Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
A leafy tree with no fruit — an acted parable of empty religion.
Hungry, Jesus comes to a fig tree full of leaves but finds no fruit, and says, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. By the next morning the tree has withered from the roots — an enacted warning about the appearance of life without its reality.
What happened
And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
He found nothing but leaves... and Jesus said, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.
And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
In the morning... they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
What it means
This is the only destructive miracle Jesus performs, and it is really an acted parable. A fig tree in full leaf normally promises fruit; this one was all show and no substance. Sandwiched around the cleansing of the temple, the withered tree becomes a picture of Israel's religion in Jesus' day — impressive foliage, no fruit.
The lesson reaches every generation and every heart. God looks for fruit, not merely leaves — real righteousness, not the appearance of it. A profession of faith that produces no love, no obedience, no change is like a leafy tree that disappoints the hungry traveller. The warning is against religion that advertises life it does not possess.
Jesus uses the moment to teach about faith and prayer — have faith in God... whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed... he shall have whatsoever he saith. The withering that judged fruitless religion becomes an occasion to call his disciples to the living, fruitful faith that the fig tree lacked.