The Fig Tree

On Monday morning of Holy Week, Jesus returned from Bethany to Jerusalem. As He passed by Bethphage, “Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again'; and at that instant the fig tree withered and died.” 

Peter, struck by Jesus’ apparent overreaction, immediately called out to the other Apostles, “Hurry, get the Master some coffee!” Just kidding. It couldn’t have been that Jesus was “hangry,” you know, hungry and angry on this morning. Because we know that Jesus spent Palm Sunday evening in Bethany at the Home of his friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. And you can be sure Martha made a big feast for Jesus!  

So, on Monday morning, when Jesus curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit, it’s not because He’s dying of hunger. What was the problem with the fig tree? It wasn’t doing what it was supposed to. Oh, it was busy alright, busy making leaves. But it wasn’t bearing fruit. 

The fig tree is a prophetic sign that helps us understand what Jesus is trying to teach us on Monday of Holy Week. The fig tree represented Israel, the chosen people, and many, especially the leaders, were not bearing the fruit God asked for.

Tax Collectors and Prostitutes 

Recall that, yesterday, Palm Sunday, Jesus drove the Jews out of the Temple with a whip. Then first thing Monday morning, Jesus goes back to the Temple and begins to teach openly.  Immediately, the chief priests accost him, saying basically, “Who do you think you are to do that outrageous thing yesterday?” Jesus replied, “I will answer your question if you answer mine. John’s baptism, was it from God or from men?” 

“And they argued it out this way among themselves, ‘If we say from heaven, he will retort, then why did you refuse to believe him? But if we say from man, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

So, their reply to Jesus was, “We do not know.” 

To which Jesus responded, “Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom, and you are not, because they heard John and they chose to repent and bear the fruit of repentance, but you refuse.”

There it is! The fruit that God wants is repentance, conversion, a change of life from vice to virtue, and to love. 

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants  

Then to make his point, Jesus told them this Parable, “There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad.”

The owner of the Land is God. The vineyard is Israel, the people of God. The tenants are the leaders of Israel, especially the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, who were responsible for guiding God’s people.

Jesus continues, “When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect the fruit.” There is that dang fruit again. God is always insisting on collecting His fruit. 

Jesus goes on, “But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third… Finally, he sent his son to them. "They will respect my son" he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, "This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance." So, they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.” This is what the Jewish leaders will do to Jesus, the Son of the Landowner, on Friday: they will take him out of the city and crucify him. 

Then Jesus asks them, “Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?' They answered, 'He should kill them and give their nation to someone else who will produce the fruit...’”

The Stone Rejected by the Builders 

The whole issue on Monday of Holy Week is that God sent his Son, Jesus, to Israel to collect the fruit of repentance, conversion, and love, but most of the leaders and many of the people refused to change and grow in virtue. Then they had him killed. So, Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders.

Jesus then said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the foundation stone.” Then Jesus said, “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

Wow! What is Jesus saying? If Israel rejected Christ, has Israel been rejected? St. Paul answers this question directly: By no means! God has not rejected Israel. (Romans 11:1) But something important did happen.

Many of the leaders of Israel rejected Jesus and failed to bear the fruit of repentance and faith. Because of this, their stewardship of the Kingdom was taken away. But Israel itself did not disappear. Instead, a faithful remnant of Israel gathered around Jesus: Mary, the Apostles, and the first disciples. This remnant became the beginning of the Catholic Church. Then something new happened: the Gentiles were grafted in.

So the Catholic Church is not a replacement for Israel. Rather, it is Israel renewed and expanded, made up of faithful Jews and faithful Gentiles united in Christ. As Paul explains, the Gentiles are like wild branches grafted onto Israel’s olive tree. The root remains the same, but the tree now grows to include all nations.

Are We Bearing Fruit

The lesson of the Fig tree applies to us as well. God expects us to bear the fruit. That means radically changed lives. We are really expected to stop sinning, to remove the occasions of sin, to overcome our vices with virtues, and to become mature in love. So, are we bearing fruit? 

Here is the infallible strategy to bear the fruit Jesus is looking for: Spend time with Jesus in real friendship, which means daily meditation. Conclude every meditation with a concrete resolution, some good action you will practice and turn into a virtue. Do a daily examination of conscience.

Go to confession once a month. (Oh, but if you only plan to go once a month, it will probably turn into two or three months, so plan to go every two weeks, and then it will be once a month.) If you do these things, you will bear the fruit that bears repentance. If you don’t, you probably won’t. 

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