Day 23: Spiritual Food in Quarantine

The Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mk 11:12-25)

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus was hungry and checked out if the fig tree He saw had fruit on it. It didn’t and Jesus cursed it. On the surface, it would seem like He had a temper tantrum and took it out on a poor tree whose only fault was not bear fruit out of season. Knowing that all His earthly life, Jesus went about doing good, building up and not tearing down, this episode would seem to be saying something other than that Jesus gives license to destruction and violence. If we understand that His mission is to destroy the works of the evil one, the real prime mover of destruction, we would realize Jesus was actually cursing the curse of famine and barrenness rather than His creation. He hates nothing He has created and is in the business of restoring, not destroying, of blessing, not cursing, to the point that He would even give His life to accomplish it. Which is what Holy Week is about.