Fig Tree Cursed

Mark calendars the day of the coming events by telling us this occurred as they left Bethany, “the next day” following the late visit to the Temple. Non-Jewish minds are prone to assume Saturday is the “next day” after Friday night, but that’s not the case. Friday night starts Saturday, so the “next day” is Sunday.

This seems a strange reaction on the part of Jesus and strange that Matthew and Mark would think it important enough to keep, but both must have been guided by the Holy Spirit. The sin of the fig tree was that it promised to fulfill a need and then didn’t deliver. Dependability is a central quality of God and his creation should reflect that. The fig tree didn’t.

As the tree begins to wilt, Jesus makes a point of stressing the role of faith in receiving what we ask in prayer. Standing alone, without any other context, this can not be literally true. No matter how strongly we believe God will do something we ask, he will not act contrary to his will, otherwise Paul would have been cured. Thus, the context of this is the assumption that this promise is valid when we ask in agreement with God.

What then about the role of faith? Our believing does not force God’s hands. Rather, if we act indecisively, not sure God can do something, we hobble him in the partnership of matching his will with ours.