012. Cursing the Fig Tree

Cursing the Fig Tree (Mark 11:12-14; Mark 11:20-23) While Jesus was on earth He was constantly teaching His disciples by parables.

One strange thing about the fig tree is that the fruit appears before the leaves. If the first fruit did not appear, there would be no other figs on the tree.

Christ and the disciples were passing and looked for some of the small but sweet first fruit. It was a tree with leaves, it looked well and useful, but it was a useless tree, and not only that, it led the passerby to believe it was a good tree, when it was of no value.

It was a type of profession without productiveness. Our Lord could not endure hypocrisy in any one or any thing, and condemned it more than any other sin. Here Christ is giving His disciples an illustration they would not easily forget. A person might say this fig tree did not belong to our Savior, and therefore He had no right to take the fruit. We can answer this by reference to the Mosaic law in such cases. "You are not to prohibit those that pass by, when your fruits are ripe, to touch them, but to give them leave to fill themselves full of what you have." And the custom of plucking ripe figs as you pass by the orchards is still universal in the Bible lands, especially from trees not inclosed. After the feast in September, the figs which remain on the trees are common property and the poor may enter the orchards and take all they want.