Why Christ Cursed the Fig Tree - Lawson C Briggs - October 1974

Lawson C Briggs

WHY DID Jesus curse the fig tree for not having any figs when "the time of figs was not yet"? The account in Mark 11 has stumped many people. But it need not. Rightly understood, it makes very good sense - and carries a valuable lesson for us. "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he [Jesus] 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 for ever. And his disciples heard it" (Mark 11:12-14). The next day they saw that the fig tree had withered away (verses 20-21). Jesus was hungry. His active, zealous life burned up plenty of energy. And probably He had not yet eaten anything that day. But He had grown up in the Holy Land. He knew very well when, and when not, to expect to find figs on a tree. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library