What Has Jesus Got Against Fig Trees?

[Michie]

Did Jesus have a grudge against fig trees? Was He clueless about horticultural seasons? Or might there be more going on than meets the eye?

The story of Jesus cursing the fig tree is famous for its strangeness. It’s one of those Gospel passages that homilists dread, and for many Christians the whole episode is nothing short of baffling. Famously, the 20th century atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell regarded the cursing of the fig tree as evidence that Jesus was less intelligent than Socrates or Buddha. (An inference which itself raises the question as to whether Bertrand Russell was more intelligent than a fig tree.)

Certainly we can concede that the story of the fig tree appears confusing on the surface. But if we resist the temptation to engage in lazy forms of exegesis, pretty quickly the story begins to make a whole lot more sense—just as soon as we start appreciating the symbolic nature of what Jesus is doing.

Continued below.

What Has Jesus Got Against Fig Trees?

Did Jesus have a grudge against fig trees? Was He clueless about horticultural seasons? Or might there be more going on than meets the eye? The story of Jesus cursing the fig tree is famous for its strangeness. It’s one of those Gospel passages that homilists dread, and for many Christians the w

stpaulcenter.com

 

[Bob Crowley]

From the armchair perspective of a modern Westerner reading the fig tree episode 2000 years later, the whole thing almost appears to be an odd afterthought.

But the disciples would have witnessed Christ's furious outburst in the temple, and His attitude to the Jewish religious order in general.

His cursing the fig tree beforehand and its sudden death and deterioration right down to the roots would have been a powerful symbol to them, a presage of things to come for Israel.

The people who saw it all thought it was significant enough to include it in two Gospels.

 

[FaithT]

partially off topic: I’m still baffled about the Scripture that says the mustard sead is the smallest seed when it isn’t.

 

[Michie]

partially off topic: I’m still baffled about the Scripture that says the mustard sead is the smallest seed when it isn’t.

But that was not the point. Mustard can be invasive and take over huge plots of land. That was the point. It’s a parable using things known to the people at the time.

 

[Michie]

*Permission to post in full*

CHALLENGE
“Scripture is inaccurate when it says the mustard seed is the smallest seed. It is larger than a poppy seed, for example. Also, it does not grow into a tree.”

DEFENSE
This objection presses the text beyond its intended limits.

Jesus tells this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mus- tard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matt. 13:31–32; cf. Mark 4:30–32, Luke 13:18–19).

The cultivated mustard plant of this parable (brassica nigra, or black mustard) is native to the Middle East. Though there are plants with smaller seeds, it is disputed whether first-century Jews cultivated any. “No one yet has proved that ancient Palestinians planted anything that bore a smaller seed than that of the black mustard, and that was the framework within which Jesus was speaking” (Gleason Archer, New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, 329).

If Jesus was speaking of plants commonly cultivated at the time— if that was his universe of discourse—he was not referring to other plants. However, if his universe of discourse was broader, it would be natural to understand him as using hyperbole. In ancient literature, the mustard seed was proverbial for its smallness (cf. Mishnah Tohorot 8:8H, Niddah 5:2D), and Jesus would have been drawing on this mode of speech without implying there was literally nothing smaller.

Regarding the size to which the mustard plant grows, the parable notes it is a “shrub” (Greek, lachanōn, “herb, vegetable, garden plant”), and thus not literally at tree. It does, however, grow to a prodigious size. The Encyclopedia of Life notes that, “The black mustard plant grows up to 2 m (a little over 6 ft), with many branches” (s.v. Brassica nigra; online at eol.org).

Fundamentally, Jesus is not making a point about botany. He is us- ing the growth of mustard as an analogy of how the kingdom of God will grow from his small band of followers to a worldwide commu- nion. To try to get precise, literal statements about botany from the parable presses the text beyond its intended limits.

Mustard Seeds

DAY 156 CHALLENGE “Scripture is inaccurate when it says the mustard seed is the smallest seed. It is larger than a poppy seed, for example. Also, it doe...

www.catholic.com

 

[Gregory Thompson]

*Permission to post in full*

CHALLENGE
“Scripture is inaccurate when it says the mustard seed is the smallest seed. It is larger than a poppy seed, for example. Also, it does not grow into a tree.”

DEFENSE
This objection presses the text beyond its intended limits.

Jesus tells this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mus- tard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matt. 13:31–32; cf. Mark 4:30–32, Luke 13:18–19).

The cultivated mustard plant of this parable (brassica nigra, or black mustard) is native to the Middle East. Though there are plants with smaller seeds, it is disputed whether first-century Jews cultivated any. “No one yet has proved that ancient Palestinians planted anything that bore a smaller seed than that of the black mustard, and that was the framework within which Jesus was speaking” (Gleason Archer, New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, 329).

If Jesus was speaking of plants commonly cultivated at the time— if that was his universe of discourse—he was not referring to other plants. However, if his universe of discourse was broader, it would be natural to understand him as using hyperbole. In ancient literature, the mustard seed was proverbial for its smallness (cf. Mishnah Tohorot 8:8H, Niddah 5:2D), and Jesus would have been drawing on this mode of speech without implying there was literally nothing smaller.

Regarding the size to which the mustard plant grows, the parable notes it is a “shrub” (Greek, lachanōn, “herb, vegetable, garden plant”), and thus not literally at tree. It does, however, grow to a prodigious size. The Encyclopedia of Life notes that, “The black mustard plant grows up to 2 m (a little over 6 ft), with many branches” (s.v. Brassica nigra; online at eol.org).

Fundamentally, Jesus is not making a point about botany. He is us- ing the growth of mustard as an analogy of how the kingdom of God will grow from his small band of followers to a worldwide commu- nion. To try to get precise, literal statements about botany from the parable presses the text beyond its intended limits.

Mustard Seeds

DAY 156 CHALLENGE “Scripture is inaccurate when it says the mustard seed is the smallest seed. It is larger than a poppy seed, for example. Also, it doe...

www.catholic.com

That makes sense, kind of how a mouflon "sheep" looks like a goat.