“On the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered, and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it. ... In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which Thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus, answering, saith unto them, Have faith in God” (Mark 11:12-14,20-22).
There is one striking peculiarity attached to this miracle of the Lord Jesus. It is the only one of judgment or the curse. Every other miracle was of the character of blessing. What then can be the spiritual significance of this single exception?
The Fig Tree Cursed
Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem, and He sees one fig tree afar off. He desires fruit. See Him walking to this one tree, so fair, so full of leaf. But when He came to it, “He found nothing but leaves.” Surely He who saw Nathanael under another fig tree knew that there was nothing but leaves on this. Yet He came to it, desiring fruit. And now He pronounced those remarkable words: “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever.” That was the last day of that fig tree, for the very next morning, “as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.” There can be no more fruit forever from that tree; it is withered from the very roots. Well might Peter exclaim, “Master, behold, the fig tree which Thou cursedst is withered away.” What can this remarkable action of the Lord mean? What is its teaching to us?
Let us now notice the context of this miracle. Certainly, to all outward appearance, the previous day had been one of the brightest days of Israel. The entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem had taken place — garments spread, branches of trees cut down, and strewn in the way. Never had the leaves of profession shone with a fresher green. And then we find Jesus entering Jerusalem, and going into the temple; but then He went out, and retired from it all to Bethany.
The Parable of the Vineyard
On the next day judgment was passed on the one fig tree. He enters the temple again, casting out the buyers and sellers, overthrowing the tables of the money-changers, and suffering no man to carry a burden through the temple. Is not all this, “Nothing but leaves”?
Here in Mark 11, and also in Matthew 21, the parable of the vineyard follows, as it were as an explanation of the miracle of the fig tree. There can be no mistake as to the meaning of the parable. God had planted His one vineyard — Israel. It was the trial of what is called in Scripture “the flesh.” Israel had placed themselves on this ground of probation, and engaged to keep the law. God had come, seeking fruit, but had found none. The parable explains how Israel had treated the prophets and servants of Jehovah, and, as the last test of man, God had sent His own Son. Did He find fruit? Never were there more leaves, as we have seen, but “nothing but leaves.” They said, “This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him” (Matt. 21:38-39). The more we study this parable, the more we see how it explains the meaning of the miracle — “Nothing but leaves.”
The connection of Scripture is still more striking in Matthew, as showing the connection between this miracle and the Jews, or Judaism. First, there is the judgment on the fig tree that yields no fruit. Secondly, the parable of the vineyard, which goes beyond all endurance, in the rejection and murder of the Son.
The Wedding Feast
And, in the third place, the wedding feast (Matt. 22). After all this, in the riches of His grace, God spread the feast for man as a lost sinner, and the servants were sent to call the guests—sent first to that very nation. And what took place then? “They would not come” (Matt. 22:3). How terrible the sin of rejecting the riches of the grace of God!
Thus, as to Israel as a test of man in the flesh, the green-leaved fig tree of profession, there was no fruit for Christ. No more fruit in this the brightest day of profession, than in the dark days of Elijah; yet, in both cases, and at all times, God has an election of grace. This is seen in all Scripture, from Abel onwards. But religious man in the flesh is tested, weighed in the balances, and found utterly wanting — “nothing but leaves.”
The Rejection of Christ
Jerusalem was the center of religion — the one green fig tree of profession. It looked upon all other nations as dogs. The flesh, or man in his natural state, had been tried now in every possible way, and the result, as seen in the last test, the sending of Jesus, the Son of God, had proved that there was only sin in man. This is a lesson that must be learned, and it is impossible to separate sin and its curse. Thus, if the one fig tree is the one nation tested in the flesh and the flesh is found to yield no fruit, its judgment, its curse, must come. But here we come to the most solemn part. The judgment on the fig tree was terrible and final. There was not only no fruit found then, when fully and finally tested, but it received its judgment, and there was to be no fruit from it hereafter forever. There is to be no fruit from Israel as in the flesh, as children of Adam, hereafter forever.
New Birth
How little have they, and we too, understood this. It may be said, How can this be so, since we know from Scripture that Israel will be the most highly-favored nation on earth, when the kingdom of God shall come on this earth? The instruction of the Lord to Nicodemus settles this apparent difficulty. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When the Lord restores the house of Israel, He says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes” (Ezek. 36:26-27). No, the trial of man in the flesh, of sinful flesh, is over forever, withered from the root. “Now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31). This takes us beyond Israel, to the whole world under judgment. Man in the flesh is like the fig tree, forever under the just judgment of God: nothing but leaves; hollow, heartless profession, but no fruit. The whole world is like a condemned prisoner; all are concluded guilty, under judgment, waiting for execution. It is there the glad tidings of mercy and pardon begin and are so suited to us.
C. H. Mackintosh (adapted)