Faith should bear fruit

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Why would Jesus curse a tree for failing to produce fruit out of season? No one in the history of farming has ever been angry because their crop did not bear fruit six months before harvest. Or if they did become angry, we would label them unstable and unreasonable. But Jesus is neither of these. Instead, he uses the tree to prepare his disciples for an important lesson—citizens of God’s kingdom have a purpose:  they are to bear fruit. If they don’t, they will be cursed like the tree.

Immediately after encountering the barren fig tree, Jesus enters the temple in Jerusalem and finds no fruit there either. Instead of finding leaders engaging in God’s word to teach and grow the congregation, Jesus finds plenty of leaves —religious people doing religious things while saying religious words—but there’s no fruit. What is worse, these religious leaders are feeding on the people instead of feeding people. They’ve turned the house of God into a den of robbers. Jesus' words to the fig tree seem tame compared to his display of anger in the temple. 

This is not about horticulture; it’s a lesson about the nature of faith. Faith that doesn’t produce fruit isn’t faith. The good news is that Jesus promises to produce fruit in and through anyone who wants to be pruned. Ask Jesus to make your life fruitful today.