Mark 11:11-12
The First Fig Tree Message
As a reminder, we crossed into the last week of Jesus’ earthly life
in \\#Mark 11:1\\. That week is sometimes referred to as the Passion
Week. It began with the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and
concluded with Resurrection Sunday. I had not thought about it until
this week, but I suppose that week would end at Jesus’ resurrection
since that would be the end of everything related to Jesus’ earthly
life.
Last week, we read of Jesus’ powerful entry into Jerusalem, coming
down the Mount of Olives, crossing the Kidron Valley, and entering in
through the Eastern Gate. While Jesus had entered into Jerusalem many
times, Jesus sending for the colt, the foal of an ass, sparked the
people’s memory of Zechariah’s prophecy about the Messiah entering
Jerusalem that way. People began to take off their coats, and laid
them along with palm branches and straw in the way. They also shouted
Hosanna and acknowledged that Jesus was the son of David and the
blessed One. It would look like the Jews were acknowledging Jesus as
their Messiah.
But I also mentioned last week the anti-climactic finish to that day.
Matthew may indicate that Jesus went to the temple instead of the
palace and judged the Jewish leaders instead of the Roman ones. Mark
does not appear to give us all of the details, but he summarized it
in verse 11.
Mark 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and
into the temple: and when he had looked round
about upon all things, and now the eventide was
come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
12 And on the morrow, when they were come
from Bethany, he was hungry:
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves,
he came, if haply he might find any thing
thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing
but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man
eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his
disciples heard it.
That unceremoniously ending of Jesus’ entry caused some to begin to
think again whether Jesus was their Messiah or not. So much so that
Judas either began to think along those lines or moved further with
his plans to betray Jesus.
Notice in \\#12\\ the time reference, "And on the morrow." I think
Mark more than any other gospel writer may work to detail for us all
five of the days until Jesus was crucified on Thursday (again, my
belief). We will note those references in his writing.
In fact, I am beginning to think that Mark’s chronology of the week
may be more correct than Matthew’s. Whether you have noticed it
before or not, the gospels do not record everything in the same
chronological order. That is all right. I do not know of any gospel
writer who stated that he was recording the life of Jesus in
chronological order. Sometimes the writers will use time signature
words such as "then," "afterwards," "after this," and so forth.
Whenever they use a time signature word, you can be sure they are
telling us the chronological order of events, but no writer uses
those kinds of words with every event. When they do not, there is no
reason to suppose they are listing events in chronological order.
My thought, and many others had it way before I begin to get it, is
that if Mark went to the trouble to detail all of the days, he
probably gave us the more correct order—at least in most cases. The
bottom line is that we will note the days of the week as Mark gives
them to us. Verse 12 begins Monday of the Passion Week.
Two events happened during the Passion Week that dealt with fig
trees. The first one is recorded here, the second one is recorded in
Mark 13. Before we even look at the first event, let me tell you what
I believe.
1. I believe the fig tree, at least in these two events, is a
picture of the nation Israel.
a. In full disclosure, I cannot prove that the fig tree is
Israel beyond a shadow of a doubt.
b. I can tell you that three times in the Old Testament, God
used figs or the fig tree to represent Israel
\\#Hos 9:10, Jer 24:3-10, 29:16-17\\.
c. I can also tell you that if the fig tree has no symbolic
significance then Jesus was not just a carpenter’ Son
but a Landscaper as well; for He would have done a
miracle where the sole purpose was to remove a tree from
the side of the road—which I don’t think He did.
d. But even though I can’t prove the fig tree is symbolic of
Israel beyond a shadow of a doubt, I believe it anyway;
and I will believe it for another 27 or so years.
e. By that time, we won’t have to guess because I think time
will either prove or disprove whether the fig tree is
Israel or not.
2. I also believe the two events teach us something about
Israel.
a. What the first event taught was present. What the second
event teaches is prophetic.
b. The first was speaking of the then-present Israel. The
second, I believe, is perhaps speaking of the now
present Israel.
c. The first happened to the generation to whom Jesus was
preaching. The second, I believe, is happening to the
generation to whom I am preaching.
It will be awhile yet before we get to the second event, but let’s
look at the first Fig Tree Message with two thoughts.
I. Cursing A Fig Tree
A. Remember the first event taught about Jesus FIRST coming and
the results of that coming.
1. \\#13\\ The Purpose of Jesus’ First Coming - Jesus came to
see if Israel had any fruit.
a. That would be spiritual fruit.
b. Jesus was on a spiritual mission:
(1) To pay for our sins.
(2) To find for Himself a people. Unfortunately, the
people Jesus came to did not respond well to His
coming.
c. Hopefully you know that Jesus is the Messiah.
(1) If you did, you came by faith.
(2) I know that because everyone who comes to Jesus
must come the same way, by faith.
(3) Sadly, the Jews did not respond well to their
opportunity.
d. Even though they had to come by faith, Jesus gave them
plenty of evidence.
(1) Messiah’s coming had been promised since
\\#Genesis 3:15\\.
(2) Prophetical details of Messiah’s birth, life, and
death are scattered throughout the Old
Testament.
(3) Jesus had walked through Israel for 3 1/2 years
doing miracles that only God or His
representative could do. (Since no earthly
representative had ever done so many and so
varied a group of miracles, I would tend to
believe that Jesus was more than a mere
representative!
(4) In addition, Jesus had taught truths that were
wise, powerful, and with an authority that no
one had ever heard before.
(5) Yet, at that very moment, the nation of Israel
was preparing to give their final answer to who
they thought Jesus was.
(a) Sunday’s Triumphant Entry was their initial
answer.
(b) But Thursday morning’s two-word chant,
"Crucify Him," would be their final answer.
(6) Although Jesus knew what their answer would be
before the world began, He still came to offer
Himself as their Messiah.
2. \\#13\\ The Result of Jesus First Coming - Jesus found
nothing.
a. Again, no spiritual fruit on the tree of Israel.
(1) The text does not say Jesus found some or a few.
(2) The text did not say that Jesus found some old,
dried up figs from last year on the vine.
(3) It does not say that Jesus found some budding
but not yet ripe figs on the tree.
(4) After walking through Israel for 3 1/2 years, it
says Jesus found no figs on the tree, meaning
Jesus found no Jews that were confident and
sure that He was the promised Messiah—even
among His own group of 12 disciples!
b. It is sad that in a nation with so much spiritual
opportunity, so little of eternal importance was
accomplished.
c. Although I will reframe from elaborating on it, I will
point out that you can see the same condition today
in our country.
(1) Jesus could have walked through our nation for
the last 3 1/2 years; and although I am pretty
sure He would have had some big rally’s, I think
I know what America’s final answer would be.
(2) Some nations have been blessed with spiritual
opportunities, yet they have no spiritual fruit.
3. \\#14\\ The Judgment of Jesus’ First Coming - Jesus
cursed Israel.
Mark 11:14 …No man eat fruit of thee hereafter
for ever…
a. This judgment was not upon the whole nation of Israel
forever.
(1) Like the inspection had been on one generation of
the nation of Israel…
(2) like the results had been on one generation of
the nation of Israel…
(3) so the judgment was upon that one generation of
the nation of Israel.
b. That generation of Israel would be cursed forever.
(1) Their temple would be ransacked and destroyed.
(2) Their land and goods would be seized and they
would be exiled.
(3) They would be persecuted, hated, and some even
killed.
c. They had no spiritual fruit, and they would bring
forth no spiritual fruit.
d. Instead, that generation damned themselves forever.
e. Now, it could be argued that they damned more than
just their own generation—for they did.
(1) However, I don’t think that was due to Jesus’
pronouncement.
(2) That is due to the fact that the sins of the
parents are passed down on to the third and
fourth generations and even beyond.
B. Notice an additional detail:
Mark 11:13 …for the time of figs was not yet.
1. Jesus was looking for fruit when it wasn’t the time for
fruit to be there; yet, Jesus cursed the fig tree anyway.
a. That doesn’t seem fair, does it?
b. Well, perhaps it wasn’t for the fig tree; but figs are
pre-designed when they will have fruit, people are
not.
c. People make up their own minds what they will believe
and what they will do.
d. However, I believe this statement is telling us
something.
2. This statement is telling us that Jesus knew there would
be no figs on the tree before He came to it; and that He
knew there would be no spiritual fruit in Israel before
He came to them too.
a. Jesus is God, and God never has an inspection to find
out something.
b. Jesus has an inspection to reveal something.
c. Jesus came to offer Himself to Israel and to reveal to
them what kind of hearts they had.
d. By the way, it would not have mattered WHEN Jesus came
to Israel, the results would be the same.
(1) Would Israel have received Jesus in Moses’ day?
(2) Isaiah’s day?
(3) Jeremiah’s day?
(4) How about today? Would Israel receive Jesus
today?
e. Sadly, for Israel the issue is not WHEN but WHAT is
the condition of their heart.
(1) That answer has been consistent for millenniums.
(2) The condition of their heart is unbelief.
II. Moving A Mountain
A. There is a part two to the cursing of the fig tree later in
this chapter.
Mark 11:20 And in the morning, as they passed
by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the
roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto
him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou
cursedst is withered away.
B. \\#20\\ Notice that Mark told us that we are into another day
now, Tuesday.
1. Jesus cursed the fig tree on Monday morning.
2. On Tuesday morning, the fig tree had died, dried up, and
withered.
C. Understand that I am not saying that was to happen to Israel.
1. The symbolism of this fig tree being Israel ended when
Jesus cursed the tree.
2. The symbolism was that Jesus:
a. came to Israel,
b. looked for spiritual fruit,
c. found none,
d. cursed that generation of Israel,
e. and left.
3. As a matter of fact, the curse that Jesus put on the fig
tree did not demand that it die, just that it be
fruitless.
4. By dying the curse was guaranteed, but death was not the
only way God could have caused this curse to come to
pass.
5. Some might argue that what God did to Israel was like or
even worse than death.
a. Perhaps.
b. But God never refers to Israel as having died.
c. He refers to them as having been divorced or set
aside.
D. Since the tree did die and the disciples noticed it, Jesus
used the situation to teach the disciples about prayer,
getting answers to prayer, and even moving mountains with
prayer.
E. In this text, Jesus told two things were necessary to move
mountains:
1. \\#22-24\\ Faith
Mark 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them,
Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed,
and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not
doubt in his heart, but shall believe that
those things which he saith shall come to pass;
he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever
ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them.
2. \\#24-25\\ Forgiveness
Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive,
if ye have ought against any: that your Father
also which is in heaven may forgive you your
trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your
Father which is in heaven forgive your
trespasses.
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