Was Jesus Being Un-Jesus-Like to Curse a Tree?
Jesus doesn’t care about our gold cross necklaces and our “Jesus Saves” bumper stickers
It used to puzzle me that Jesus would curse a tree. According to the biblical account, he was hungry and spotted a fig tree in the distance. The tree was full of leaves, but when Jesus drew closer, he discovered it didn’t have any figs.
“When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.” (Mark 11:13, NIV)
Jesus did something then that seemed very un-Jesus-like. He cursed the tree. The next morning, he and his disciples passed that way again. They spotted the cursed tree, which caused Peter to exclaim in surprise,
“Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” (Mark 11:20, NIV)
I used to think the story depicted a side of Jesus that was vindictive and temperamental. His actions seemed out of character with the loving, compassionate Jesus I had learned about in church class.
Marshall Brain, an atheist, didn’t view the cursing in a favorable light, either. He wrote, “The son of God is hungry. He approaches a fig tree. The tree is out of season and has no fruit. Jesus wants fruit. So he kills the tree. What a total jerk! Why didn’t he wave his…
