Cursing the fig tree
Encyclopedia
Cursing the fig tree is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. It is included in the gospels of Mark and Matthew, but not in Luke or John. In the Markan text it comes in two parts: in the first, just after the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
In the accounts of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem takes place in the days before the Last Supper, marking the beginning of his Passion....

 and before the Cleansing of the Temple, Jesus curses a fig tree for being barren; in the second part, presumably the next day, the tree has withered, prompting Jesus to speak of the efficacy of prayer. Matthew presents it as a single event.

The text in Mark and Matthew

Mark 11:12-14 and 11:20-25

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.


...


In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”


Matthew 21:18-22

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”


Most scholars believe that Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...

 was the first gospel, and was used as a source for Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

. The differences between the incident as described in Mark, and the version given in Matthew, are explicable from the view-point of Markan priority
Markan priority
Markan priority is the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first written of the three Synoptic Gospels, and that the two other synoptic evangelists, Matthew and Luke, used Mark's Gospel as one of their sources. The theory of Markan priority is today accepted by the majority of New Testament...

, i.e. that Matthew revised the story found in Mark.

Interpretations

Traditional Christian exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...

 regarding these accounts include affirmation of the Divinity of Jesus by demonstrating his authority over nature. Traditional Reformed thinking states that this event was a sign given by Jesus of the end of the exclusive covenant
Covenant Theology
Covenant theology is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall flow of the Bible...

 between God and the Jews, see also Supersessionism
Supersessionism
Supersessionism is a term for the dominant Christian view of the Old Covenant, also called fulfillment theology and replacement theology, though the latter term is disputed...

. Under such an interpretation, the tree is a metaphor for the Jewish nation i.e. it had the outward appearance of godly grandeur (the leaves), but it was not producing anything for God's glory (the lack of fruit). This interpretation is connected to the parable of the barren fig tree
Parable of the barren fig tree
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree is a parable of Jesus which appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament...

.

Since neither Matthew nor Mark explain why Jesus would have expected to find fruit on the tree after explicitly stating that it was not the season for figs, The Secular Web, the website of educational foundation Internet Infidels
Internet Infidels
Internet Infidels, Inc. is a Colorado Springs, Colorado-based nonprofit educational organization founded in 1995 by Jeffery Jay Lowder and Brett Lemoine. Its mission is to utilize the Internet to promote the view that supernatural forces or entities do not exist...

, presents this story as evidence of contradiction in the Gospels. Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866.-Early life:...

 suggested that cursing a living tree is contrary to the character of a supposedly benign creator.

F. F. Bruce
F. F. Bruce
Frederick Fyvie Bruce was a Biblical scholar and one of the founders of the modern evangelical understanding of the Bible...

 states that fig trees produce 'taqsh' before the season if they are going to bear fruit in the season itself. Since this one didn't, it was a sign that it would not produce any fruit that year either. Craig Keener has used these passages as a reason for an early dating for the Gospel of Matthew, saying only someone with a close knowledge of the Mount of Olives would have known that its fig trees come out in leaves around the Passover time of year.

Further reading

  • Clowes, John, 1817, The Miracles of Jesus Christ (J. Gleave, Manchester, UK)
  • Lockyer, Herbert, 1988 All the Miracles of the Bible, ISBN 0310281016
  • Kilgallen, John J., 1989 A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark (Paulist Press, ISBN 0-8091-3059-9)
  • Maguire, Robert, 1863 The Miracles of Christ (Weeks and Co. London)
  • Trench, Richard Chenevix
    Richard Chenevix Trench
    Richard Chenevix Trench was an Anglican archbishop and poet.-Life:He was born at Dublin, in Ireland, son of the Dublin writer Melesina Trench, his elder brother was Francis Chenevix Trench. He went to school at Harrow, and graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1829. In 1830 he visited Spain...

    , Notes on the miracles of our Lord, (John W. Parker, 1846)
  • Van der Loos, H., 1965 The Miracles of Jesus (E.J. Brill, Netherlands)
  • Warren W. Wiersbe 1995 Classic Sermons on the Miracles of Jesus, ISBN 082543999X
  • Lane, William L., "The Gospel of Mark" (Eerdmans, 1974) pp.398ff.
  • Davies, William David, & Allison, Dale C., "Matthew 19-28" (T&T Clarke, 1997) pp.147ff.
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