Why did Jesus curse a fig tree?
The regathering of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel is prophesied repeatedly in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Jesus offered another clue to the timing of the end of the age when He mysteriously cursed a hapless fig tree. What was the Lord communicating — to His surprised disciples and to us — by His seemingly uncharacteristic action?
Jesus' message was clearly for the Jews first, even as He demonstrated a willingness to bless Gentiles as well. However, His love for individual Jews was matched by impatience with the Jews as a collective whole. That is why He offered His disciples a dramatic object lesson by cursing a hapless fig tree on His way to cleanse the temple of money-changers: "Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, 'No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you'" (Matthew 21:19).
That fig tree, found barren of figs even though it was not the season for figs, withered dramatically at Jesus' command.
Jesus described the judgment that would fall upon Jerusalem and the Jews in general, because most of them refused to accept Him in their time of visitation. Symbolized by a fig tree, the nation that bore little fruit would itself be cursed to wither for a season.
Approximately 40 years after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, Rome's 10th Legion put down a Jewish insurrection with an iron boot, destroying the Temple in the process. Lacking much fruit in the season of His first Advent, the Jewish nation was cut off and cast aside for almost two millennia. The lesson of Luke 13:6-9 was applied to God's own chosen people.
But that is not the end of the story.
Over the centuries following Rome's expulsion of the Jews in 70 AD, the Promised Land fell under a curse. God's curse lingered on the Land throughout the millennia of the Jewish exile — as foretold in Ezekiel 33:28-29. And make no mistake, the Land was forsaken — denuded of vegetation, deprived of people, and largely devoid of life. In 1869, Mark Twain documented the cursed status of the Holy Land in his book, The Innocents Abroad. He rightfully understood that God's hand of judgment had fallen on His own Promised Land.
Once the land was wrested from its Ottoman occupiers and a commitment had been given to support Jewish aspirations, the reestablishment of Israel would have seemed to be a fait accompli. But Jewish motivation was not yet sufficient to emigrate to a Middle East wasteland.
The horror of the Nazi Holocaust changed Jewish hearts and minds. Jews realized that away from their Promised Land they would always be homeless. So, by the thousands (and eventually millions) they streamed back to Eretz Israel — the Land of Israel.
The fig tree branch was becoming tender and beginning to put out leaves.
In the week between the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday and His crucifixion, Jesus spoke much about Israel's rejection (Matthew 21:28-44), the shift of the Gospel to the Gentiles (Matthew 22:1-14), and the judgment about to fall on Israel (Matthew 23:13-39). He also responded when the disciples asked Him, "Tell us, when will these things (the destruction of the temple) happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).
The fig tree offers a key to understanding the timing of the end. Jesus said, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:32-33).
Jesus specifically pointed His disciples back to the dramatic lesson of the fig tree from earlier in the same week. The fig tree that was cursed for failing to bear fruit for the Messiah would be restored. And, along with all the other signs of the times, that crucial sign tells those with eyes to see that He is near.
In the case of the most important prophetic sign of all, the evidence is right before our eyes. The withered tree that did not bear fruit when Jesus was here 2,000 years ago has become tender and put forth new branches. We know that Jesus is coming soon. All of the great prophetic promises fulfilled just recently in the land of Israel prove that we are living on borrowed time!
Read more about the rebudding of the fig tree pointing to the soon return of Jesus Christ!
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