frosbel:

My honest opinion is that we christians are the trees, and we are commanded to bear fruit unto GOD.

Right from the creation of the world the command has been 'be fruitful and multiply'.

Some of the fruit God expects us to bear are :

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

"(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)" - Ephesians 5:9

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." - John 15:16


So basically GOD expects all his trees ( Christians ) to bear fruit .


But when God comes time after time to check for good fruit in the lives of his children and does not find any, it could bring a curse from GOD.


See below the judgement on those who do not bear fruit :

"The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." - Matthew 3:10

"He called in a loud voice: 'Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches." - Daniel 4:14

"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." - Matthew 7:19

"So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" - Luke 13:7

" He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." - John 15:2

phxc:

Rubbish analogy---- It wasn't time for the tree in question to bear fruit so cursing it was at best a misjudgment and at worse, abuse of power. If he was so hungry, the prudent thing he should have done was command figs to appear and eat to his fill.

Also, equating figs to Christians misses the point. As Christians, it is expected of you to bear fruits all the time but a fig tree has no such duties. It relies on seasons, therefore, there are times you wouldn't find fruits on it. So if Jesus wanted to make a point about Christians bearing fruit always, he chose the wrong medium.

phxc:

Rubbish analogy---- It wasn't time for the tree in question to bear fruit so cursing it was at best a misjudgment and at worse, abuse of power. If he was so hungry, the prudent thing he should have done was command figs to appear and eat to his fill.

Also, equating figs to Christians misses the point. As Christians, it is expected of you to bear fruits all the time but a fig tree has no such duties. It relies on seasons, therefore, there are times you wouldn't find fruits on it. So if Jesus wanted to make a point about Christians bearing fruit always, he chose the wrong medium.

Joagbaje:

^^^^
so that means we bring forth fruit in and out of season?

Sweetnecta:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ and seyibrown didn't answer the question of the thread.

InesQor:

I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."
-John 11:42

This fig tree story is only another example of Jesus doing something JUST to foster faith in those who were with him. Jesus didn't even need to utter a word or hold his breath if his "problem" was to destroy a fig tree.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Let's read between the lines? Thankye.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31

InesQor:

I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."
-John 11:42

This fig tree story is only another example of Jesus doing something JUST to foster faith in those who were with him. Jesus didn't even need to utter a word or hold his breath if his "problem" was to destroy a fig tree.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Let's read between the lines? Thankye.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:31

There is a very reasonable explanation why Jesus cursed the fig tree even though it wasn’t the season for figs. Even before the season, fig trees produce little knobs which are eaten by a passerby. As the late renowned NT scholar F.F. Bruce noted:

"The other miracle is the cursing of the barren fig tree (Mk. xi 12 ff.), a stumbling block to many. They feel that it is unlike Jesus, and so someone must have misunderstood what actually happened, or turned a spoken parable into an acted miracle, or something like that. Some, on the other hand, welcome the story because it shows that Jesus was human enough to get unreasonably annoyed on occasion. It appears, however, that a closer acquaintance with fig trees would have prevented such misunderstandings. ‘The time of the fig is not yet,’ says Mark, for it was just before Passover, about six weeks before the fully-formed fig appears. The fact that Mark adds these words shows that he knew what he was talking about. When the fig leaves appear about the end of March, they are accompanied by a crop of small knobs, called taqsh by the Arabs, a sort of fore-runner of the real figs. These taqsh are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. They drop off before the real fig is formed. But if the leaves appear unaccompanied by taqsh, there will be no figs that year. So it was evident to our Lord, when He turned aside to see if there were any of these taqsh on the fig-tree to assuage His hunger for the time being, that the absence of the taqsh meant that there would be no figs when the time of figs came. For all its fair foliage, it was a fruitless and a hopeless tree." (Bruce, Are The New Testament Documents Reliable? [Intervarsity Press; Downers Grove, Ill, fifth revised edition 1992], pp. 73-74; bold emphasis ours)

Another noted Evangelical scholar Craig S. Keener makes the following observation:

    "At Passover season in late March or early April, fig trees are often in leaf on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. At this time of year, such fig trees contained only green early figs (Arabs call them taqsh), which ripen around June but often drop off before that time, leaving only green leaves on the tree. A leafy tree lacking such early figs, however, would bear no figs at all that year," (Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew [Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, July 1999], p. 504)

Thus, what was thought to be an example against the veracity of the NT ends up actually becoming a rather persuasive argument for its historical reliability! This exemplifies the minute accuracy of the Synoptic Gospels, both in time and place, i.e. this took place during the month of Passover, figs located on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives etc. It also provides evidence for an early dating of Matthew and Mark - or, at the very least, shows that they were dependent on very old and early material - well before the fall of Jerusalem. After all, the knowledge of these details would most likely have been lost or unknown to authors writing after the destruction of Jerusalem.

[b]Moreover, the cursing of the fig tree is a played or acted out parable, one which warned the nation of Israel of impending judgment. [/b]In the words of Messianic scholar David Stern:

    "… If Yeshua’s cursing and drying up the fig tree had been a petulant reaction to disappointment because he couldn't satisfy his hunger, it would be unworthy of anyone, let alone the Messiah. But Yeshua is making a point by means of prophetic drama, acted-out parable (possibly Lk 13:6-9). Tanakh examples include Yirmiyahu, who bought and broke a clay bottle (Jeremiah 19), and Yechezk'el, who made and then burned up a model of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4-5); for a later New Testament instance see Ac 21:10-11.

    Even out of season a fig tree in leaf - it must have been in leaf to be seen in the distance (v. 12) - holds forth the promise of fruit. The normal early season for figs in Israel is June, but the early unripe fruit (Song of Songs 2:13) begins to show itself even before the spring leaves appear on the branches, often before Passover.

    We know that Yeshua expects God's people to put forth the fruit of righteousness, and that unproductive branches are thrown in the fire (Mt 7:16-20; 12:33; 13:4-9, 18-23; Yn 15:1-. Thus, the drying-up of the fig tree is an acted-out warning. In keeping with Proverbs 27:18 (‘He who tends a fig tree will eat his fruit, and he who serves his master will be honored’) Yeshua here is teaching his followers what it means to serve their master, God: it means simply to have the kind of trust that comes from God (v. 22), and that they will wither away if they don’t. Yeshua neither acts from pique nor perform arbitrary miracles like a magician; every one of his supernatural acts has spiritual significance." (Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary [Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., Clarksville Maryland, Fifth edition 1996], pp. 95-96; bold emphasis ours)

Sweetnecta:

^^^^^^^^^^ shallow thinking. it is a mere commentary, maybe or maybe not type, since jesus of the bible did not give his reason for killing the tree except in rage of the pang of the pain of hunger. only humans get hungry, you know.

Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
(KJV)

Immediately (Matthew 21:19) - "Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.

Overnight (Mark 11:14,20) - "He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening. . .20As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up."