12Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."
And His disciples heard it.
The thing that bothers me most about this text is the fact it says it was not the season for figs. It seems absurd that Jesus would curse a tree that hadn't had fruit when he wanted it, especially if it wasn't the right season for it to bear fruit. Sounds almost like a temper tantrum of someone who didn't get what he wanted.
But when taken in the light of a parable, there are a lessons to be learned from this encounter with the fig tree that was all leaves and no fruit.
I don't know fig trees, nor have I ever seen one, so that makes it even harder to understand this parable. However, one of the footnotes in my bible says that a fig tree bears fruit first before it develops leaves. So if a fig tree has leaves, it should already have some fruit. Here was a fig tree that developed leaves but no fruit.
There are a couple different lessons I see in this text. First is the excuse we use for it not being the season, or right time, to bear fruit. Are there times when we know there is something we ought to be doing, something we think God would want us to do, but we don't do it right then because we are too busy? As a child, there are so many activities to be involved in. As a wage earner, there is so much work to be done. As a parent, there is so much running around to do. Always at the back of our minds: "It is not the right season for me. When I get beyond this hectic time, I will have time to do these other things."
I can't believe Jesus would curse us for putting off what we would rather do some other season. But I can see that by just the natural order of things, we will often follow the same path as this fig tree. If we keep putting it off for another season, in many cases, we will never end up doing it. We will never bear the fruit that was intended of us.
Lord, help me to realize if there is something you want of me, it is asked of me now because now is the right season. Don't let me keep putting it off as I know this often leads to it never getting done.
The other lesson I see in this text is how we respond to someone who comes to us hungry. As we gather to celebrate Christmas, Easter, and other holidays, are we all show and no substance? Are we all leaves and no fruit? Do we try to pass ourselves off as Christians, but do not do the more difficult things God may be asking of us? There is more to being Christian than just going to Church and trying to be good. We are also expected to bear fruit. If we don't bear fruit, no one will ever eat fruit from us again.