I don’t fancy myself an extreme environmentalist. I’m not a “tree-hugger,” but I do respect nature. I have cut down a few trees that were past their prime, and I once accidentally killed a small one with a golf cart, but I do love trees. Where I live, the only trees around are ones that someone planted. So the story of Jesus “zapping” a tree is fascinating to me.
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. (Matthew 21: 18-19)
Did He make a gesture with His hands? I mean, all it says is that He spoke the words, but it feels to me like some kind of a “zapping” gesture is appropriate.
I don’t believe this was a moment of low blood sugar rage. I had one child who became demon-possessed when she hadn’t eaten. Every home video of Lauren shows someone trying to feed her something. That’s not the deal here. Jesus was making a statement. Many times the Bible used the fig tree as a symbol of the nation of Israel.
Mark’s gospel tells us that it wasn’t even the typical season for figs, so does this seem harsh to you? No, because it wasn’t uncommon to find figs out of season; some trees produce most of the year. It could be that Jesus was frustrated by the presence of leaves. Typically a tree with leaves also has fruit. This tree was a “poser”.
I used to read the stories of Jesus, baffled at how clueless the religious leaders were. Now I read them and wonder what He’d think about US!
Would He be as frustrated by the lack of fruit in our “religious” system as He was back then? Two thousand years ago, they had leaves. It looked like they were doing what God wanted. They had services, followed God’s commands, and observed the rituals.
Leaves.
But no fruit.
What does fruit look like? That’s a good question. They thought they were bearing fruit. They thought that keeping the rules and being good and going through the motions of religion was fruit. Jesus essentially said, “No, that’s just leaves…it’s possible for you to be a nice white tomb on the outside and be full of dead men’s bones on the inside.” (Matthew 23:27)
Leaves without fruit.
In John 15:5, Jesus said, ““I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…”
Scholars have argued over what that fruit looks like. Is He talking about the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.? Or is He talking about the fruit of reproduction?
I believe the answer is both.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
In my opinion, the problem Jesus had with the tree is that it was acting like it had fruit, but it was deceitful.
The problem with the 1st Century church was that it was acting like it had fruit, but it was deceitful. The problem with the 21st Century church is the same thing.
We’ve got buildings and marquees with nice slogans and welcome signs, and there are people going in and out. But over 95% of all churches haven’t seen a single convert in the past year.
Leaves – yes. They are healthy in the sense of the organism being alive. But any organism that doesn’t reproduce is really already dead, even if it looks alive.
In the case of a tree, it can look really good for a generation, but producing fruit is about whether the tree becomes a forest…or firewood.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:8)
