Some mornings we feel like that fig tree — full of leaves (activity, religion, good intentions) but hollow where it matters most. That image pricks a hope and a fear inside us: we want to be useful, fruitful, remembered, but we also dread the judgment of being found empty. What would it cost to be honest with God about the places we’ve been all leaves and no fruit?

In Matthew 21:18–22 (also in Mark 11:19–23, with Mark placing the events across two days), Jesus, hungry, comes to a leafy fig tree that has no fruit and pronounces that it will never bear fruit; the tree withers. The disciples are amazed and Jesus uses the moment to teach about faith, prayer, and forgiveness. Matthew includes the teaching about prayer’s power; Mark gives more of the day-by-day scene where the disciples notice the tree the next morning. (Note: the reference to Matthew 11:11–14 is a different passage about John the Baptist and is not part of the fig-tree episode; Luke and John do not record this particular event, though Luke has a separate parable about a barren fig tree.)

This episode is not merely horticulture — it’s theology. Jesus’ action is symbolic: God cares about fruit — not religious show, but lives that display mercy, justice, and faith. At the same time, Jesus invites a different response than despair: he teaches that faith, prayer, and the practice of forgiving make way for God’s power to act. The moment is heavy — a sign of impending judgment on unfruitfulness — and hopeful: faith can move mountains and prayer changes outcomes. Don’t miss both sides: God is serious about transformed lives, and God equips us for that transformation.

Practical, today: choose one small, tangible place where God wants fruit — a relationship, a habit, a workplace witness. Pray specifically for faith to act (“Lord, give me faith to…”), then do one concrete thing: forgive a person in your heart, make a phone call to help someone, spend ten minutes reading Scripture and asking what fruit it calls for. Repeat daily. Let gentle confession meet determined action, trusting that the same Jesus who warned the fig tree also invites and empowers our growth.