Matthew 21:11-3211And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. 12And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 17And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there. 18Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. 22And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. 23And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? 24And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? 26But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. 27And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 28But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. (Matthew 21:11‑32)
In the morning as Jesus returned into the city (Jerusalem), He hungered. And when. He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, ‘Let no fruit grown on thee hencorward forever,’ And presently the fig tree, withered away.
“And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How soon is the fig tree withered away!’”
Perhaps you have never seen fig trees and they are different from most trees, as they grow only in some warm lands, and you may not know, the fruit begins to grow on the branches before the leaves. The figs are first tiny round green bunches, and as the big glossy leaves grow, are often hidden. On a good fig tree, more figs grow later, so there is a second crop of figs.
If the fig tree Jesus came to, had been good tree, there would have been fruit on it when the leaves were out. But there was no fruit, just leaves.
Jesus was Creator of all things, and it was sad, that when He was hungry that morning, there was no fruit for Him. Because of that, He said the tree should never have fruit, and at once it withered and died. The men with. Jesus were surprised; but He bad power over the tree, as over all things.
The people of that land should have gladly cared for the needs of the Lord Jesus, that He should not have been hury, and should have honored Him as their Creator and Lord. Because they did not, they have, as a nation, “withered,” with nothing for God.
And if we have nothing for the Lord Jesus in our lives, we too, will be useless to Him as the fig tree.
Jesus told this story about two young men:
“A certain man had two sons: he said to the first, ‘Son, go work in my vinyeard.’ The son answered, ‘I will not”: but afterward he repented and went.”
The man spoke the same to his other son, who answered “I go, sir”: but went not.
It was not right for the son to say he would not work in his father’s vineyard. But, because afterward he was sorry and went he was better to his father than the other, who said he would go and work, but did not do so at all.
Jesus told the men of Jerusalem these stories that they should think about their wrong ways, and do God’s way, and they teach us the same.
The Lord Jesus says to us now:
ML 08/22/1943