Summary
JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. withers a fig tree as a symbol of the need for faith in the face of the adversity that will soon afflict the disciples.
Analysis
The fig tree plays a double role in Matthew’s Gospel. On the one hand, the cursing of the fig tree and its result help the reader to interpret Jesus’ disruption of daily business in the TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged.... Just as Jesus expected to find fruit on the fig tree, he expected to find a house of prayer on his visit to the Temple. Just as he curses the fig tree to never bear fruit again, he quotes JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah's infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. 7:11 to condemn the Temple as a den of robbers. The disciples notice that Jesus’ words to the fig tree have power; they cause the tree to wither. In the same way, the early followers of Jesus would have remembered his condemnation of the Temple when it was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
Beyond symbolizing the Temple, the lesson of the fig tree also repeats Jesus’ earlier calls for faith in his disciples. He has been continually concerned about their diminutive faith, and his awareness of his approaching conflict with the Temple authorities leads him to call them to pray for strength.
