Missing Fruit One week before His death, Jesus cursed a fruitless fig tree to illustrate what was going to happen to the Jewish nation and the apostate church. Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. We need to examine this story closely, because it is the only place in the Gospels where Jesus is credited with being directly responsible for killing something.
Fig trees are unique in that both mature leaves and ripe fruit appear at the same time.
The tree Jesus cursed had all the outward signs of bearing fruit, yet the tree was a hypocrite. It was a fitting symbol of the Jewish nation. Remember that withered fig leaves are a reminder of man s failed attempts to cover his own sins. Notice the sequence. But all their works they do for to be seen of men.