So Mark 11 — Jesus cursing the fig tree seems a bit strange, don’t you think? It isn’t that he hates fig newtons. There’s actually more going on here than that. Remember that usually, when you come across something in scripture that is hard to figure out or seems really odd, you are likely running into a cultural issue.
The thing about fig trees in Palestine is that the fruit begins to appear before the leaves do and then ripens alongside the growing leaves. This tree Jesus has approached has lots of full leaves and so he expects to find much fruit. The tree looked good and useful but it was really a useless tree. In a sense, it was a deceptive tree. It led the passerby to believe it was a good and productive tree when in reality it had no value. Likewise, the statement that it wasn’t the time for figs doesn’t let the tree off the hook. If it wasn’t time for figs, it wasn’t time for leaves either. Figs precede leaves. A show of leaves should mean a crop of fruit.
The tree served as a parable to the disciples (and to us). The tree represented a kind of profession of faith but without any productiveness. There was no fruit in its life but it made a show that there was fruit. In essence, it is a warning against hypocrisy — one of the chief sins that Jesus condemned. By a show of leaves, it was like many people, pretending to have fruit which is not there. It was like the Pharisees who professed to be very religious, but whose lives were fruitless. Therefore, Christ cursed this tree as an object lesson to all of us not to be hypocritical.
The next question might be: How do I produce spiritual “fruit” in my life? Jesus’ answer comes from John 15 — “Abide (remain/live) in me and I will abide (remain/live) in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear bear figs by itself but only by being joined to the tree, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined to me.”(My slight paraphrase). You want spiritual fig newtons? Be joined to the only one who can produce them in you and through you – Jesus!
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