Why did Jesus curse the fig tree was he just having a temper tantrum?

Question

Boo hoo, a tree doesn't give figs when it's not in season so I'm going to curse it.

Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.



When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. (Matthew 21:10-21)

So divine beings get pissed off when things don't go their way and they take it out on innocent things like trees? It's not the trees fault it couldn't bear figs in the wrong season... it wasn't free will that made it choose not to either.

Answer 1

JESUS REBUKED THE FIG AS AN EVIL ABOMINATION.
"Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he was hungry.
"And when he saw a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it, but leaves only, and said to it, Let no fruit grow on you henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
"And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon has the fig tree withered away!"
--Matthew 21:18-20
JESUS COMMANDED US NOT TO EAT OF THE CURSED FIG.
"The next day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry:
"And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find any thing on it: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
"And Jesus answered and said to it, No man eat fruit of you hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.
--Mark 11:12-14
EAT A FIG, GO TO HELL.
"He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet."
--Psalm 78:47
GOD PROMISES TERRIBLE VENGEANCE FOR FIG-EATERS.
"Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: "I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten."
--Jeremiah 29:17

Answer 2

He indicates why when he goes on to say: “Truly I say to you, If only you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what I did to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain [the Mount of Olives on which they are standing], ‘Be lifted up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And all the things you ask in prayer, having faith, you will receive.”
So by causing the tree to wither, Jesus is providing for his disciples an object lesson on their need to have faith in God. As he states: “All the things you pray and ask for have faith that you have practically received, and you will have them.” What an important lesson for them to learn, especially in view of the awesome tests that are soon to come! Yet, there is another connection between the withering of the fig tree and the quality of faith.
The nation of Israel, like this fig tree, has a deceptive appearance. Although the nation is in a covenant relationship with God and may outwardly appear to observe his regulations, it has proved to be without faith, barren of good fruitage. Because of lack of faith, it is even in the process of rejecting God’s own Son! Hence, by causing the unproductive fig tree to wither, Jesus is graphically demonstrating what the end result will be for this fruitless, faithless nation.

Answer 3

The barren fig tree represented Israel, God's chosen people, who failed to live up to their potential.

Instead of sharing their knowledge of the one, true God with the world, they kept it to themselves, refusing even to associate with Gentiles, turning ever more inward, and becoming steeped in their own corruption.

The apostles, who were Jews, asked for a "stay" of judgment for the fig tree, suggesting that a "season" of good nurturing and proper care would turn things around.

This "stay" symbolized the 40 years between Christ's death and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, where God gave the apostles time to "turn things around" for the Jews, by converting them to Christianity.

As Jesus predicted, the "fig tree" still failed to bear fruit, and was finally uprooted and burned.

In the year 70 AD the Jews were chased out of Jerusalem (uprooted) by the Romans, and the Temple was destroyed by fire.

All this happened exactly one biblical generation (season) after Christ's death.

For the most part, the Jews, to this very day, still refuse to accept Jesus Christ, and many Jews practice no religion at all.

A Muslim mosque, complete with a golden dome, stands on the old Temple site, today.

Answer 4

it's supposed to be a sign that if you don't follow his teachings and open yourself up to him you will end up damned like the fig tree. personally i think it's one of those things that was added in later to make jesus seem more intense and scare people into conversion.
most likely he was just hungry and pissed that there were no figs on the fig tree.

Answer 5

According to Christian belief, he could have made the fig tree bear fruit had he wanted to. This was a demonstration of his divinity.

Answer 6

They suitable this tale to an incredible saint in India, and asked why Jesus would have felt that this became needed, and he smiled and replied that only while one will become a real holy guy would there be an expertise of why Jesus did this. So i think of there would desire to be a hidden meaning that person-friendly scoffers thoroughly omit. i will reserve judgment on the movements of Jesus, because of fact that i'm no longer stepped forward a procedures sufficient to truly comprehend a holy guy.

Answer 7

He did it to teach us that our words are powerful and we should be careful who we curse. Words have that much power. Just think what speaking blessings would do to this world! Life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Answer 8

Give us the Chapter and the verse. Then we'll have a good explaination.

Answer 9

He was doing it to show that those that don't produce fruit will perish