Lessons from the Fig Tree

Published: August 05, 2023
Post updated: September 27, 2024
By: Brian C Jenkins

Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14, 20-25; Hebrews 6:4-8

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.

Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

Matthew 21:18-19

Lesson One

How did Jesus curse the fig tree?

Jesus’ disciples witnessed something extraordinary. They had the privilege to see a miracle. They saw our savior speak into the ordinary, and see something unusual. They saw Jesus’ command supernaturally override natural law. His disciples were amazed, astounded, perplexed. They asked the number one question we all would ask. How did you do that?

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Mathew 21:22

It’s also interesting to note the way Mark describes this event.

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Mark 11:22-25

Depending on whose perspective we read from (Matthew or Mark), we see Jesus explain the need to have faith without doubt. If we believe, we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer. A question arises based on these two passages. Remember, Jesus cursed the tree. Yet in both accounts, his answer to the disciples was that if we believe, we will receive. The first thing that stands out is a question. What is it we receive when we operate by faith?

The second thing that stands out is Mark 11 v23… “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 

If we believe that what we say will happen, it will be done for them? Does this not sound like deliverance? It also seems that the only thing we have the power to do is believe. If all we can do is ask and believe, then how do we explain the miracle? Huh? Make it make sense!

Jacobs Dream

Genesis 28:10-17 describes the event of Jacob’s dream in Bethel. Let’s take a look at verse 12. It reads He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

In this passage, we see the first visual testimony that angels go between heaven and earth from God. The first thing we notice is that there is a connection between heaven and earth. A path that leads from the one true and living God and man. Another thing we see is that the path between is traveled by angels. We must understand something about angels. They do not move unless God gives them the ok to do so. This is important because we will see how this ties in with Jesus.

In John 1:43-51 we see the calling of Philip and Nathanael. The way Jesus recruited them was nothing short of amazing. However, it was the very last verse that should catch our attention. He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

This proves the pathway to God is only through Jesus Christ. What’s more, the angels still only move because of the Father. However, their point of contact with the earth is who? You guessed it, Jesus.

God’s answer to our prayers is to send us help. However, that help only comes by way of Jesus. Therefore if we deny Jesus, we don’t get that help. How is this possible?

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

Matthew 10:32-33

Back to the original question…

What do we receive when we operate by Faith?

When we have faith and don’t doubt and believe that what we ask for will happen, then we will receive our help from God. God will send his angels to help us, comfort us, or minister to us as long as we are in alignment with the Father’s will, and Jesus is in agreement.

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

John 14:12-14

Now that we have a better understanding of what happens when we operate with faith, we can start to figure out the mountain. Let’s recap…

Mark 11:23 says “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 

What’s interesting is Psalm 46:2. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.

When Jesus was asked how he cursed the fig tree, his answer came from Psalm 46:2. The question now should be, what does Jesus mean by this mountain? The context of a mountain is used in multiple ways. One, it can quite literally be talking about a mountain. I mean the language surrounding this idea is crazy. Let’s look at Amos 9:5, Psalm 18:7, Nahum 1:5 & Habakkuk 3:6. Two, mountains were also used for idol worship in ancient times.

Isaiah 54:10 reads, Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Experientially, this sounds familiar in that there have been many times in my life when I came across situations that I did not want to face. *The following is removed from the Five W’s so that all that’s left is how. In my mind, I had built up a huge mountain about an upcoming situation. How is it that others in my life had years to deal with the exact same issue, yet I have to face it in a matter of weeks? I remember going to God in prayer, “I don’t want to deal with any of this… but not my will Lord. Let yours be done.” The day of I was sweating, heart racing, & super nervous. I had been praying in my heart the entire day. As the situation entered my presence, words came out of my mouth. When I found out the reason for the meeting, I realized that this huge mountain that I was dreading to face, was nothing more than a tiny mole hill. One that I was easily able to overcome. God answered my prayer, took my hand, and stepped over the hill with me. The outcome was greater than I could have imagined.

The issue being dealt with in lesson one is faith. The importance of increasing our faith in God. The question is how do we increase our faith? The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Luke 17:5-6.

Lastly, please notice, that when they asked Jesus to increase their faith, he didn’t use some magic words to manifest it. He didn’t wave his hands and chant three times. He didn’t even pray for it. In other words, he didn’t ask our Father to increase their faith. He instead taught them an illustration of what it looks like to have small faith. Small faith can move mountains. Faith has everything to do with what we know about God. The more you know, the more faith you have. Our faith is shown through our actions. Our actions reflect our faith.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:14-17