The Withered Fig Tree and Scripture's Deeper Meaning

The Warning of the Fig Tree

1. The passage from the Holy Gospel that we've just heard gives us a sobering warning—that we should not have leaves only, with no fruit. Simply put, we shouldn't have words without deeds. How alarming! Who wouldn't fear when seeing in this passage, with the eyes of the heart, a tree withered at these words: "Let no fruit grow on you from now on forever" (Matthew 21:19)? Let this fear lead to change, and let the change produce fruit.

Without doubt, the Lord Christ foresaw that a certain tree would deservedly wither because it had leaves but no fruit. That tree represents the synagogue—not the one that was called, but the one that was rejected. For from it also came the people of God who sincerely and truly waited in the prophets for salvation—Jesus Christ. Because they waited in faith, they were found worthy to recognize Him when He came. From that tree came the apostles; from it came the whole crowd who went before the Lord's donkey, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Matthew 21:9).

There was then a great company of believing Jews, a great company who believed in Christ before He shed His blood for them. The Lord Himself had not come in vain to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). But in others, after He was crucified and exalted to heaven, He found the fruit of repentance. These He did not cause to wither, but cultivated them in His field and watered them with His word.

Of this number were those four thousand Jews who later believed, after the disciples and those with them, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke in the languages of all nations. In this diversity of tongues, they announced beforehand that the Church would spread throughout all nations. They believed at that time, and they were "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Because "the Son of Man had come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10), He found these also.

But they were hidden here and there among thorns, as though scattered and dispersed by wolves. He didn't come to find them until He was torn by the thorns of His Passion. Yet come He did—He found them and redeemed them. They had killed not so much Him as themselves. They were saved by the One who was slain for them.

For when the apostles spoke, "they were cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37)—they who had pierced Him with the spear. Being cut to the heart, they sought counsel, received it, repented, found grace, and believing, drank the blood that in their fury they had shed.

But those who have remained in this bad and barren lineage even to this day, and who will remain so until the end, are represented by that tree. You visit them today and find them possessing all the writings of the prophets. But these are merely leaves; Christ is hungry and looks for fruit, but finds none among them because He doesn't find Himself among them.

Those who have no fruit have no Christ. And those who don't belong to Christ's unity have no love. By this chain of reasoning, those who have no love have no fruit. Listen to the Apostle extolling the excellence of this fruit: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness" (Galatians 5:22). Don't be surprised at what follows when love leads the way.

2. When the disciples marveled at the withered tree, Jesus explained to them the power of faith: "If you have faith and do not doubt" (Matthew 21:21)—that is, if you trust God completely in all things and don't say, "God can do this, but He can't do that," but instead rely on the Almighty's omnipotence— "you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and cast into the sea,' it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive" (Matthew 21:21-22).

We read that the disciples performed miracles—or rather, the Lord performed them through the disciples, for He says, "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). The Lord could do many things without the disciples, but the disciples could do nothing without the Lord. He who created the disciples certainly didn't need their help to make them. We read about the apostles' miracles, but we never read about them withering a tree or moving a mountain into the sea.

Let's investigate, then, where this was fulfilled. The Lord's words couldn't be without effect. If you're thinking of "trees" and "mountains" in their ordinary sense, it hasn't happened. But if you think of the tree He was talking about and the mountain of the Lord of which the prophet said, "In the latter days, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established" (Isaiah 2:2), then it has indeed happened—and through the apostles.

The tree is the Jewish nation, but again, I mean the rejected part, not the part that was called. The mountain, as prophetic testimony teaches us, is the Lord Himself. The withered tree is the Jewish nation stripped of the honor of Christ. The sea is this world with all its nations.

Now see the apostles speaking to this tree that was about to wither, and casting the mountain into the sea. In the Acts of the Apostles, they speak to the Jews who oppose and resist the word of truth—those who have leaves but no fruit—and they say to them: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it" (for you use the prophets' words but don't recognize Him whom the prophets foretold—you have only leaves), "behold, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46).

This too was foretold by the prophets: "I have given You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). See then: the tree has withered, and Christ has been moved to the Gentiles—the mountain into the sea. How could the tree not wither when it was planted in the vineyard of which it was said, "I will command the clouds that they rain no rain on it" (Isaiah 5:6)?

The Prophetic Nature of Christ's Actions

3. The Lord was acting prophetically in this event. I mean that regarding this tree, it wasn't merely His intention to display a miracle, but through the miracle He wanted to indicate something to come. Many things teach and persuade us of this—even forcing us to believe against our will.

First, what fault was it in the tree that it had no fruit, when even without fruit in the proper season—that is, the fruit season—it would certainly not be blameworthy? For the tree, being without sense and reason, couldn't be at fault. Additionally, as we read in another Gospel that explicitly mentions this, "it was not the season for fruit" (Mark 11:13).

It was the time when fig trees put forth their tender leaves, which come before the fruit, as we know. We can confirm this because the Lord's Passion was at hand, and we know when He suffered. Even if we didn't know, we should certainly believe the Evangelist who says, "The time of figs was not yet."

So if this were merely intended as a miracle with no prophetic meaning, it would have been more worthy of the Lord's mercy to make green again any withered tree He found—just as He healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, and raised the dead. But here, contrary to His usual mercy, He found a green tree not yet bearing fruit out of season, but still promising fruit to its caretaker, and He withered it.

It's as if He were saying to us: "I take no pleasure in withering this tree, but I wanted to convey to you that I haven't done this without purpose. I've done it because I wanted you to learn a lesson you should take seriously. Don't despise Christ when He is hungry. Rather, love to be enriched with fruit than merely overshadowed by leaves."

4. This is what the Lord indicates He intended to signify by what He did. What else? He comes to the tree hungry and looks for fruit. Didn't He know it wasn't the season? What the tree's caretaker knew, wouldn't its Creator know? He looks for fruit on the tree that it didn't yet have. Is He really looking for it, or pretending to look? If He's really looking, He's mistaken. But far be it from Him to be mistaken!

He was pretending, then. But you're afraid to allow this—that He pretends—and so you admit He was mistaken. Then you turn away from the idea of His being mistaken and run into the idea of His pretending. We're caught between the two alternatives. If we're caught, let's ask for rain so we may grow green again, lest in saying something unworthy of the Lord, we wither away instead.

The Evangelist says, "He came to the tree and found no fruit on it." "He found none" wouldn't be said of Him unless He had either really looked for it or pretended to look, knowing none was there. Therefore, we don't hesitate—let's by no means say that Christ was mistaken. What then? Shall we say He pretended? Shall we say this? How do we resolve this difficulty?

Let's say what the Evangelist wrote elsewhere—something we ourselves wouldn't dare say if he hadn't written it. Let's say what the Evangelist wrote, and when we've said it, let's understand it. But to understand it, we must first believe. For Isaiah says, "Unless you believe, you will not understand" (Isaiah 7:9, LXX).

After His resurrection, the Lord Christ was walking with two disciples who didn't yet recognize Him, and He joined them as a third traveler. They came to their destination, and the Evangelist says, "But He acted as though He would go farther" (Luke 24:28). They urged Him to stay, saying kindly that it was getting toward evening, and asking Him to stay with them. Being received and entertained, He breaks bread and is recognized in the blessing and breaking of bread.

So let's not be afraid to say He pretended to be looking, if He pretended to be going farther. But here another question arises. Yesterday I spoke at length about the truthfulness of the apostles. How then do we find any "pretense" in the Lord Himself?

Understanding Scripture's Different Levels of Meaning

5. Therefore, brothers, I must teach you according to my limited abilities, which the Lord gives me for your benefit, what you can hold as a rule for interpreting all Scripture. Everything that is said or done is to be understood either in its literal sense, or as signifying something figuratively, or as containing both meanings at once—both its literal interpretation and a figurative meaning.

I've presented three categories; now I must give examples of them. Where else should I draw these from but the Holy Scriptures?

It's stated in the literal sense that the Lord suffered, rose again, and ascended into heaven; that we will rise again at the end of the world and reign with Him forever if we don't reject Him. Take all this literally and don't look for figurative meanings; it is just as it's expressed.

The same applies to various actions. The Apostle went up to Jerusalem to see Peter; he actually did this, it really happened—it was his own action. It's a fact he tells you, a simple fact according to its literal meaning.

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone" (Psalm 118:22) is spoken figuratively. If we take "the stone" literally, which stone did the builders reject that became the cornerstone? If we take it literally, of what corner is this stone the head? But if we understand it figuratively, the Cornerstone is Christ; the head of the corner is the Head of the Church.

Why is the Church called the Corner? Because she has called Jews from one side and Gentiles from the other. These two walls, as it were, coming from different directions and meeting, she has bound together by the grace of her peace. For "He Himself is our peace, who has made both one" (Ephesians 2:14).

6. You've heard examples of a literal expression and action, and a figurative expression. Now you're waiting for an example of a figurative action. There are many, but meanwhile, speaking of the cornerstone, when Jacob anointed the stone he had placed at his head while he slept and saw a mysterious dream—ladders rising from earth to heaven, angels ascending and descending, and the Lord standing on the ladder—he understood what it was meant to represent. He took the stone as a figure of Christ, showing us he wasn't a stranger to understanding that vision and revelation.

Don't be surprised that he anointed it, for Christ received His name from "the anointing." Jacob was called in Scripture "a man without deceit" (Genesis 25:27). And you know this Jacob was also called Israel. Accordingly, in the Gospel, when the Lord saw Nathanael, He said, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" (John 1:47).

That Israelite, not yet knowing who was talking with him, answered, "How do You know me?" And the Lord said, "When you were under the fig tree, I saw you" (John 1:48)—as if to say, "When you were in the shadow of sin, I chose you." Nathanael, remembering he had been under the fig tree where the Lord wasn't physically present, acknowledged His divinity and answered, "You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:49).

He who had been under the fig tree wasn't made a withered fig tree; he recognized Christ. And the Lord said to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these" (John 1:50). What "greater things"? "Most assuredly, I say to you" (for he is "an Israelite in whom is no deceit"; remember Jacob in whom was no deceit, and recall what's being discussed—the stone at his head, the vision in his sleep, the ladder from earth to heaven, the angels ascending and descending—and see what the Lord would say to this "Israelite without deceit"), "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open" (listen, guileless Nathanael, to what guileless Jacob saw), "and the angels of God ascending and descending" (on whom?) "upon the Son of Man" (John 1:51).

Therefore, as the Son of Man, He was anointed on the head; for "the head of woman is man, and the head of man is Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:3). Notice He didn't say, "ascending from the Son of Man and descending to the Son of Man," as if He were only above; but "ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." Hear the Son of Man crying out from above, "Saul, Saul." Hear the Son of Man from below, "Why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4).

7. You've heard an example of a literal expression— "we shall rise again" ; of a literal action—that "Paul went up to Jerusalem to see Peter" (Galatians 1:18); "The stone which the builders rejected" is a figurative expression; "the anointed stone" at Jacob's head is a figurative action.

You're now awaiting an example combining both—something that is both a literal fact and also signifies something else. "We know that Abraham had two sons: one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman" (Galatians 4:22). This was literally a fact, not just a story but an actual event. Are you looking for what it symbolized? "These are the two covenants" (Galatians 4:24).

What is spoken figuratively is a kind of fiction. But since it represents some real truth, and the figure itself has its ground in reality, it avoids any charge of falsehood. "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, some fell on stony places, some fell among thorns, and some fell on good ground" (Matthew 13:3-8). Who went out "to sow," or when did he go out, or upon what "thorns" or "stones" or "wayside," or in what field did he sow?

If we understand this as a fictional story, we interpret it figuratively—it's fictional. If any actual sower had gone out and cast seed in these different places as described, it wouldn't be fiction, and thus not falsehood. But even though it's fiction, it's not falsehood. Why? Because the fiction has a deeper meaning; it doesn't deceive you. It only needs someone to understand it and doesn't lead anyone into error.

Christ, wishing to teach us this lesson, looked for fruit and thus presented a figurative but not deceptive fiction—a fiction worthy of praise, not blame. It wasn't one designed to lead us into falsehood; rather, through diligent investigation, we discover what is true.

Recognizing Christ in the Breaking of Bread

8. Someone might ask, "Explain to me what it meant when 'He acted as though He would go farther.'" If it had no deeper meaning, it would be deception, a lie. According to our principles of interpretation and distinctions, we must explain what this "pretense of going farther" signified.

"He acted as though He would go farther," yet was kept from going farther. Insofar as the Lord Christ was thought to be absent in bodily presence, He was indeed "going farther." But hold Him fast by faith; hold Him fast in the breaking of bread.

What more shall I say? Have you recognized Him? If so, you have found Christ. I shouldn't speak any longer about this Sacrament. Those who delay in recognizing this Sacrament find that Christ goes farther from them. Let them hold Him fast, not let Him go. Let them invite Him into their home, and they in turn will be invited to heaven.