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18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?" 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." ~ Matthew 21:18-22
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 21. It was Tuesday morning and the Lord Jesus was with His disciples in Bethany. They were making the ten mile walk back to the Temple in Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, the Temple was known to be the dwelling place of God for those who sought Him. Although no building is sacred, we must daily make it our habit to be on pilgrimage to discover God, but we no longer have to go to the Temple in Jerusalem to find Him. Daily our hearts must be eager to practice God's abiding presence and to be defined by Him.
In v.18 of today's passage we read, "Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry."
This was not the first time the Lord Jesus hungered. In fact, just after His forty days and nights in the wilderness, He emerged from the wilderness hungry. The wilderness makes us hungry. Our physical desire for food is a reminder that spiritually we yearn for the One who made us. Earlier while teaching the Beatitudes, the Lord Jesus told us that those who hunger spiritually will be satisfied by God. Finding true satisfaction means recognizing that our own righteousness does not satisfy us or God. True satisfaction means turning to God for His righteousness which He gives to those who believe on His Son. And, we are satisfied when we continue to hunger and thirst for God.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away."
The Lord Jesus had been to the Temple and He found no spiritual fruit there. This was the second time that He observed the same indifference toward God from those who should have known better. Many have been amazed at the fact that the Lord Jesus cursed this tree. It seemed so unlike Him to do this for He did not come to condemn. In fact, He had said in John 3:17-18, "17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son."
This is the only miracle in the entire ministry of the Lord Jesus wherein He pronounced judgment on anything. It seemed so strange that He treated the tree for having no figs. But, knowing that in that part of the world there is an early edible but smaller fig that grows during the springtime makes this story make sense. That smaller edible fruit when it shows up on the fig tree is a harbinger of another production of the fruit that will come later on in the summer. If there are no early figs, there will be no figs later. That day in Bethany the Lord cursed that tree because it was an object lesson of the hard-heartedness of the people of Israel.
In v.20 of today's passage we read, "And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, 'How did the fig tree wither away so soon?'"
This story is a picture of the unbelieving nation of Israel. When the Lord Jesus came He found nothing but leaves and outward professions in the nation of Israel. Since there was no fruit, the Lord Jesus made an object lesson of the fig tree. And, His disciples were blown away by His actions. They didn’t ask the question of design, "why?," they asked the question, "How?" Sadly, even the disciples were enamored with the wrong question.
There are two prophets in the Old Testament; Hosea and Joel who used the fig tree as a symbol of the nation of the hardheartedness of Israel. In this object lesson we see that the people who embraced the lack of faith in the faithful God of the Bible had embraced a curse. Notice the order of things here, Israel rejected the God of truth and then they were cursed. In other words, they chose the curse not God. Only those who believe in the God of the Bible will realize the fruit of the Spirit in and through their yielded lives.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.'"
Only our spiritual hunger for God and His culture makes sense of this story. When we invited the Lord Jesus into our lives, He began a deep work in our hearts that we could not refuse. Hungry people hope for miracles. Our physical hunger is, in a real sense, a picture of our spiritual hunger. We must not ignore our spiritual hunger. Most would lead us to believe that once we have invited Christ into our lives that our lives will be easier but this is not the case.
When we look closely at what the Lord Jesus taught His disciples about discipleship, we recognize our difficulties will increase. Our difficulties increase because the internal threat of ourselves becomes more apparent to us. Rather than blaming our problems on others, the training the Lord offers causes us to recognize that we, more often than not, are the real source of our problems. When we were not believers, we were blind to our defects. Now that we follow the Lord Jesus, we are vividly aware of our defects, because the Holy Spirit calls attention to them and attempts to sift them out of our lives.
Spiritual hunger and thirst are the avenues leading to our spiritual fullness. Only those who are hungry and thirsty get filled. This transformation requires a long and challenging journey. A journey that causes us to doubt, to wrestle with those doubts only to be led by them to faith in Him over and over again. The Lord Jesus didn't mean that we should not doubt. He meant that we should not arrive and remain in our doubts. This process will not be overnight, and actually, it will never be perfected this side of heaven. The good news is we make this journey with Him and as we walk with Him we will be given by Him His heart. The Lord Jesus has promised to be our faithful companion for all of eternity. And, because of this, He will walk us through this process of transformation as we choose to yield our broken lives to Him on a daily basis. This will yield fruitfulness not just in the Spring and not just during the Summer but throughout all the days of our lives.
