Have you ever been so hungry that you felt sick to your stomach? I imagine that was the kind of hunger Jesus was feeling in Matthew 21:17-18. Jesus mouth watered when he saw a fig tree full of leaves. But arriving at its base he found it barren. “You will never grow fruit again,” he said, irritated.
Mark tells us Jesus cursed the fig tree on their way into Jerusalem, it was on their way the next morning that the disciples noticed the fig tree was withered (Mark 11:20). What happened between Jesus cursing the tree and the disciples seeing it withered is important to understanding the curse.
First, Jesus cursed the tree. Second he went into the temple and drove out the marketers. Third the disciples saw the tree was withered. The cursing of the tree reflects the deadness of the Jewish worship at the time. They had the trappings of worship, but the leaders were far from God - The fig tree had leaves but no fruit. When Jesus said the tree would never again produce fruit, he was also declaring the fruitlessness of any further sacrificing of animals.
Jesus would be the only source of bearing spiritual fruit from that point forward.
