Matthew 21:18-19

Now in the morning, as He (Jesus) returned to the City, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.”  Immediately the fig tree withered away.

Matthew 21:18-19

In the above verses, Jesus, hungry for breakfast, saw a fig tree covered with leaves. Fig trees are a little unusual because the appearance of the fruit will often come before the leaves. So when Jesus saw this fig tree covered with leaves, it should have had fruit as well. And when He went up to it, He found there was no fruit on the tree, so He zapped the thing. Jesus wasn’t angry with the tree. Instead He used this opportunity to teach the disciples and us a lesson about the importance of fruit.  

This was a lesson about a fruitless nation. But the truth is God also looks for fruit and wants to produce fruit in our own lives. How does this fruit grow in our lives?  In John 15:4, Jesus tells us, “Abide in Me and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.”  So the more we abide in Christ, the more fruit we will see in our lives. Let’s abide in Him!

Abiding in Christ,

Pastor Rich Kikuchi