This post is Day 10 in a series of studies about “The Fig Tree”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

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The Fig Tree – Day 10

This is a strange episode in the Gospel that is hard to understand. Could this story be an image of what happens if we fail to bear fruit in our Christian lives? When the Father looks at you and me, can He see fruit that will last for Him?

Matthew 21:18-19

In the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he became hungry. When he saw a fig tree by the road, he went up to the tree and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, “May fruit never grow on you again!” At once the fig tree dried up.

The Thought

This is one of those strange episodes in the life of Jesus that is hard to understand. Several questions leap to mind. The first is “Why?” Had Jesus had a bad night? Was He so hungry that anger took over? Was it even the season for figs?

Let’s look a bit deeper into the spiritual meaning of bearing fruit.

John 15:16

You didn’t choose me, but I chose you. I have appointed you to go, to produce fruit that will last, and to ask the Father in my name to give you whatever you ask for.

Could this story of the fig tree be an image of what happens if we don’t bear fruit in our Christian lives? When the Father looks at you and me, can He see that we are bearing fruit that will last for Him? Bearing fruit means bringing others to know God as Loving Father and the Saving Grace of Jesus, but it has other meanings too. In Galatians 5:22-23 we read about the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Are these “fruits” evident in your life and in mine?

Action

Read Galatians 5:19-26 to find what the opposite fruits are. Ask yourself which fruit you are bearing or if you have no fruit and are just “full of leaves” … looking good but not doing anything valuable for the Kingdom like the tree that irritated Jesus that day.

Pray for more of the right kind of fruit to be evident in your life.