Did you ever wonder why Jesus killed the fig tree in Matthew
21? I have. I mean, did He go around cursing things that
didn’t do what He wanted? It seems out
of character for Him, doesn’t it?
I had the privilege of attending a bible study with Rabbi
Matthew Salathe at Temple Aron haKodesh a couple of weeks ago.
He was just starting a book study of Matthew. To my delight I found his desk
covered in books when I arrived. That’s what I love about
Rabbi Matthew. He dives into the Word, draws
on the wisdom of others, and with the leading of the Holy Spirit brings up
wonderful nuggets of truth and revelation.
Thursday night was no different.
As the evening ended, Rabbi Matthew had an extra nugget for
us from Exodus 12:1-3. What does this
have to do with Jesus and the fig tree?
Hang in there, it’s coming.
In Exodus 12 the Lord instructs Moses and Aaron to choose a
lamb for the Passover sacrifice. The
Lord told them to do it on the tenth day of the first month. This is also the day Jesus entered Jerusalem –
the day the lambs are selected.
Rabbi Matthew read to us a portion from the Midrash Rabbah,
commenting on Exodus. I
was not able to follow all the logic, but in this passage the sages were
discussing Messiah. They quoted from
Song of Solomon regarding the fig tree. One
perspective said the fruit stood for the righteous people. The other points out that the Hebrew word
means unripe fruit. As such,
it would represent wicked people because Song of Solomon 2:11-13 says the
winter has passed, the rain has come and gone, and it's time for flowers
to bloom and fruit to start showing on the tree.
Now we go to Matthew 21:18-19 where Jesus cursed the tree. At first read we see it was because He was
hungry and there was no fruit on it. Again, it seems out of character for Him, doesn’t it?
Yet a closer look at what happened just before our key passage
sheds some light. Matthew 21:12-13 tells
us that after Jesus entered Jerusalem and before he cursed the fig tree, he overturned
the tables in the temple. Why? Because the people were not doing right by
God and each other. They were not
bearing fruit of righteousness at a time when they should have been celebrating
God’s redemptive work! Like the fig
tree, the time had come to bear fruit and there wasn’t any.
I suspect Jesus would have known much of what would be
written in later centuries in the Midrash Rabbah. Was this his
way of saying, “The fruit tree, mentioned in Song of Solomon should have borne
fruit, but didn’t. The sages who pointed
out that it stood for wicked people were right.
And they were right that it discussed Messiah. Here I am, the Messiah, looking for fruit and
not finding any.”
Now does the story of the fig tree make more sense?
This is just one of many Hebraisms that we miss when we are
divorced from the wisdom of the sages.
Yet it is another proof that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of God.
