Matthew 21:18-22: The Fig Tree Withered
After a long break, we return to our Gospel of Matthew series and jump right into this odd scene where Jesus curses the fig tree. Its"a Jesus curve ball." Here we encounter a challenging twin lesson . . .
Date: 06.04.06
Series: Gospel of Matthew
Teacher: Tim Theule
posted by Tim @ 11:00 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I have learned that the best exegesis is usually the least obvious.
Here, with the fig tree, we find Jesus cursing a fig tree for not delivering fruit even though it's not the season for figs. At a surface level, Jesus appears to be merely "crabby."
A more in-depth reading shows that here, in his rejection of the fig tree and his general crabbiness on that bright and blessed morning, Jesus, himself Jewish, was attempting to propose a new dietary code for his followers in which figs, and, implicitly, crab apples and certain shell fish, were to be eschewed.
His disciples, however, who were often slow to hear the message - as when they took his remarks about the "yeast of the Pharisees" literally - did not have ears to hear the fig tree message.
Happily, inspired as Matthew was to write lines whose deep meaning escaped him but which he nevertheless handed down to us, we are able to take direction from them, God willing.
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