to the wind, symbolizing what would happen to the nation (Ezek. 5:1-12).

• Isaiah took off his clothes and went naked and barefoot for 3 years to symbolize the coming defeat that would result in the people being led away naked and barefoot into captivity and exile (Is. 20:1-6).

Jesus is using prophetic actions, direct actions similar to these, to try to wake up the religious leaders.  American Catholic novelist Flannery O’Connor wrote stories that were often considered violent, disturbing, and even grotesque.  He explained why:

“When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal ways of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock – to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.” (qtd. in Austin Dominic Litke, O.P. “Reading Flannery O’Connor in our times.”)

Many people are bothered by the idea that Jesus might have cursed a poor tree, and they are even more troubled when they see that Mark says it was not the time for figs (Mark 11:13).  Scholars have a variety of sometimes contradictory explanations:

• Some say that in fact figs do grow on fig trees in Israel at the time of year when the Passover occurs, and this tree was deficient.

• Others say that leaves don’t grow on fig trees until later in the Spring, so this tree had leaves when it should not have had leaves, a sign that it was not flourishing properly and would not produce fruit at the proper time.

• Others say that fig trees start with a knob that is not a delicious fig but can be eaten, and the tree should have had these knobs by this time of the year.  A tree with no “fruit” (i.e., no knobs) at this point in the growing cycle would not produce fruit later in the year.

• Others point to the fact that the word Mark uses when he says that it was not the “time” for figs is the Greek word kairos, which is usually used in the New Testament to speak of a special kind of time: God’s time, the appointed time.  So the tree should have had fruit because it was God’s time for that tree to have fruit for Jesus, but it was not responding to God’s time, just as the Jewish leaders were not responding to the unique moment or “time” they were in, a time when they should have been welcoming Jesus as the Messiah.

Since this action of Jesus seems to be a prophetic action or acted-out parable – an action taken to make a broader point – let’s focus on the metaphor and the broader point Jesus is making, not the tree.  If Jesus’s action is a metaphor, what do you think the fig tree and its lack of fruit stand for?

The fig tree was sometimes used in the Old Testament as a reference to Israel – for example, in Jeremiah 8:12-13 and Hosea 9:10.  Israel, as represented by their leaders, is not producing the fruit God expects to find.

Mark tells the story of the fig tree in two parts, happening on successive days, with the cleansing of the Temple happening in-between.  Since his Gospel was written first, it is possible that his sequencing of the story is closer to the actual timeline of what happened.  His narrative establishes a clear connection between the cleansing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree.  Matthew condenses the fig tree story but still keeps it adjacent to the cleansing of the Temple.

When we see the connection, we realize that Jesus’s action is not about this tree’s fruit.  The tree sacrificed its life so that the Lord of the Universe could perform a dramatic prophetic action to try to wake up the Jewish leaders.

If the fig tree stands for Israel, i.e., the Jewish people, what is Jesus trying to tell the Jewish leaders?

The Jewish leaders might be described as all leaf and no fruit.  What kind of fruit should the leaders have been showing?

How can we avoid being all leaf and no fruit?  What should our “fruit” look like?

Perhaps the most surprising thing about this passage is that Jesus does not explain his action.  He does not talk about the tree or the fruit.  He does not talk about the leaders.  When he is questioned by the disciples, he makes a separate point that has nothing to do with the leaders, the fruit, or the leaves.  Perhaps he concluded that the acted-out parable did not have the desired effect so he decided not to belabor the point, or the disciples didn’t remember his point, or the Gospel writers didn’t think there was value in explaining the point or thought we would grasp the point without it being said.  He will make the point again in some of the parables he will tell in the next few days, as he returns to prophetic teaching rather than prophetic acting: Our actions need to conform to what we profess or claim about ourselves.  We need fruit, not just leaves.

How is the metaphorical fig tree of the Church (God’s people) doing these days?  In what ways is it producing fruit or withering?

How is your metaphorical fig tree doing?  In what ways are you producing fruit or withering?

How does Jesus respond in verse 21, when the disciples ask how the tree withered so fast?

Rather than warning people that they might be at risk of suffering what the tree suffered, Jesus unexpectedly suggests that the disciples might be able to do the same thing he did if they have faith.

In verse 21 and at the end of verse 22, what does he ask his followers to exhibit?

What does this passage say to you about your own faith life and prayer life?

Do you think Jesus is talking literally about trees and mountains (that if I have enough faith, I could  cause a tree to wither or a mountain to move?), or is he speaking metaphorically?

What are the “trees” and “mountains” that we might need to talk to God about with undoubting faith?

Christians tend to like the mountain metaphor: we see obstacles, call them mountains, and pray that they will be removed.  Can the fig tree be a useful metaphor for us as well?  What might be some things we could approach God about in prayer, that we would like to see wither away so that God’s will would be done in our lives?

How can we build the kind of faith that is not about getting God to do what we want, but rather about living in such union with God that we can ask for the right things and trust him completely that he will work in and through us?

Take a step back and consider this:

The clearing of the Temple and the cursing of the fig tree can raise many questions in our minds.  Let’s not lose sight of the big picture.  Jesus is calling us to live lives totally devoted to God, and this dedication should be manifest in our public lives: in the “Temple,” in marketplace, in our workplaces, in our families, everywhere.

If the chief priests and scribes had believed in Jesus, he would never have felt the need to cause a fig tree to wither as a metaphor for their lack of faith.  But the point was never about the fig tree; the point was that the nation was withering because of the lack of faith of the chief priests and scribes.

Perhaps our lack of faith also causes things to “wither” that would flourish if we had faith.  When we fail to trust that God has our back, we may be tempted to do inappropriate things that wither our spiritual life rather than giving life.  When we fail to believe in and support the people around us, our actions or inaction may wither the life in them and us.  When we do the easy thing instead of the right thing, and do it again and again, our connection to God will gradually wither.

Every day, we face choices that lead us to cry hosanna to the Son of David or to take actions that contribute to the withering of our life with Christ.

How can you recognize and consciously reject actions that cause faith to wither?

How can you help your own faith and the faith of the people around you to produce fruit?