Why Does Christ Curse the Fig Tree?

One of the reasons cited by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell for (as he put it) Why I Am Not a Christian was this:

Then there is the curious story of the fig-tree, which always rather puzzled me. You remember what happened about the fig-tree. “He was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, he came if haply he might find anything thereon; and when he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it: “No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever” . . . and Peter . . . saith unto him: “Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away.” This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs, and you really could not blame the tree. I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above him in those respects.

So what can we say to such an objection? How do we make sense of such a seemingly off Biblical passage? Read on over at Catholic Answers.

24 comments

      1. Then maybe we can just consider giving Fig-odemus some sort of a prize for having the most concise comment on this blogsite so far?

  1. I think many people who read this passage don’t really have much experience with growing fig trees, because at least here in California there are predominate two times that fig fruits form on the tree. On my tree, which I observe on pretty much a weekly basis, a very small amount of figs start forming on the tree in early March, and now in May are just about full size but not ripe yet. And this really seems an oddity every year, as the ‘real’ harvest of multitudes of fig fruits are just starting to bud/appear now, are only about the size of pea, and will continue to bud,appear and ripen for the next 5 months, or more.

    So, when I read of Jesus looking for figs ‘at an early time’, it was probably at this first early harvest of a VERY FEW figs. Therefore, we shouldn’t think that Jesus was ignorant and went to the tree looking for something that was naturally impossible. But rather, that He went to look for this early, first harvest of very few figs. Now, of course, this is under the assumption that California harvest’s are similar to those in Palestine.

    So, as for interpretation, I think that Jesus expects real fruit from His followers even in the earliest season, or time, of their lives. There might also be some correlation, or indication, that the first figs’ health and size might indicate the health of the second/main/’real’ crop that is to follow. So, when in the Gospel story Jesus saw ABSOLUTELY NO FRUIT, it would have been a real oddity, or let down, not for His hunger’s sake, but as an indication that there was something mortally wrong, or diseased, with the biology of that tree.

    In my own experience it is always amazing to see fruits forming so early in the winter time, and so it is always a very happy sight to see each year. It is a happy premonition of a good harvest to come when the real figs start developing. So, again, I think that Jesus was actually surprised and disappointed, because there was something very wrong with that tree, and so He might have cursed the tree because He knew that this tree was in such bad shape as to not be able to recover. It was probably better to replace it sooner, rather than later, with a new seedling that might do better some day. I think most farmers go through this dilemma many times while growing trees, vines and other produce. Or, at least, this has happened with me many times, growing both grapes and pomegranates. And I’m thinking of getting rid of an apricot tree at this very time, due to the same ‘unfruitful’ reasons (but I’ll probably wait another year or two?).

    But certainly, Christians should not waste too much time in trying to bear fruits for the Lord, even as Joe mentioned article. That seems to be the main theme. I just write so that people don’t get the idea that Jesus knew nothing about growing figs; and rather, it’s probably the readers of the Gospel who misinterpret this story who are actually the ‘horticulturally’ ignorant ones.

    1. After closer inspection of my currently growing fig tree, it seems that the fully formed figs that are presently on the tree are carry overs, or were formed from hardly visible buds left over from last summer’s fig crop, but which growth seems to have been suspended by the arrival of cold weather, probably in November. It seems that when the weather gets warm, i.e.. 75 degrees or more, even in the midst of winter in CA, these buds wake from 2 or more months of dormancy and then continue to grow and form into fully mature figs, ie. 2″in size, even as the new crop that is forming for upcoming summer harvest is hardly even noticeable on the tree.

      These figs appear to be what Jesus was looking for in the gospel account; that is, if the weather has the same effect on figs in Palestine as it does in CA. But, these same early figs might also be bitter to the taste if eaten in the spring unless the weather was very warm for a prolonged period.

      1. Al,

        I really appreciate you sharing your ‘fig-facts.’ What particularly intrigued me is the idea of the ‘time’ for ripening. So that provoked more thought about Jesus’ curse.

        My ideas are barely coherent, mostly speculative and amorphous, but here goes. I wonder about the fig as a ‘fruit,’ as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Joe often releases an article with a theme in line with the liturgical calendar, and so here’s Joe talking about Jesus talking about Pentecost.

        Jesus curses the barren tree because he is hungry. Food is necessary for life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil would not produce fruit, so this barren tree embodies the consequence of original sin.

        On the cross (a redemptive tree), Jesus thirsts. Our pitiable savior suffers as a man in a creation gone awry not doing as God intended. Not only is he given no food when he hungers. On his death-instrument, he–the son of the creator–is offered no water (the most basic and necessary constituent for life) but must ask for it. How cruelly he must have seen the world.

        Only after Pentecost will God’s creation bear fruit as it did in the beginning and as it should forever. When Jesus cursed the tree, the season for its fruit (Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost) had not yet come. And the basic bodily needs of our Saviour were not met. No wonder he felt abandoned.

        1. If Jesus is referring to His Mystical Body as being hungry, then the fig tree ( which might be considered one of us Christians) which bears no food for that Mystical Body for the sake of it’s vigor and health is one that might also be cursed if we don’t strive to be fruitful. This is to say, in another way, is that those who know the Holy Faith but don’t evangelize, or teach, the holy faith to others are those who neglect to ‘feed the body of Christ’ …the ‘Mystical Body’. Even as Saul was criticized for tormenting the Mystical Body, so too Christians who know the Faith but neglect to spread it are causing Christ’s ‘sheep and lambs’ to go hungry….they are thus ….neglecting to provide food to Jesus Himself. In this they are just like the unfruitful Fig tree.

          Of course though, there are probably another thousand ideas possible relating to this very interesting scripture.

          Best to you always in the Lord.

          – Al

          1. Hi Al,

            You are absolutely right. So Joe admonishes in his last paragraph: —

            “When Jesus arrives at the tree, he finds no fruitfulness, just fig leaves. Let the same not be said of each of us on Judgment Day.”

            As you say. We ought ask ourselves: Are our trees bearing fruit?

            Now. What to do about a great philosopher who does not understand a barren tree.,,

  2. Joe,

    I liked this from Fr. Longenecker:

    “We have to get back to the garden. The garden of Eden. Paradise. There were two trees. We think of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as an apple tree, but this is a recent tradition linked with the fact that in foundation languages “apple” was a generic word for “fruit”. In ancient Jewish tradition, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the fig tree.

    You remember that Adam and Eve made loincloths out of fig leaves. In an ancient non-Biblical Jewish text- The Life of Adam and Eve we learn that they made their skirts from the same tree from which they had eaten.

    When Jesus curses the fig tree during Holy Week, therefore, he is giving a sign that echoes more deeply than just a lesson in having faith. When he says, “may no one will ever eat of you again” he is indicating that he will defeat the old curse of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good Evil. He will curse that curse as he curses the fig tree.”

    https://dwightlongenecker.com/the-mystery-of-the-three-trees/

  3. “…. This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs,…”

    Oh, Bertrand, ye of little discernment and less vision…..doesn’t matter **what** time of year it is….when the Master comes calling you d**n well better have your figs sprouted, cultivated, mature and ready for harvest……or accept the ultimate withering…..

    Just my opinion, of course….but I find Bertrand Russell to be insufferably boring, overstuffed with hisself, and stuck on sun-never-sets Empire-mode …..amongst tweedy, emaciated, pipe-smoking Limey intellectuals, I’ll take Malcolm Muggeridge….

    1. Hi AK,
      It’s been far too long since we’ve heard from you. (I believe the sun has set on Russell’s season. Too late for his figs to sprout unless they arise from another seed which blew onto the cover of his coffin.)

      1. Margo!

        Thank you kindly, ma’am….been pretty occupied with some work and life things. Actually just got back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes with my son….I can say it was a must-do that is now done on my bucket list. Hope to return more often and discourse with my friends here, more often…..

          1. Hi AK,

            Seems like you had a great trip. Did you get a chance to listen to any of Joe’s podcasts, yet? The one on the Shroud of Turin, a few weeks back, seems right up your alley. I already used it as the basis for a “Study of The Faith” reading/discussion at our parish 2 weeks ago. And we’ll surely visit it again in the future.

            Best to you always,

            – Al

          2. Al:

            Good morning to you, too. Lourdes was grueling – I don’t do well with 12-13 hour flights – but very rewarding. We saw and did everything we had ever hoped to see and do. I’ll be operating off the grace received for the rest of my life.

            Shroud of Turin! Wow – I looked back and didn’t see that. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place?

  4. K.O., the lover of undead fig-trees and pigs and streams of icy vodka and lime and greenish-blue birds says:

    Oh, such hermeneutics. Boring. Pedantic. Convoluted. If JC had wanted to, he’d tell us right away what Escrivá interpreted him to have meant. It was utterly moronic to kill a tree (if JC really **had** that power, which only the faithful believe) to make a point to a bunch of people to go on telling a story few people would understand. Just like killing the poor pigs, if rebuking the Samaritan woman, or deriding the Sarepta woman.

    1. What is truly moronic is for anyone to read the entirety of the 4 Gospel texts, and then consider, or call, Jesus a ‘moron’.

      Jesus taught plainly that a branch that bears no fruit will be ‘pruned’ off. That it happens with the ‘Tree of Life’, the Church, should not be a mystery. Christ, as the Head of the Church can do whatever He wants to with it’s many members, just as the shepherd is in charge of the direction, and welfare, of the sheep in his care.

      Thy will be done, O Lord! And we give to You thanks for revealing it to us through Your Word, Our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

  5. It was not yet the time of figs? Not that year??

    I see a metaphor and while I shall not presume to say that the Holy Sprint has revealed it to me, I shall not claim to have discerned anything myself.

    For whom was the tree a metaphor, and did they expect when their fruits would be demanded of them?

    Does any man know the hour when our fruits shall be demanded of us? It was not the season? Who made the Seasons?

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