Week 9: Matt 21:19-20

In Matthew 21:19-20, Christ comes to a fig tree that appeared to be producing well but then notices that there isn't actually any fruit on it. He then pronounces the first curse we have record of on the fig tree announcing that it will never grow fruit. The tree immediately withers and the the disciples are surprised at how quickly the tree died. I don't know how many times I had heard this story and just moved on without much thought. It isn't one of the most discussed stories from the New Testament so digging deeper into it was a new experience for me. My religion professor pointed out how easy it is for us to be like the fig tree. Many of us live by the phrase "fake it til you make it," and go about attending our church meetings and reading our scriptures but we aren't really bearing any fruit. We have to have a strong enough testimony, our root system, that we can grow and develop the leaves like this fig tree had but we also need to become strong enough to be able to support fruit. We need to make sure we are not just at church for appearances sake but that we are actually going out and doing good because of it.