Erick-Woods Erickson
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ” (Luke 13:6–9, ESV)
In Luke, we are presented with a parable of a fig tree. The owner of the fig tree wants the tree cut down because it is producing no fruit. The gardener asks for more time that the tree might bear fruit.
In Matthew and Mark, we are confronted with the point of Holy Tuesday, the only miracle of Jesus that involves a curse. The parable in Luke is before Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. But now, judgment is at hand.
In Matthew and Mark, Matthew abbreviating Mark’s telling of the events, Jesus sees a fig tree. Mark tells us it is not the season for fruit, but Matthew tells us the fig tree is covered in leaves. Fig trees, by the time they are covered in leaves, tend to have fruit.
Jesus sees this fig tree covered in leaves, but it has no fruit. So he curses it and it withers and dies.
I struggled with this story for some time. It seems unfair that a fruit tree not in season would be killed by Jesus for not having the fruit. But that misses Jesus’s point.
The tree is covered in leaves. It has all the signs of bearing fruit, but has no fruit. It echos the fig tree of Luke 13. God’s gardener, Jesus, has now come forward and provided the living water to Israel, but no spiritual fruit had grown over the three years of His ministry. The religious leaders reject Jesus. The people cheering Him on as He entered the city on Palm Sunday would demand Barabbas’s freedom on Friday.
The fig tree is a metaphor for Israel, but it can be for us as well.
Every one of us knows a person who, in outward presentation, is deeply religious. They make a show of it. And they will not be in the Kingdom. They will be cast out.
Authentic faith bears fruit. You can be the best dressed person in church who sings the best and loudest, but if you are not bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God, it might all be for nothing.
When Constantine converted Rome to Christ, all the urban leaders almost overnight rejected Jupiter for Jesus. They wanted to be close to the Emperor. The wealthy played at Christianity, but their hearts were not changed.
The fig tree displayed a full branch of leaves, but it bore no fruit. It presented itself as fruitful and was not.
Going through the motions of faith rarely makes us more faithful. Sometimes, in dark periods, the rhythm helps us through. The routine strengthens us. But if you only ever go through the motions, you might need to reconsider if your heart is changed. If it is not, ask Jesus. Spend time in the Word.
In the present age, a lot of people make a big deal publicly about King Jesus. Many of them bear no fruit, they just profit. They will face a God not of their creation and marketing on the last day. They will face the real God who cursed a fig tree for showing itself to be fruit bearing but, in reality, had nothing but show.
