Matthew 21:18-19

Matthew 21:18-19

[18] Now  as he returned  into  the city,  he hungered.  [19] And  fig tree  in  the way,  he came  to  it,  and  found  nothing  thereon,  leaves  only,  and  said  unto it,  fruit  grow  on  henceforward  for  ever.  And  presently  the fig tree  withered away. 

What does Matthew 21:18-19 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jesus passed the lone fig tree somewhere between Bethany and Jerusalem.
"Fig leaves appear about the same time as the fruit or a little after [1]. The green figs are edible, though sufficiently disagreeable as not usually to be eaten till June. Thus the leaves normally point to every prospect of fruit, even if not fully ripe. Sometimes, however, the green figs fall off and leave nothing but leaves." [2]
The leaves on this tree suggested that it had borne fruit, since fig trees bore fruit before the leaves came out, but it had not. Jesus saw an opportunity to teach His disciples an important truth using this tree as an object lesson. He cursed the tree to teach them the lesson, not because it failed to produce fruit.
Most interpreters of this pericope have seen Jesus" cursing of the fig tree as closely related to the context, namely, the cleansing of the temple and Jesus" denunciation of Israel"s leaders. Many see the fig tree as a symbol of the whole nation of Israel not bearing the fruit of repentance (cf. Jeremiah 8:13; Hosea 9:10; Hosea 9:16; Luke 13:6-9). [3] The problem with this view is that Jesus did not abandon Israel forever for rejecting Him ( Romans 11). A similar view takes the fig tree as representing the generation of Jews who rejected Jesus. [4] God would judge them by withholding the kingdom from them. This is the best view from my viewpoint. A third view is that the fig tree illustrates a segment within Jesus" generation of Jews, namely, the hypocrites within the nation who made a show of bearing fruit but did not (cf. Matthew 6:2; Matthew 6:5; Matthew 6:16; Matthew 7:5; Matthew 15:7; Matthew 22:18; Matthew 23:1-39). [5] They were barren spiritually. These were the temple merchants and the chief priests and scribes but not the children or the blind and the lame. However, Jesus cursed the whole tree and nation, not just the parts in it that proved unfruitful.
The idea that Jesus cursed a helpless fig tree for no fault of its own has bothered some people. However, Jesus also cast demons out of people and into pigs that drowned in the sea ( Matthew 8:28-34). This really demonstrates Jesus" compassion for people as distinct from the animal and vegetable forms of life. Humankind was God"s special creation, and Jesus" recognition of this superior form of life shows that He did not regard all life as equally valuable. In the destruction of the swine Jesus warned people of Satan"s destructive power. In the cursing of the fig tree He warned them of God"s judgment for lack of fruit (cf. Matthew 3:8; Matthew 3:10; Matthew 7:16-20; Matthew 12:33; Matthew 13:8).
"One of the Old Testament images of God"s judgment on Israel was the picture of the land being unable to bear figs ( Jeremiah 8:13; Micah 7:1-6)." [6]