Introduction

In the last episode we surveyed the appearance of fig trees in the language of the Old Testament. We saw their pairing and symbolism used in connection with blessing and judgment, and often used to represent the people of God. When we get to the New Testament, this fig tree motif continues in Jesus’ ministry. My basic argument is that the fig tree is Old Covenant Israel, and Jesus does not find fruit on the fig tree of Old Covenant Israel, especially the leadership. In other words, he does not find a faithful people in Israel.

Figs From Thistles?

In Matthew 7, the sermon on the mount, Jesus carries on the same language of trees that we have seen in the Old Testament. He compares false prophets to trees that don’t bear fruit. In the passage he mentions figs. Asking if men gather figs from thistles? Which of course, the answer is no.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

From the rest of Scripture in numerous places we know that good fruit is righteousness. Good fruit is good works. Good fruit is the evidence of faith. Good fruit is the manifestation of the Spirit in the believer. Paul says, “the fruit of the Spirit (or Light textual variant) is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.” (Ephesians 5:9, see also Galatians 5:22, Colossians 1:10, Hebrews 12:11, Hebrews 13:5, James 3:18,

So, every tree, tree being false prophet, that doesn’t bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Every prophet that manifests his falseness in unrighteousness, in unbelief, in wickedness is judged.

In some ways, we see this is similar to the parable of Abimelech as bramble given by Jotham. Jotham gives a parable of trees from Mount Gerizim – the mount of blessing. Jesus compares prophets to trees while speaking from a Mount here as well. Jotham talks about the bramble of Abimelech ruling over Israel. Jesus teaches about the false prophets of Israel and what happens to them. They are judged. Thrown into the fire.

The gospel of Luke records a similar teaching, but instead of specifying prophets, Jesus widens it to men generally.

“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45)

In both passages Jesus is teaching us how to judge. This teaching follows his teachings on judgment. Judging with righteous judgment. And that we are able to judge based on the fruit, the works, the righteousness, or lack thereof in men.

James, the brother of Jesus, basically restates this in his epistle.

“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?” (James 3:10-12)

Types of trees bear types of fruit. Types of men bear types of works. Bad hearts produce bad faith. Good hearts produce good faith. And bearing bad fruit incurs judgment.

Ontological Union and Fruit Bearing

So, we might ask. How does one bear good fruit? The answer: In union with Christ. Jesus teaches us this in John 15.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:1-8)

He goes on. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” (John 15:16)

There is a lot going on here. But briefly, in this metaphor, we see that Jesus is teaching on the necessity of union with him. The New Testament epistles are brimming with the phrase “in Christ.” We are united to Christ when we are baptized in him. And in him we abide in him when we obey his commandments, love one another, testify to who Jesus is, and many other things. The point is, that only in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, are we branches that produce good fruit. Jesus gives us new hearts which makes us new trees. In Jesus we are grafted into The Tree, The Vine, who is capable of bearing good fruit. Apart from Jesus we cannot bear any good fruit.

Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.”

Later in John, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain [or much fruit].” (John 12:24) In Christ, we die with him, and we resurrect with him, and we bring forth the fruit of righteousness. Paul makes this point extensively and explicitly in Romans 6. That in baptism, we have died with Christ and we are raised to a new life which puts to death sin in our lives. The fruit of the cross is Jesus, and we produce fruit in union with him. In that sense, Jesus is the first fruits of the tree of the cross, and we are the later fruits of the tree of the cross.

This ontological aspect of salvation is emphasized in Eastern theology, and it is rightly attractive to many Christians in the West, who are usually more familiar with the juridical, or forensic aspects of salvation. That God declares us righteous as a judge declares a man put on trial to be guilty or innocent. Both are true, and we see the ontological aspect emphasized in the reformed tradition, too. Calvin is famous for his emphasis on union with Christ. We would do well to affirm both aspects that come from the Scriptures.

For our purposes, we see that trees can only bear fruit in union with Christ. And trees that do not bear fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire. So, again we have another instance of Jesus teaching that unfaithful men who reject Christ are barren men, men devoid of righteousness, and that unrighteous, Christ-forsaking men, are judged. They are cut down. They are destroyed in fire.

A Man Under His Fig Tree

In John 1, Philip brings Nathaniel to Jesus of Nazareth as the prophesied Messiah of Moses. Nathaniel makes this remark, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Jesus isn’t offended. He commends Nathaniel as a man in whom there is no deceit. Nathaniel asks how Jesus knows him. And Jesus says he saw him under a fig tree. Now, this I think likely demonstrates Jesus’ divinity somehow. That Nathaniel was perhaps praying to God, in a sincere prayer closet sort of way. And Jesus is identifying himself as God in this moment. As if to say, I saw you when you were praying, because you were praying to me. We don’t exactly what happened, but whatever it was, it immediately won Nathaniel over as demonstrated in his confession of Jesus as the Son of God and King of Israel.

But for our purpose the appearance of a man under a fig tree ought to remind us of the blessed Israelites under the reign of Solomon, who each dwelt safely under their own fig tree. And as Jesus says elsewhere, one greater than Solomon has now arrived. (Matthew 12:42) This also might cue us into the prophecies of Micah and Zechariah, which anticipate the coming Messiah’s reign where men will each dwell under their own fig tree, and invite others to do so. (Micah 4:4, Zechariah 3:9-10). As if to say, Nathaniel is a first fruits of more to come, of more men dwelling under their own fig tree – a signification that the one Greater than Solomon has arrived.

The Barren Fig Tree

In Luke 13, Jesus teaches a fig tree parable.

“He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ” (Luke 13:6-9)

We can derive the larger principles of Jesus’ teachings here of good fruit and bad fruit, or no fruit. Faithfulness and unfaithfulness. That trees which do not bear fruit are cut down. That men who are unfaithful are judged. But I think, given the survey of Scripture thus far, and the surrounding context of this passage, we can deduce that this parable is specifically about Israel. Why do I say this?

Right before this parable, there are Jews who tell Jesus about Galileans who were killed by Pilate. But Jesus responds. “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

This is sometimes used by preachers and theologians to dismiss a cause and effect of sin and judgment. That bad things just happen and there’s no rhyme or reason to it, and if a bad thing happens to you, it certainly was not connected to your sin in any way. In fact, you’re basically as blameless and Job and God is just testing you. Of course, sometimes we are Job. And conversely it is also true that we all deserve hell by virtue of original sin and our own actual sin. That we are all sinners. However, this is not what Jesus is teaching here. And the Bible is replete with temporal judgments for unrepentant sin, for covenant breaking. The Bible teaches over and over that there is most of the time a cause and effect of specific sins committed and specific judgments incurred. And conversely that specific good works are rewarded with specific temporal blessings.

And here, Jesus is speaking specifically to the men in Israel as real sinners who needed to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as their Messiah. That Jesus is warning them of the coming judgment on Jerusalem if they don’t repent. That Pilate’s killing of the Galileans and the falling of the Siloam tower were precursors to more judgment. That these things were preliminary judgments. That these events in themselves are like prophets telling the rest of Israel to repent. This is not an abstract Calvinistic commentary on the universality of total depravity. But a specific indictment of actual people in actual place, who actually needed to repent. And if they refused, then actual judgments of blood spilling, tower falling, and fire consumption was coming for them. This interpretation is the most natural reading, and it is also supplemented by the follow up parable of the fig tree. The fig tree is given time to repent. To bear fruits of repentance. And if it didn’t it would be cut down.

John the Baptist gives a similar warning of repentance to the Pharisees and Sadducees, using similar language. “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10) John tells them to bear fruits worthy of repentance. And if they don’t, they would be cut down and thrown into the fire. So, we start to see this association with Israel, especially her leaders, and the fig tree. Or simply trees that don’t bear fruit.

Returning to Luke 13. After Jesus warns them like John to repent or perish, He teaches them the parable of the fig tree. And the parable speaks of a three period, where a certain man is looking for fruit on the fig tree he planted in a vineyard. For three years a certain man is looking for fruit on the fig tree. I don’t know how anyone could read this other than Jesus referring to Himself, and His own three year ministry looking for fruit in the vineyard of Israel. But we see that the tree is given another year to bear fruit, to repent. I take this to indicate the time of the sending of the Spirit. The last chance to repent and bear good fruit. But if they reject the Spirit they won’t be forgiven. This, to my mind, makes the most sense out of Jesus’ teaching on the unpardonable sin. Jesus saying that the blasphemy of the Son will be forgiven, but not blasphemy of the Spirit. The unforgivable sin is not repenting once the Holy Spirit is sent. (Matthew 12:31-32) The sending of the Spirit was the last chance for the Jews to repent of their blasphemy and rejection of their Messiah. And some did repent. 3,000 on Pentecost. Paul eventually. Others did not, and they died a horrible, horrible, judgment in the siege of Jerusalem.

After Jesus gives the parable of the fig tree, later in the same chapter, after a series of miracles, teachings, and a confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (Luke 13:34-35)

This seems to me, to pretty conclusively connect the fig tree with Jerusalem and the Jews, specifically the leadership who rejected Christ, and the unbelieving Jews generally. It also perhaps looks forward to the Jews ultimate recognition of Christ as their Messiah in the future. In our future. You shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” This perhaps means you will not see me until you are given eyes to see me, in the predestined season for you to believe, and for you to welcome the messengers of the gospel rather than killing and stoning them.

Some would probably like an explicit text that says, “the fig tree is Israel.” But sometimes God doesn’t communicate like that to us. Sometimes he speaks in parables and riddles and mysteries. The Proverbs say, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” (25:2) I believe the fig tree as Israel makes the rest of the texts intelligible. It also comports with the historical events that occurred shortly afterward. It also has historical precedent with past Christians reading it similarly. Jerusalem was cut down and thrown into the fire for being a tree that didn’t bear any fruit.

Conclusion

This gives us more background for understanding what Jesus is up to when he curses the fig tree. That he too is a certain man looking for on a fig tree and finds none. It also, along with everything else we have discussed illuminates why he makes mention of it once again in the Olivet Discourse. We will tackle that next time.