NOTES for Mar 11:12

The gospel narrative-parable about the withered fig tree begins by mentioning that Jesus, having left Bethany, felt hungry. There is of course nothing surprising in this: human nature is human nature, and it makes its demands. But in the Messiah's life everything was not so simple, even if we speak of His earthly path. The God-man possesses His human nature absolutely; for Him in principle there is no situation in which He yields to His human nature out of weakness.

Hunger and thirst in this case are not a forced necessity, but the consequence of a conscious choice. Approaching the fig tree, Jesus offers it the chance to satisfy His hunger. At first glance this may seem strange. But He Himself said that any participation in His life makes the participant part of the Kingdom He brought into the world. If this is true of people, one may think it is true of all the rest of creation as well. Of course, participation will differ in each case, but this does not change the essence of the matter.

For the fig tree to give its fruit to the Messiah is the same chance to participate in the life of the Kingdom as it is for a person to receive the Messiah in his house. Of course, a tree is not a human being; it cannot understand the situation humanly or make a human choice or decision. A tree is limited by the natural laws God established for it. But sometimes these laws can work differently. For example, when the Kingdom is near. And they may not work differently; this depends on many causes. But if they do not work differently, then the Kingdom passes by, with all the consequences that follow.