Tuesday of Holy Week: All Leaves, No Figs

¹⁸ In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (Matthew 21:18-19, ESV)

The Tuesday before Jesus was crucified is known by two names. One is Holy Tuesday, which makes sense, given that it’s the Tuesday of Holy Week. But the other is Fig Tuesday, because of the way the day started. In Matthew 21, we read that Jesus and His disciples were returning to the city that morning. Jesus was hungry. He saw a fig tree and thought He might grab a quick bite to eat. But when He came closer, He saw it was all leaf and no figs. So He cursed it. “Never bear fruit again!” He said, and it withered at once (see Matt. 21:18-20).

The rest of the chapter is all about Jesus teaching the chief priests and the elders of Israel—two groups of people that should have been bearing fruit. They should have been feeding the people with truth from God’s Word. Instead, they too were all leaf and no figs.

In Matthew 21:23-32, they questioned Jesus about what authority he had. They seemed to be justifying the lack of fruit in their lives by asking, “Why should we listen to you anyway?”

Jesus responds with a story about a man with two sons whom he asked to work in his vineyard. One son said he would but didn’t. The other one said He wouldn’t but did. Jesus asked them, “Which did the will of his father?” In other words, which one bore fruit, and which one was just leaves? The chief priests were forced to admit that it doesn’t matter what you promise to do for God, but what you actually do that matters. The religious leaders said the right things, but they weren’t bearing fruit.

Then, Jesus told a story about workers in a vineyard to whom the master lent his vineyard in exchange for his share of the produce (see Matt. 21:33-43). At harvest time, the master sent two groups of servants to collect the fruit from the tenants. These they beat, stoned, and killed. Finally, the master sent his own son, and the tenants dragged him outside the walls of the city and killed him.

Not only did they not bear fruit, but they killed the One who had the right to expect it.

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. (Matthew 21:45 (ESV)

At the end of the day, the chief priests and the religious leaders realized Jesus had been talking about them the whole time. They were the ones who had promised to take care of the vineyard and didn’t. Their excuse for their disobedience was to question what right Jesus had to tell them what to do anyway.

In three short days, they would be the ones who would drag the Son of the Master outside the walls of the vineyard (Jerusalem) and put Him to death.

At least the religious leaders had the self-awareness to realize Jesus was talking about them. I wonder if we do. Are we bearing fruit, or are we questioning whether He has the right to expect it? Do we make promises to Jesus that we never keep?

Go back to the withered fig tree. Jesus came looking for figs, but found only leaves.

What does He find when He looks at your life?