In the Case of the Cursed Fig Tree, It Was Not the Time of Figs So Why Did Jesus Curse It for No Fault of Its Own?
1) Direct Answer
Jesus did not act unjustly. The tree had leaves, and in that kind of fig, leaves advertise that early figs should be present. Though the general harvest “season” was not yet, that leafy tree promised fruit it did not have. He cursed it as a sign against empty profession—especially Israel’s—and as a lesson on faith and judgment.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- Mark 11:13 says He saw a fig tree “having leaves,” so He came “if haply he might find any thing thereon.” Leaves gave Him a right to expect something.
- The note “for the time of figs was not yet” speaks of the general season, but Scripture shows there are early figs before full harvest: “the first-ripe in the fig tree” (Hosea 9:10), “my soul desired the first ripe fruit” (Micah 7:1), and “the fig tree putteth forth her green figs” (Song of Solomon 2:13). So with leaves present, early fruit could rightly be sought.
- Matthew 21:19 shows immediate withering—swift judgment on fruitlessness.
- Luke 13:6–9: after repeated visits with no fruit, the barren fig tree is to be cut down—Jesus had come to Israel for years seeking fruit.
- Mark 11:15–17: right after cursing the tree, He cleansed the temple. A leafy tree with no figs and a busy temple with no prayer both show the same thing: show without substance.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- Now notice: leaves are a sign. If there are leaves, there should be something edible beginning—first figs. This tree raised an expectation it failed to meet. That’s the point.
- Jesus judged hypocrisy, not agriculture. He used His creation as a living parable: when God gives light and privilege, He looks for fruit. If there is only profession, judgment follows.
- You see, He then taught, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22–24). The withered tree became a sermon on the authority of spoken faith and the certainty of God’s Word against barrenness.
4) Reinforcing Statement
God will not accept leaves without figs. Privilege brings responsibility; where there is profession without fruit, His Word exposes it and judges it.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast, part 2
61-0217 §44
And Jesus said, in Matthew the 24th chapter, "Learn a parable." As I started on last night showing you, they asked Him three questions, and He answered their three questions. But when they wanted to know when the time of his return would be, He said, "When you see the fig tree putting forth its buds, and all the other trees, know that the time is nigh, even at the door." Now, the old hypocrite gets a hold of that, the old unbeliever, and says that generation passed, the other generations passed, and He lied. He did...
Questions and Answers, part 2
54-0103E §81
So the whole thing is this: We all come off of one tree. That's right. And we was all cursed through the fall of Eve. And we're all saved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen. There it is. So there's no curse. Accursed is them that does not believe, but blessed are those that do believe. So there's neither one, friends: the black or the colored man, or the white man or the yellow man. Then if the black man was cursed by being black, then the yellow man is just halfway cursed. And then the yellow man... An...
The anointed ones at the end time
65-0725M §34
Now, you can graft it in there, you see? Every grapefruit, lemon, tangelo, tangerine, whatever the citrus fruits they are, every one of them can live in that tree, but bearing false witness of the tree, living by the tree. You see it? They are living and thriving on the genuine life that's in that tree! Now, there's Matthew 24:24. Living by the same life, but they wasn't right at the beginning. They're bearing false witness of that tree! It's an orange tree! Yet it's a citrus tree. And they say, "This church, this...
The restoration of the Bride Tree
62-0422 §183
The Jews couldn't understand it. They said, "He's a fortune-teller, Beelzebub." Jesus said, "I forgive you. But sometime the Holy Ghost is coming and do the same thing; and you speak against that, it'll never be forgiven you." Now, "If I do not the works of My Father, don't believe Me"; but that fruit tree was bearing the fruit. Now watch. What did He say; What kind of a church did He set up? Now, you Catholics that want to say that Jesus set up a church, what kind of church did He set up? Did He ever mention a den...
Speak to this mountain
57-1215 §5
Now, over in the book of Saint Mark the 11th chapter, I wish to read the 20th verse. And just for a little way of getting a little context ... or, a little text for what I want to use as a context after a bit. I love to read the Word. Don't you love it? Oh, there's nothing like it, the precious Word of our blessed Saviour. You know the Scriptures is so perfect that they can never fail. Now the 11th chapter of Saint Mark and the 20th verse, just one little verse. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the f...