"The Fig Tree Incident" Matthew 21b Jan 12 2025

Greetings and Scripture

Good morning

Happy New Year...

We are back in Matthew 21

I call my sermon this morning - “The Fig Tree Incident”

Before Christmas, we just finished looking at Day One of Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem

If you remember:

The Triumphal Entry - “Hosanna to the Son of David…Hosanna in the highest”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

We also saw the last recorded of the healing ministry of Jesus on earth - the blind and the lame who came to Jesus in the temple

We know from verse 17 - that Jesus lodged in Bethany that night - outside Jerusalem

That’s about 1.5 miles east of Jerusalem

And now, as the Bible tells us, the next day -

Jesus is heading back into Jerusalem - it’s the time of Passover - and we come to this curious story about Jesus and a fig tree

This story is found: Matthew, Mark

There are two parts to this story - how Jesus interacts with a fruitless fig tree - and the reaction of the disciples

Let’s look at the story

Beginning in verse 18 -

Matthew 21:18–19 ESV

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

And continuing in verse 20 -

Matthew 21:20–22 ESV

When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

(Pray…)

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

This is a curious story

The authors of Matthew and Mark offer no commentary as to why Jesus did this

All we have about this story is the narrative itself and the conversation Jesus had with the disciples

We’ll get to that conversation a little later - but the disciples didn’t ask why Jesus did this

They marveled that the tree withered immediately after Jesus cursed it

But they didn’t ask if there’s any spiritual significance about it

I believe there is significance to this - and I think it’s worth studying

If there is no significance to this story - then you’re left with Jesus getting mad at a tree because he was hungry

But there is a deeper meaning to this

First off - this was a miracle

The miracle is that Jesus cursed the fig tree when he saw it had no figs

And immediately, the tree withered

Some scholars call this a “destructive miracle,” in which the tree withered and died because of the specific and immediate judgment from Jesus

We shouldn’t ignore what Jesus did

There are other biblical examples “destructive miracles” that occur as a result of God’s judgment:

The Ten Plagues on Egypt

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

We should assume that if Jesus pronounced judgment on a tree, then there are important lessons for two audiences:

The Jewish audience in First Century Judea

And a lesson for us today

My sermon today is on just five verses, Matt 21:18-22

So we can take the luxury and break this down in detail

Look at the first two verses again

[Previous slide]

Matthew 21:18–19 ESV

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

My first observation is that this contains a lot of detail

I count four sentences

I was able to re-write this story in one sentence:

As he was walking towards Jerusalem, Jesus became hungry and cursed a fig tree because it had no fruit.

But thankfully, there is more detail here in the Bible

And sometimes more detail means that there is a significant lesson for us

By the way, the Bible never says that plants die - in the Bible, plants always “wither”

That’s because plants don’t have the “breath of life” like humans do

One way to look at this story - is that in a sense, Jesus is acting out a parable for us

Like a parable, he is teaching us a lesson - but in this case, he is acting it out

Let’s take a look at the details

Jesus is walking towards Jerusalem

We know he is coming from Bethany because the previous verse says he lodged there

And we know his disciples are with him because of their interaction with him

So, Jesus is walking on the road

And he becomes hungry

And he sees a fig tree “by the wayside” - and he went to it

So the tree had to be at some distance from Jesus and Jesus had to go over to it

Mark tells us the tree was at a distance

And I imagine Jesus had to leave the road to walk over to this tree

We know also that this tree specifically had leaves - but that it only had leaves, no fruit

Are you with me so far?

Fig trees, in season, are known to have large, beautiful leaves

[Pics]

And from a distance, a fruitless fig tree - with its leaves could deceive a passerby until they get up close to it

I don’t believe Jesus was fooled - I think this was all a lesson for us

There are obvious conclusions here

One is for Israel - that the religious leaders, with all of their religious “leaves” and their knowledge of the law,

Were ultimately fruitless

As JTB, back in Chapter 3, tells the Pharisees and Sadducees -

First, he called them “brood of vipers”

Then he told them, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

They had the shell of religion - they put on a good show - but they were empty on the inside

They were “brood of vipers,” because there was no evidence of repentance in their lives

The second conclusion is for us - and it is two fold:

This is a warning to watch out for false Christians and false teachers who pretend to be Christians, but are empty on the inside

The other warning is for us to to examine ourselves - is our faith real? Do our lives produce real fruit?

There is a loose connection with this story and the Parable of the Talents

The master goes away on a trip - but before he goes,

He gives one servant five talents - another two talents - and another one

The first two servants go and invest their talents, producing double the ROI

But the servant with one talent, hid his talent in the ground

The master calls him a “wicked and slothful servant,” and that he should have at least put it in the bank to gain some interest

The parable ends with the master taking away the one talent and casting that “worthless” servant into outer darkness where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”

In this story, Jesus curses the fig tree - and it withers to nothing

Fruitless Christians

There are folks who claim to be Christians - but have no fruit in their lives

There are false teachers, who have no real faith, no true obedience - they have no fruit in their lives

They have fruit-leaves on display, but no true fruit

From their mouths, the spout twisted Bible things - but they are far from the truth

Their leaves are intended to fool others - that they have a righteous, spiritual basis

But inside, they are empty

They display spiritual leaves -

They have all the spiritual accouterments - they wear all the right paraphernalia

They wear spiritual costumes - and wear masks of righteousness

But inside they are empty

When you see your doctor - your doctor usually walks into your exam room looking like a doctor:

Lab coat

Scrubs

Stethoscope over the shoulder

They may even have their diplomas on the wall

They look like a doctor - but what really makes them a doctor is the years of medical training and medical experience

Not their lab coat

I want to be clear: the problem with this fig tree is not that it had leaves

The problem with the fig tree is that it had leaves with no fruit

It’s perfectly fine for a real doctor...to look like a real doctor

That’s better than someone who looks like a doctor, but is only pretending to be one

My point is that it’s okay for real doctors to look like doctors

Big, green leaves on fig trees are beautiful

If you are a Christian - you should have spiritual leaves

True Christians should carry themselves in spiritual ways of holiness and obedience

But, ask yourself - is there fruit in your life?

Is the Fruit of the Spirit in your life along with your spiritual walk?

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

Do you truly believe in Jesus and trust in him?

Are there good works in your life?

Do you love God in your life more than you love the sin in your life?

Do you truly love the Lord and love others - even when they are unlovely

Do you pray for others?

Is the Fruit of the Spirit evident in your life towards others, even when it’s hard?

The Gospel of Mark says that Jesus saw the fig tree, with its leaves - from a distance

And that he came closer to see if he could find anything on it except leaves

But he found no figs because it was not the season for figs

Now that doesn’t sound nice when you first read it

Fig trees lose their leaves in the late fall and into the winter

They’re like trees here in TN

They would be bare, fruitless, leave-less trees

How can you blame a fig tree out of season?

How could Jesus judge a fig tree for having no figs when it’s not even the right time of the year for figs?

Remember, this is Passover time - so this would be around March or April

Fig trees normally don’t have figs until late Summer - August or September

And Jesus pronounces judgment on a fig tree for not having figs - out of season

I did some research

In the Judean region, sometimes fig trees have an early crop

And some of the trees will produce leaves and also figs during this time

In a sense, this tree was “pretending” to show itself as an early crop

It had leaves, but no fruit

That makes it worse

Imagine thinking of your favorite fruit all winter long

And in the spring, you think you will get to eat it

The spiritual metaphor here is that this tree was lying - it pretended to have fruit, but nothing was there

That’s why Jesus cursed it

In the Garden, when Adam and Eve sinned - they looked at themselves and felt shame because they realized they were naked

And they saw themselves as naked, because they were suddenly unrighteous

Remember what they used to cover up their nakedness?

Fig leaves

Nothing wrong with fig leaves - but don’t use them to hide the fact that you’re not truly walking with Jesus

Listen to this beautiful passage in John 15 - the words of Jesus

English Standard Version Chapter 15

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned

Folks - without Jesus, we are nothing

(Illustration - my story of prayer time in the forest…)

My sermon isn’t about us

It’s not about our ability and our responsibility to produce fruit

We are merely the branches - and the branch cannot bear fruit by itself

We need Jesus to be our vine - we need Jesus to produce fruit

We need to abide in him, to remain remain in him

And what happens when we do bear fruit - the Father prunes us

And what happens when he prunes us?

We bear more fruit

My sermon is about Jesus, not us

The Disciples

I want to go back to the story in Matt 21

In verse 20 the disciples were impressed with what Jesus did [Previous slide]

I would have hoped that they grasped the deeper meaning of the fig tree

But the Bible says they asked, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”

“Jesus, how did you get that tree to do that?”

“That was a cool magic trick you did there”

Jesus didn’t criticize them - he said if you have true faith, you can do the same thing

Jesus met them at their level and taught them that they too could do the impossible, even move mountains

You will receive anything you ask in prayer - IF you have faith

And based on what the rest of the Bible says - IF you are truly in God’s will, you can do anything

Conclusion

Jesus said that every branch that bears fruit, the Father prunes

The pruning part is not always comfortable - but it means we are abiding in Christ - and it means we will produce more fruit

But the warning is there:

Any branch that does not bear fruit is taken away and thrown away until it withers

Then all of those branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, and are burned

The true test of a genuine Christian then - is not what they look like on the outside

The true test is - are you producing fruit?

Are you abiding in Jesus?

Jesus said he is the Vine, and we are the branches

Which means - our fruit comes from him

True Christian fruit does not come from our self effort

It comes from him

The fruit in our lives is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit

It’s not based on how hard we work

(Pray…)

Communion

The Lord’s Supper is similar to The Passover from the OT.

It celebrates the fact that the Lord delivered his people from Egypt - and delivered his people from his own wrath

Today, we celebrate Communion which holds the memory of Christ’s death on the cross

The death of Jesus on the cross delivered us from the desolate wilderness of our sin

And saves us from the coming wrath of the Lord

When we take communion, there is a sense of past, present, and the future

Past: Communion looks back in remembrance of Christ’s death on the cross

Present: It is a celebration of the New Covenant we are in

Future: It causes us to look forward to when we will celebrate with Jesus face to face

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.