FIG TREES AND JESUS

Ripe figs on a tree. 

Dried figs

Ever since I have adopted a healthy lifestyle, nuts and seeds have been on my grocery list. Recently, I added an interesting fruit to that list. Anjeer -  as it is known here in India.  Yes, I am talking about that sweet dried fruit called a FIG. 

Today, I was intrigued to hear Jesus curse a fig tree in the Gospel of Mark. In chapter 11, as he is leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree in leaf some distance away, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it, but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. And he addressed the fig tree. ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again’ he said.

Somewhere else in the Gospels, we hear him telling his disciples this parable:

A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”— Luke 13:6–9

Why was the tree not bearing fruit? 

Well, one explanation goes thus:  The law regarding first fruits (Leviticus 19:23-25) forbids eating fruit from a tree in its first three years. The gardener, in keeping with this law, has probably disposed of the fruit, either by plucking it at an early stage or dropping it for compost, to prevent anyone from inadvertently eating the forbidden fruit. 

In the fourth year, however, his master is not likely to taste the fruit either since all first fruits must be offered to the Lord. The story seems to suggest that the gardener is an observant Jew and the owner is a pagan, unfamiliar with the laws of first fruits.

This parable reflects Jesus offering a chance for repentance and forgiveness of sin, showing his grace toward his believers. "These three years" logically refers to the period of Jesus' ministry. 

The fig tree symbolises the pagans (Gentiles) who were given the opportunity to be in the 'vineyard' (the Jewish nation) where it otherwise should not have been. 

The fig tree features again in another story - the meeting of Jesus and Nathaniel (John 1). Jesus says to him in that exchange, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you."

Now what was that all about? The best educated guess we can give is that Nathaniel picked that particular spot to pray in. It was common for Jews to search for peaceful place to pray in. Another explanation is that Jesus spoke figuratively; what he meant to convey to Nathaniel was that he could read the thoughts of his heart, his prayer to God. 

Now coming back to today's Gospel and the reason why Jesus cursed the fig tree. 

Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem when Jesus cursed the fig tree because it bore no fruit; in Jerusalem he drove the money-changers from the temple; and the next morning the disciples found that the fig tree had withered and died.

The implied message is that the temple is cursed and will wither because, like the fig tree, it failed to produce the fruit of righteousness. In verse 28 Mark has Jesus again use the image of the fig tree to make plain that Jerusalem will fall and the Jewish nation be brought to an end before their generation passes away.

As I conclude, let me take you to an Old Testament account of fig trees. 

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. (Genesis3: 6-7) 

Traditionally, in Judaism, the fruit is described as a fig. Even in Michelangelo’s famous painting of the tree on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we find that the fig tree won the day when it came to depicting the tree of the forbidden fruit. 

If they used fig leaves to cover themselves right after eating the fruit, it stands to reason that the fruit could have easily been a fig.

What Do You Think?