Have you ever heard that bizarre story about Jesus and the fig tree? Some of you know the story and easily understand the implications of it because you’re from fig country.
But if you don’t know the secrets of fig trees, there’s no way you can decipher the lesson here.
The Fig Tree
The story (Mark 11:12-14) goes like this. Mere days before His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus is travelling – probably on foot as was common back then. He is in the middle of wrapping up His ministry, presenting His final teachings, communicating His final lessons, and accomplishing His final tasks.
He’s hungry and there isn’t a fast food restaurant in sight. In the distance He sees a fig tree in full leaf. The storyteller remarks that “it wasn’t the season for figs”. Jesus knows this, but when He sees the tree He makes a beeline for it, looking for a meal.
When He gets up to it – no surprise – there are no figs on it. He curses the tree, which shortly thereafter dies.
A Perplexing Story
If you don’t know fig trees, you look at this and say, “What? It wasn’t the season for figs! Jesus, why did you curse it for not having figs?”
And you might, if you weren’t afraid of being irreverent, think that Jesus looks irrational or evil here. You might even rationalize, “Well, I get crabby when I’m hungry. Maybe he was a tad hypoglycemic.”
If you’re more reverent in your thoughts, you’ll either be confused or come up with some creative way to explain what was going on in this story. I’ve heard some good ones which I won’t repeat here.
What We Fig-Tree-Illiterates Didn’t Know
The missing piece of information for those of us who don’t know fig trees is that the fruit and leaves of a fig tree grow simultaneously, and sometimes the figs start to come even before the leaves. And when the figs pass, so do the leaves. I read about this* long ago and then confirmed it with a gardener when I was in Israel.
So if you see a fig tree in full leaf, it’s supposed to have figs on it. Unless it’s not a good tree and doesn’t give a fig.
So What Was The Issue?
The issue here is not that this particular tree didn’t have figs; it wasn’t supposed to have fruit in that season. The real issue here is that this tree had leaves, which falsely made it look as if it had figs.
Basically it’s a portrait of hypocrisy. From far off it looked pretty good, but it was all flash and no fig. It made a pretense of fruitfulness when it wasn’t the season to be fruitful.
“In Its Season”
An ancient Hebrew poet wrote about a blessed tree growing by streams of water “that brings forth its fruit in its season” (Psalm 1:3). Several years ago I was reading this poem and I suddenly realized it was saying two things I had never before noticed.
First, that each tree only needs to bear the fruit it was created for. For example, pear trees don’t have to bear pomegranates, and pecan trees don’t have to bear figs.
And second, that different trees have different seasons. And there’s no need to try to force them to produce fruit out of their particular season.
The same applies to people. In fact, that Hebrew poet was using the tree imagery to describe a person. As I look through the scriptures, it’s clear that everyone has a different rhythm to their seasons and a different flavor to their fruit. God seems to like it that way.
Moses was 80 years old when it was finally his season to bear fruit as the deliverer and leader of his people. Samuel began his ministry as a prophet of God when he was a small child and continued in it for the rest of his long life. Elijah had a three-year season of fruitless isolation in the middle of a powerful ministry. Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, knew he was going to be important someday and was instrumental in saving his entire known world from starvation, but it happened only after he endured long seasons of slavery and imprisonment. Ester, a powerless trophy Queen of a capricious King, briefly navigated some terrifyingly deep political waters as a young woman and saved the Jewish people from extermination. Mary’s time began in her teens, when she bore Jesus.
The Good News
The good news is that God has no desire for you to bear fruit out of your season. And the better news is that you don’t have to play games with Him to pretend you have fruit when you really don’t.
He’s not disapproving of your dormant seasons, however long they may be. You don’t have to hide or try to fake it with Him.
I have known many Christian highly sensitive people who have carried unnecessary stress during long dormant seasons of their lives. If you find yourself here, I encourage you to relax into your relationship with God, into your appointed season, and trust that your own ordained variety of fruit will naturally grow in its season as you care for your heart relationship with God.
A Blessing For You
God is not disappointed in you. If you feel dormant while it seems everyone around you is fruiting, be faithful to the place you are in and to your love relationship with God.
You cannot fathom how much you are building the Kingdom of God through your caring for the little tasks and demands at hand. You cannot begin to comprehend the things you cannot see that you, in your love relationship with Jesus, are shifting on the earth.
His plan for you is more than you can imagine. And your faithful and loving little seeds will ultimately bring a harvest of fruit far beyond your wildest imaginings, whether you ever see it with your natural eyes here on earth or not.
As the fig tree tells us, it’s never about the showy leaves, but about seasons and fruit. In abiding with Jesus in harmony with your seasons, there is deep peace and much fruit in its season.
Be blessed!
Gail Ruth
*Manners and Customs of Bible Lands by Fred H. Wight. ©1953. No evidence of a current copyright. An online version of this fascinating book available at Manners and Customs in Bible Lands by Fred Wight Lots of $1.99 used copies available at Albris.com
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