Why did our Lord curse the fig tree?
Nothing that our Lord did was superfluous, or unplanned. He cursed a barren fig tree precisely to give
an opportunity the following day to teach us about faith.
Isn't is marvelous how the Lord so often did not directly answer a question, but instead used it as an
opportunity to teach something? He does not directly answer Peter's implied question, but instead
teaches about faith, in that delicious, mysterious way of His.
Á-°Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall
come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.Á-?
He gives such words of hope! He tells us, that with faith, we will move the mountain; this is not a
windswept peace of rock and earth; it is our sins! Á-°With men this is impossible; but with God all things
are possible.Á-? (Mat 19:26, Mark 10:27)
What was Peter's question, and did the Lord actually answer it? Indirectly, yes; Peter marveled that the
Lord cursed a tree that could not be faulted for not having fruit, because Á-°the time of figs was not yetÁ-?
The context of the story makes it clear that the barren fig tree represents the barrenness of the Jews1.
1 "He withers the tree, then, in order to chasten men. The disciples marvel, and with good reason. For the fig tree contains
a great amount of sap, and so the fact that it withered immediately serves all the more to indicate the miracle. The fig
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2