Someone asked, “Did Jesus put a curse on a fig tree?” The implication may be that somehow our Lord acted in an unbecoming way and was worthy of censure.
Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And 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. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. … Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 NKJV)
Yes, Jesus did put a curse on a fig tree. The incident was symbolic of coming divine retribution or punishment upon wicked humanity at the conclusion of the longsuffering of God (2 Peter 3:9-12).
Of all Jesus’ miracles, only this one was a curse. It was absolutely necessary that Christ’s miracles should attest the ultimate judgment of God upon evil works. Otherwise, it could have left an impression that divine power would be used only to heal, help, and bless man. The lesson of the fig tree, however, proves that God will eventually judge mankind and punish wickedness. Since the time had not yet come for the pouring out of the wrath of God upon the ungodly, since the time of human probation had not yet expired, Jesus made the curse to rest upon a tree, a thing, and not a person. … In connection with this, let it be noted that the fig tree was not cursed for barrenness. The fig orchards were full of barren trees he did not curse. This one was cursed for its barrenness while professing by its leaves to be fruitful! That was exactly the case with Israel. They were barren spiritually; yet by their elaborate pretensions to righteousness, they advertised a true religion they simply did not possess. Moreover, they were at that very moment in the process of rejecting the very Head of all true religion. (Coffman)
Albert Barnes defined the curse upon the fig tree to mean a consignment to destruction. That particular fig tree had misrepresented itself forasmuch as figs form first and the appearance of leaves afterward signify that the figs have ripened. The event was prophetic, first regarding the nation of Israel in the first century and secondly regarding humanity generally at the Judgment following the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Hence, in no way did our Lord act out contrarily to divine nature or according to pettiness. Everything that Jesus Christ did during His ministry was instructive and sometimes predictive.
Works Cited
Barnes’ Notes. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 1997.
Coffman, James Burton. James Burton Coffman Bible Study Library. CD-ROM. Abilene: ACU Press, 1989.
