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.a And his
disciples heard it.
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14a No man eat fruit of thee hereafter
forever Often the witnesses to an event will put about it their own
subjective interpretations when they write their record concernng the events. Of
course Jesus housed in his temporal body would feel hunger, pain, frustration and even
anger. But those feelings being highly controlled by the spirit, would not been the
same motivations behind actions as what would be those of one not in control of himself.
Thus the question, despite the fact that the fig tree seasonally for about 3 years had
not produced fruit, exactly what motivated Jesus to destory it. In other words, what
did Jesus have against that poor fig tree?
Did Jesus actually take his anger and frustration out on this poor fig tree, which did
have a spirit of life in it? Or were there lessons to be learned from the Lord's actions
against the tree. Lesson 1) Like the parable of the talents, the unfruitful will be
destroyed.
But that was not the complete immediate lesson. Matthew's account, in which Matthew tell
that the fig tree was immediately 'withered away' (Matthew 21:20), there is another
lesson to be had. In both accounts the apostles were amazed and marvelled that by the
the command of Jesus' voice the thing was done. Thus Lesson 2) as in Matthew 21:21 and
Mark 11:23, comes the more pointed lesson. That is by the action of 'priesthood power
exercised by faith' even all the elements do obey, as even mountains may be so removed
even as the fig tree was whithered away.
Thus by small actions Jesus did teach great lessons. The restoration of sight, the
restoring of a whithered arm and hand, the calming of the sea, the walking on water,
and now this direct pointed lesson that they by that priesthood power by faith, have
the power to command the elements of the earth and they must obey even unto the literal
moving of mountains. Jesus didn't take his anger out on a fruitless fig tree. Jesus was
teaching his apostles their final week's lessons, as after his death, they would be the
ones possessing this same power over the elements as they would command and the elements
would obey!
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1a
D&C 128:20;
2a
Mark 9:2 (2-13);
Luke 9:29 (28-36);
John 1:14;
2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19);
TG
Jesus Christ, Glory of;
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20 ¶ And in the morning, as they passed by,
they saw the fig tree dried up from the
rootsa.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have
afaith 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 adoubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he
saith.
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20a in the morning, as they passed by,
they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots Now one gospel says
one thing and another another thing. And often there is a dispute. But
consider that each event has differing perspectives from each of many
observers. And from their perspective they have told he story. So one who is
in the rear of the party sees the tree that very day begin to wither but
Peter who is in the head of the company but hears the curse and with the Lord
continues on, not observing the intitial withering. So Peter on the next day
beholds from his perspective the now the tree had withered and died completely
even to the full extent that even the roots thereof are dried. Are not both
accounts reconcilable? And is not much of the gospels so reconcilable?
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