Understanding Jesus’ Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mark 11:12-21)

Understanding Jesus’ Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mark 11:12-21)

This paper attempts to understand the Markan version of Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11:12-21), which, unlike its Matthean counterpart (Matt 21:18-22), frames the temple cleansing story (Mark 11:15-19). In reading Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree, the study values the final form of the story and seeks to explain the enigmatic Markan commentary, “for it was not the season for figs” (11:13d). The study first surveys previous interpretations, which understand the story as one of a miracle of nature, a transformed parable, an etiological legend, a chronologically misplaced pericope, one colored with a messianic expectation, and one of a symbolic act. The paper then argues that Jesus’ cursing was a symbolic act for the cleansing of the temple event (vv. 15-19). The meaning of the fig tree and that of Jesus’ cursing can be illumined in the light of the cleansing pericope. When read with the cleansing pericope, Jesus’ cursing is understood to be an acted prophecy for his rejection of the temple leadership rather than of the temple, the people, or Judaism. The difficult clause, “for it was not the season for figs” (11:13d), adds an eschatological tone to the narrative. The nuanced meaning is that the destruction of the temple leadership is hastened.

This paper attempts to understand the Markan version of Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree (Mark 11:12-21), which, unlike its Matthean counterpart (Matt 21:18-22), frames the temple cleansing story (Mark 11:15-19). In reading Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree, the study values the final form of the story and seeks to explain the enigmatic Markan commentary, “for it was not the season for figs” (11:13d). The study first surveys previous interpretations, which understand the story as one of a miracle of nature, a transformed parable, an etiological legend, a chronologically misplaced pericope, one colored with a messianic expectation, and one of a symbolic act. The paper then argues that Jesus’ cursing was a symbolic act for the cleansing of the temple event (vv. 15-19). The meaning of the fig tree and that of Jesus’ cursing can be illumined in the light of the cleansing pericope. When read with the cleansing pericope, Jesus’ cursing is understood to be an acted prophecy for his rejection of the temple leadership rather than of the temple, the people, or Judaism. The difficult clause, “for it was not the season for figs” (11:13d), adds an eschatological tone to the narrative. The nuanced meaning is that the destruction of the temple leadership is hastened.