Mark 11:13 — Community Reflections

MARK 11:13 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.”

Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs — the apparent problem: it was not the season for figs, yet Jesus cursed it for having no figs. The resolution: Palestinian fig trees normally produce small pre-figs (taqsh) before the main crop, appearing with or before the leaves in spring. A tree in full leaf but without pre-figs signals it will produce no crop that year. The leaves without fruit is the sign of the fruitless appearance without substance.

Church Fathers on Mark 11:13

As the time of His Passion approached, the Lord wished to approach to the place of His Passion, in order to intimate that He underwent death of His own accord: wherefore it is said, 'And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple.' And by His going to the temple on first entering the city, He shews us beforehand a form of religion, which we are to follow, that if by chance we enter a place, where there is a house of prayer, we should first turn aside to it.
Bede · 8th century

Wishing to shew His disciples that if He chose He could in a moment exterminate those who were about to crucify Him. In a mystical sense, however, the Lord entered into the temple, but came out of it again, to shew that He left it desolate, and open to the spoiler.
Theophylact · 11th century

He went in the morning to the Jews, and visits us in the eventide of the world.
Pseudo-Jerome · 5th century

Read all 5 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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