Discussion on the parable of the fig tree

1. When we see a flowering tree or a fast-flowing spring, we not only turn our gaze to them, but also direct our attention to them, as if transporting our thoughts to these very objects. In the same way, a story about deeds and events sometimes captures our attention so much that we are carried away in thought to the scene of the story, remaining with our body in the same place. The same thing happened to me now, beloved. Having listened to the evangelist’s story about what happened in Bethany with the fig tree, my body is here, but with my imagination I imagine myself there; So I mentally follow the Lord Jesus and see a fig tree, I see it before the Lord’s command - blooming and green, and after the Lord’s command - withered and dull. “In the morning,” says the evangelist, “returning to the city, he became hungry; and seeing a fig tree on the road, he approached it and, finding nothing on it except some leaves, said to it: Let there be no more fruit from you forever. And the fig tree immediately withered” (Matthew 21:18-19). This is what was just read to us. This miracle amazes me; my thoughts run wild. Every time I want to depict this event in words, immediately after the story this miracle appears before me. Imagine a person who saw a golden vessel filled with precious stones, and on these stones there were inscriptions of mysterious content; his attention, on the one hand, is attracted by the vessel itself with its elegant appearance, and on the other hand, by the stones lying in the vessel; he is in a hurry to see the beauty of the stones and read the mysterious inscriptions. I find myself in exactly the same position; on the one hand, this event itself, as it is recorded in the gospel, attracts my attention with its brilliance and beauty, and on the other hand, its spiritual meaning attracts me, promising even more wonderful things. “And in the morning,” he says, “returning to the city, Jesus became hungry.” O inexplicable and inexpressible mystery! The Nourisher of the universe became hungry; He who fed five thousand with five loaves was hungry; He who created living eyes out of clay was hungry; He who walked on the waves of the sea with dry feet was hungry; He became hungry, Who with one thought turned water into wine; He hungered, Who plucked souls from bodies and again with His word returned them to bodies! But as Isaiah says: “The eternal Lord God... does not grow weary or faint” (Is. 40:28). And that Christ is God is obvious to anyone who has any faith in the words of Scripture: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). How, then, did God become hungry? The image of the slave was hungry, and the Sovereign will nourished the five thousand. A visible man approached the fig tree, but the imaginable deity in him was everywhere. A man saw the fruitlessness of the fig tree and dried it up with the word of God. He said: “Let there be no fruit from you forever,” and action followed the word, and the fig tree immediately withered (Matt. 21:19). The word is human, but the work is divine. In general, this event with the fig tree raises many questions in our minds regarding its internal meaning; and it seems to me that from this particular point of view it was interpreted by many not entirely thoroughly. However, I will show you both the views of our predecessors on this subject and what was the fruit of our own efforts. In fact, the meaning of this event, if we adhere to the letter of the story, is difficult to resolve, and the mystery shining through in it is deeply hidden. First of all, why was it necessary to dry up the fig tree with a word, and not make it fruitful with the same word? After all, whoever dried it up with a word could make it fruitful with a word. Then, what was the fault of the fig tree, someone will say, if it was not the time for it to bear fruit, according to the Evangelist Mark (Mark 11:13), since it was winter then? And if what the Lord did on the fig tree does not contain a mysterious meaning, then it must turn out that this deed, on the one hand, deserves praise, and on the other, can be blamed. We should praise the Lord for this, because He dried her up with one word, but we can also reproach her for cursing her unjustly. Then we must think, beloved, what the fig tree was a symbol of, because Christ did nothing that did not have a mysterious meaning. There is not one of His works that is not very useful; there is not a single one who does not loudly testify to the truth; There is not a single one that does not move the mind towards the perception of the heavenly. So regarding this fig tree, many said that it was like a synagogue, to which, they say, the Lord came, looking for the fruit of faith from it, and did not find it - only with the teachings of the prophets and the law it was decorated as if with leaves - therefore He dried it up, saying: “Let there be no fruit from you forever.” But I am trying to challenge this interpretation because his point is not entirely sound. Indeed, how could the Lord curse, who said: “Bless... and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14) How could He even curse and dry up the synagogue, when He says: “The Son of Man came not to destroy the souls of men, but to save” (Luke 9:56, 19:10)? If anyone else wants to contradict and dispute my words, claiming that the fig tree has an undoubted resemblance to the Jewish synagogue, then let him explain how the synagogue, dried up to the very root, produced such a fruitful branch as the sweetest Paul? And we know many others who turned to Christ from this very synagogue: after all, Stephen, whom the Jews stoned, was from this synagogue, and Aquila and Priscilla, and many others, whose names we currently refuse to list due to their large number. That God did not completely reject the Jewish people, let Apostle Paul confirm my words: “So, I ask: has God really rejected His people? No way. For I also am an Israelite, from the seed of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people” (Rom. 11:1–2). And the apostle even promises salvation to this people in the last days, saying: when “the full number of the Gentiles has come in,” then “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25–26). After all, if the Jews became enemies of God, they became enemies for our sake, so that through their disobedience we would receive mercy, as Paul testifies, saying: “In relation to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; and in relation to election, beloved of God for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:28–29). So, beloved, we have yet to determine about the fig tree what it is a type of. Now, if you, Adam, had remembered which tree’s leaves served you to make clothes when you found yourself naked in paradise, then you would have seen how justly God dried up the fig tree: weren’t you taking its leaves then in order to cover up your shame? And then Christ came and withered the fig tree that was still flourishing on you - the cover of shame - with a word; He took your poverty and gave you wealth; He took from you the covering of your shame and gave you a snow-white robe, woven from water and spirit; He withered the leaves of the fig tree and returned to you the robe of your soul that you had lost. What is the lost garment? Everything that the serpent stole from you in paradise: life equal to the angels, heavenly pleasure, the clothing of immortality. 2. But let's return to the beginning of the story. “And in the morning,” says the evangelist, “Jesus, returning to the city, became hungry.” In the morning - after the night of error had passed and Christ - the morning - the light of resurrection shone to the world; after all, Christ is the morning, according to the prophet: “as the dawn is His appearing” (Hos. 6:3). “In the morning, returning to the city.” In the morning - after the darkness of death was destroyed by the light of the glory of Christ and the golden rays of the Sun of righteousness penetrated into the hearts of darkened people; in the morning - after the warm rays of the Divine spread everywhere and warmed the souls killed by the devil - because “nothing is hidden from his warmth” (Ps. 18:7). With the intense cold of sin, the devil killed the hearts of people, which is why the prophet prays with these words: “melt my insides and my heart” (Ps. 25:2). All humanity was shackled in the cold of wickedness. Therefore, all the prophets unanimously prayed to God, saying: “Bring back, O Lord, our captives like streams at noonday” (Ps. 125:4), i.e., just as the warm southern wind, smelling, returns frozen water to its previous normal state, so let the warm southern wind, with its blowing, renew us, killed by sin from the devil, in the previous state of incorruptibility. This warm breeze from the south is also called upon by the bride of Christ, the Church, in the Song of Songs, saying: “A wind will rise from the north and come from the south, blow upon my garden, and its fragrances will flow!” ( Song 4:16 ). “In the morning,” says the evangelist, “returning.” It is well said “returning” to show that Adam, removed from paradise, is again returned by our Lord to the same place. “And in the morning,” Jesus, “returning to the city, was hungry.” When mentioning the city, do not look down, but look to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the heavenly country. “But our residence is in heaven” ( Phil. 3:20) “And in the morning,” Jesus, “returning to the city, was hungry”: He did not desire human food, but human life: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 4:34), so that people may believe in Him whom He sent, because “whoever... believes” in Him “will never die” (John. 11:26). “And in the morning, returning to the city, he became hungry; and seeing a fig tree along the road, he approached it.” After all, if he had passed by the fig tree, then the devil would have had an eternal home in it; but He came to her and dried her up. The Lord saw Nathanael under such a fig tree: “Before Philip called you,” He said to him, “while you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:48). The prophet, foreseeing this fig tree, condemned to barrenness, said: “My coming will come to the people, because the fig tree did not bear fruit” (Hab. 3:16–17). Zacchaeus climbed up such a fig tree to see Jesus, and the Lord said to him: “Come down quickly” (Luke 19:5). [There the snake spreads its nets, there it nests, there it hides. “Get down quickly” from there]. The Evangelist, speaking about Zacchaeus, by the way named the fig tree to show that the wide and convenient path, combined with foolishness, leads to the worst fate. The Lord came to the fig tree. This fig tree was an image of a wide and convenient path: after all, the fig tree has broad leaves, and sin is deceiving because it leads to a wide and convenient path to destruction. The fruit of the fig tree is very pleasant; pleasant and pleasure, drawing those who indulge in it into sinful fall. Avoid its suggestion, beloved: it is sweet only when tasted, but in reality it turns out to be bitter. “For the mouth of another man’s wife drips honey, and her speech is sweeter than oil; but its consequences are bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Prov. 5:3–4). Pleasure acts like a harlot: it enters into a pleasant conversation with you, and during the conversation secretly sows the bitterness of death. Such was the serpent, sweet in words and bitter in deceit; the tasting was sweet, but the fall was bitter. So, beloved, avoid the harlot who speaks sweetly to you and inflicts bitter wounds; avoid pleasure like Elijah Jezebel. Behold, the Lord came from heaven; hungered to gain the life of people; a wide and convenient path of life opened before Him; He came to him and found him covered with leaves, i.e. he flourished in the doctrine of sin, but did not have the very fruit of death. Why? Since it was not the time, as the evangelist explained: the fig tree had no fruit, “for the time was not yet” (Mark 11:13). Indeed, how could it bear fruit in death when Jesus came and preached the resurrection to the world? It was no longer time for it to bear fruit in death: “death reigned from Adam to Moses” (Rom. 5:14), i.e. before the law, - Scripture usually calls Moses, as, for example, in the gospel: “they have Moses and the prophets” (Luke 16:29). And the Lord said to her: no further, and “let there be no fruit from you forever,” i.e.: before My coming you bore fruit of death; Behold, I have come, this is the resurrection. With My coming, “let there be no fruit from you forevermore. And the fig tree immediately withered." And what was written was fulfilled: “Death was swallowed up in victory. Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory” (1 Cor. 15:54–55). In the words of the evangelist that the fig tree was covered with leaves, since it was winter at that time, there is a hint that sin flourished in the midst of that winter and bad weather that the devil brought upon all mankind. Before the coming of the Pacifier, the human race experienced all sorts of storms and bad weather, carried away into idolatry, bloodshed, debauchery and lust; Our Lord Jesus Christ, the peace of the world, by His coming destroyed the forces of the opposing winds that disturbed the bitter-salty sea of ​​this life, and pacified the foamy waves of pleasure. Having dried up the fig tree, He planted the blossoming faith of the cross, shining with life for everyone; the roots of this cross are planted in the earth, and the branches are stretched to heaven; its leaves do not wither, its color does not fall off and its fruit is immortal; David remembers this tree, saying: “And it will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither” (Ps. 1:3). About this tree, having seen with the prophetic eye that it would be prepared by the Jews for Christ, Jeremiah reproachfully proclaimed to them: “Let us put the poisonous tree for his food and tear it away from the land of the living” (Jer. 11:19). The tree is the cross, the bread is the body of Christ. In fact, the Lord, taking the bread, said: “This is my body, which is broken for you.” (1 Cor. 11:24; Matt. 26:26). Having ascended this tree of the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ stretched out His arms and, driving away the forces flying in the air, made for us unhindered access to heaven, and in faith showed us the staircase leading from earth to heaven. It all seems incredible to you, beloved, doesn’t it? The tree of the cross stands, on it spreads the true vine, saying: “I am the true vine (John 15:1); for the devil this vine was deadly, but for us it was life-giving, protecting us from the heat of sins and providing us with a soothing shade. He who sits under her shadow repeats what Solomon said: “I love to sit in her shadow, and her fruit is sweet to my throat” (Song. 2:3). In this shadow, blessed David drew courage: “And in the shadow of Your wings I will hide until the troubles pass” (Ps. 57:2). Oh, a wonderful thing and an extraordinary mystery! The source lay on the tree and watered the cross; pierced by a spear into His side, He shed blood and water, clothing the cross with His blood as if it were purple, and watering its roots with water, so that immortal fruits would always vegetate on it for the faithful. O blessed tree, which kings honor and rulers please! In you, both men and wives, and every creature and human nature have an instrument of preservation and salvation, demons tremble and the devil fears you, angels sing and the powers of heaven bless, and churches honor Christ crucified on you, to whom be glory and dominion, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. You might be interested in: