All Leaves, No Fruit: The Anger That Restores
What if the anger of Jesus wasn't about breaking things but about revealing them?
A Curious Story on the Road
There is a curious story about Jesus and the disciples that reveals something profound about life in the kin-dom:
Mark 11:12-14, 20-21
12. The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry.
13. Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
14. Jesus told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” and his disciples heard it.
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away from the roots.
Peter, remembering, said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.”
Jesus was hungry, and he saw a fig tree. This fig tree had leaves, signaling that it had early figs growing on it. As a result, he expected to find figs, even though they were not in season. The tree bore no fruit, just leaves. It was all appearance, no substance. So Jesus curses the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” When they passed by the tree again, it had withered from the roots.
This story bookends the cleansing of the temple when Jesus drove out the money changers, then taught the children and teaches the same lesson.
Leaves Without Fruit
So why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
For Jesus, life in the cosmos and the kin-dom is about living with integrity and taking care of others. It is a life rooted in love. The fig tree giving the appearance of having fruit when it does not is a powerful symbol of hypocrisy and deception.
Just like the temple he is about to enter, the appearance is good, but the right relationship, or righteousness, is not found within it. The fig tree and the temple bear no fruit. This deception pushed Jesus to reveal them for what they really are, dead wood offering no fruit.
If we are not taking the name of the Lord in vain, we are called to live the way of Christ, “that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10);” which the moneychangers in the temple were not doing. Like the fig tree, they appeared to be fruitful, but bore no fruit.
To live “worthy” is to have those two sides correspond, match, or fit together. We are called to live in a way that fits the Lord, that reflects His weight, and alignment with who He is. We take care of the vulnerable, raise up the poor and oppressed, and reject the thrones of kings. If we do not do this, we will be revealed as dead fig trees with roots that never tap into the grace flowing through the cosmos.
The Anger of Love
The fig tree signaled fruitfulness when it was not in season and it had no fruit to bear. This is the kind of hypocrisy that fills the world. People make themselves appealing to look fruitful when they are empty.
Those who do this rush to perform rather than do the work. They believe the only thing that matters is appearance. Connecting to the deeper rhythms of life and grace is harder than seeking approval by pretending to do these things.
The person who does this is often the one who seeks an advantage over others because pretending they are more enlightened, have more access to God, and know things others don’t allows them to exercise an unjust authority over others.
As Jesus says elsewhere:
Matthew 23:27-28
27. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Anger at this hypocrisy is the anger rooted in love. It drives out the falsehood, but does not engage in violence. We can see this in the aftermath of the cleansing of the temple:
Matthew 21:14-16
14. The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
15. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant,
16. and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?’”
When Jesus cast out the moneychangers, those who needed healing did not flee, and the children were not afraid. He turned over tables and ran off those taking advantage of the people, he did not attack them. Immediately, he started healing, restoring the work of the temple.
When he “cursed” the fig tree, he unmasked it so everyone could see it for what it was. That revelation is powerful. It is how the anger of love restores sight, it does not break or divide.
The Withering of Illusion
Jesus reveals that the fig tree was already dead, while pretending to bear early fruit. This is the living death we live disconnected from the graces of nature, illumination, and forgiveness. The tree had roots, but they did not draw in the water from these sources.
This is the life that does not seek the rhythms of nature, the clear vision of the world as it is, and to live in right relationship with the cosmos. For a person, all they have to do is ask forgiveness and enter right relationship with life, no longer pretending they are something other than what they are. Like the fig tree, they are not corrupt by nature, but deceptive and hypocritical in action. Actions can change. Lives can change.
The fig tree is not a story about moral failing, but pretense and illusion. When someone realizes they are living cut off from life, isolated and alienated from the relationships that could bring them fully to life, they can see the path back to life.
Restore what was damaged. Make amends for the lies that were told. Enter into right relationship with God, neighbor, and each other. That right relationship is the love that cares for and takes care of one another called compassion.
The Return to Fruitfulness
It is important for us to seek out those places in our lives where we are all leaves and no fruit. Where are we pretending to be something other than ourselves. Right relationship requires honesty on all sides. We have to be honest with ourselves and with others. That honesty might be costly, but living a life with integrity is worth it.
Through teshuvah we turn and walk back to the path we are called to walk, not the path others put before us. Our path may be parallel to others, but it is our path not theirs. Do not pretend to be something other than you are to have favor in the sight of others. Our diversity is our strength. Refusal to accept it is our weakness.
Grace can always find a way. Hope is always ours to pick up. It is the harder path to bear fruit, but it is the path worth taking.