Post-feast of Theophany. Martyr Polyeuctus (249-51).
James 3:1-10; Mark 11:11-23.
Read Mark 11:11-23
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
We read the account of the cursing of the fig tree from the Gospel of Mark which we also hear at Matins on Great and Holy Monday from the Gospel of Matthew. The takeaway from this story should not simply be that Jesus has the power to curse fig trees. Rather, we are reminded of the need for faithfulness and to “bear fruit.” When the disciples were astonished at seeing the withered fig tree, notice that Jesus’ immediate response to them was: “Have faith in God” (Mk. 11:22).
An account of Jesus cleansing the temple is sandwiched between the verses where Jesus curses the fig tree and the next day when they passed by the tree again. The placement of this story was not an accident. The money changers in the temple along with the chief priests and scribes who sought a way to kill Jesus are implicitly likened to the fig tree. On Holy Monday evening at Presanctified, the doxasticheron exhorts us: “O faithful, let us fear the punishment of the fig tree which was dried up for not having borne any fruit; let us offer worthy fruits of repentance to Christ, Who grants us His great mercy.” Of course, the point of the account of the cursing of the fig tree is not to teach us that “those money changers, chief priests, and scribes were bad.” Rather, we need to look within ourselves and ask whether we are producing fruits of our faith and repentance in our lives. If our answer is “no” or we come up with a list of excuses for ourselves, we need to be mindful of the fig tree. God desires our repentance and our faithfulness.