Tuesday, Withered Fig Tree

The next morning, as Jesus and His disciples were traveling back to Jerusalem, they passed the fig tree that Jesus had cursed. The disciples saw that the tree had withered from its roots, and they marveled.

Peter spoke up, saying, “Look, Rabbi (Teacher)! The fig tree You cursed has withered.”

And the other disciples added, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

“Have faith in God,” Jesus said to them. “Truly I tell you that if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and have no doubt in your heart but believe that it will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”

See Matthew 21:19‭b-‬22; Mark 11:20‭-‬26

Notes:

1. “The next morning…”: The Gospel of Matthew records that the disciples confirmed that the fig tree withered immediately after Jesus cursed it, but the Gospel of Mark records that Jesus and His disciples encountered the withered fig tree the following day. The story presented here follows the Gospel of Mark. But, because of the flow of the story in each Gospel, the result is that the disciples confirmed the withering on Tuesday morning in both Gospels.

2. “...so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”: For the Gospel of Mark, two of the sources—the Byzantine text-type (BYZ) and Textus Receptus (TR)—record the follow-on statement: “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” This statement is similar to Matthew 6:15.