thought of the day.55

One of the many ethically disturbing stories in the New Testament concerns a hungry Jesus going in search of figs to eat.

Matthew’s account has Jesus cursing a tree which the disciples see whither immediately while Mark’s account has the disciples learning of the tree’s death the following day. These contradicting stories alone would cause the witness’ testimony to be thrown out in a court of law, but my focus here is on the unethical and absurd aspects of the story. To simplify, we’ll just look at the story found in Matthew. (Mt 21:18-22)

“Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Problem 1: “Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.”
Even common people knew that it was not fig season. Jesus shows his ignorance by bothering to go up to it and examine it. If he was an all-knowing God he would have already known the tree was figless.

Problem 2: “Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ Immediately the tree withered.”
Is it reasonable to kill something because it fails to meet one’s expectations? This is the behavior one might expect from a spoiled child not a reasonable man and certainly not from a supposed God. By killing the tree he destroyed an entire ecosystem that lived within its roots, branches and leaves. What of the small animals and birds that relied on it for shelter and food? What of the humans that did the same? Why curse and destroy rather than bless and make fruitful? Any reasonable person with such powers would have used them to nourish and enhance life not destroy it.

Problem 3: “When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. ‘How did the fig tree wither so quickly?’ they asked.”
This makes no sense. According to the bible his disciples had heard Jesus tell a man he would find tax money in the mouth of the first fish he caught. They had watched him feed 4,000 people with only a few fish and loaves of bread. They had seen him make the lame walk and the blind see. Instead of being “amazed” at the death of a tree cursed by their Miracle Worker they should have expected it.

Problem 4: “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. ”
No tree-hugger was Jesus who tells believers that they they too can destroy fig trees just like him! Jesus then makes the absurd claim that his followers can command mountains to throw themselves in the sea. Believers might argue that this must be understood as figurative speech. But why? If the destroying of the fig tree was a literal event and Jesus said believers could literally do the same why switch to speaking figuratively in mid sentence? More nonsense.

Problem 5: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Every honest person will readily admit that this simply isn’t true. Not only will believers not get “whatever” they ask for, they seldom get anything, and what may appear to be answered prayers can always be explained as coincidence.

In conclusion, the cursing of the fig tree shows Jesus to be more a dolt than deity, more an irrational child than man of reason, and more a spewer of hot air and absurd promises than sage.