A FIG TREE ON THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM

MATTHEW 21:18–22

In this event we join Jesus and his disciples after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They had spent the night in Bethany and were now returning to Jerusalem along the same roadway (Matt. 21:17–18). As they were walking, Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree. Seeing the leaves on the tree, he went up to pick its fruit. But the fig tree had no fruit, so he rebuked the tree saying, “May you never bear fruit again!” (Matt. 21:19).

In the Promised Land, the Judean fig tree was a tree whose annual lifecycle was well attested to in Scripture: “During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25). During Jerusalem’s winter months, the fig tree is devoid of leaves and fruit, and its gray, curvy, and barren branches give it away as a fig tree. However, in late spring, small leaves begin to appear on the branches, signaling the appearance of preseason figs (Hebrew, pagé—pronounced “pa-geh”).9 When Jesus was on his way from Bethany to Jerusalem, he observed a fig tree from a distance that had leaves erupting from the branches (Mark 11:12–13). Jesus approached the tree looking for preseason figs, which normally accompany the growth of the fig leaves. However, this particular tree proved to be hypocritical. It had the signs of fruit (i.e., fig leaves), but it did not produce any of the normally expected preseason figs among its leaves. So Jesus declared the tree would never bear fruit again.

Preseason fig known as a pagé.

Fig tree near Bethpage on the road to Jerusalem.

While walking the road between Bethany and Jerusalem, Jesus prepared his disciples for what was to come by demonstrating his power over the hypocrisy of the Temple leadership. Previous encounters between Jesus and the chief priests and teachers of the law had revealed major disagreements. Jerusalem’s religious leaders were threatened not only by Jesus’s ever-increasing popularity but also by his statements about the upcoming destruction of the Temple (Matt. 24:2; Mark 14:58) and about his relationship to God as his Father (John 8:16).

Earlier Jesus had used metaphors of fruit-producing plants to teach his followers how to identify those who truly belong to God’s Kingdom. “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33). Jesus’s encounter with the barren fig tree teaches the same lesson. The Temple aristocracy was hypocritical. By their religious dress and power, they had all the outward symbols of “religious fruit,” but they bore no fruit. Thus, as the disciples prepared to wade into the increasingly hostile encounters with Jerusalem’s religious leaders, Jesus showed his disciples that this corrupt leadership would come to an end.

Dried figs.

Ripe figs.