Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
- Uncharacteristically harsh from “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.”
- True, [depending upon the account we read] he’s just evicted the sellers from the temple, or he’s just about to.
- But what’s the fig tree done wrong? It isn’t even the season for figs (Mark 11:13). In Australia, we’ve just enjoyed fig season, but in the Northern Hemisphere it’s July to September.
- Something else is going on here.
Whenever I think of leaves and fruit in the Word …
- Ezekiel 47 – “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” (Ezekiel 47:12)
- Also Revelation 22:2
- “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
“‘a leaf’ means truth is clear from various places in the Word, where man is compared to or actually called a tree. ‘Fruit’ in those contexts means the good that stems from charity, and ‘leaf’ the truth deriving from this, for these are indeed like fruit and leaves. ” (Secrets of Heaven, 885)
But these are dependent upon one thing: conjunction with the Lord
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6)
“The Lord never judges anyone except from good, for His will is to lift all people, however many these may be, up to heaven, indeed if it were possible, up to Himself. For the Lord is mercy itself and good itself, and [these] cannot possibly condemn anyone. It is a person who, in rejecting good, condemns himself. As a person has fled habitually from good during his lifetime, so in the next life he flees from it, and therefore from heaven and the Lord.” (Secrets of Heaven, 2335, section 3)
The fig tree is a parable in action – a commentary upon the spiritual reality of the time. Despite all the show, the external religious rituals, there was no connection with the Lord and nothing worthwhile which results from it. What can we learn?
- The triumphal entry is like the conversion experience – a joyful occasion.
- But whenever we invite the Lord into our lives, we’re going to start seeing what’s wrong,. This is not going to be an easy experience.
- But it’s worth bearing in mind what the purpose of this is …
“the Lord enters into those things with a person that the person knows, not into those he does not know. He does not therefore amend evil or falsity until the person has learned that it is evil or falsity. So it is that those who have to do the work of repentance must see and acknowledge their evils, and accordingly lead the life of truth, 8388-8392.” (Secrets of Heaven, 9088., section 2)
We need to see what is wrong and then the Lord will help us remove it. So much hangs on our response to this experience. Do we sweep it under the carpet again, pretend nothing’s wrong? OR do we acknowledge it, and turn to the Lord as the only true source of anything that is good?
Recorded on Sunday 24 March 2024