Why do Roman Catholics think Jesus cursed the fig tree?

Of course, anyone can answer. I am looking for Catholic opinions, though.

Why do Roman Catholics think Jesus cursed the fig tree?
My understanding of the incident, given the significance of the fig tree in the cultures of that era plus the proximity in time to the cleansing of the temple, is that the cursing of the fig tree was a rather explicitly meaningful pronouncement against those who should have borne fruit by accepting their Messiah but instead rejected him. But I could be wrong. It's an interesting and also troublesome passage, I'm sure there are other aspects of it I'm not considering.



By the way, you'd have a lot more Catholic opinions if you didn't have so many Catholics blocked ... just a thought.
Reply:Because it is in the bible.
Reply:all that fiber...gave rise to the term "holy crap!"
Reply:Matthew 21:18-22

Mark 11:12-14, 19-25

Luke 13:6-9
Reply:Because it gave him the craps.
Reply:He was hacked off because he went by it twice and couldn't get anything to eat. Good thing it wasn't a Wendy's
Reply:There is nothing that is part of the Catholic faith that relates to the cursing of the fig tree.

Just so you know that.



Now, what are some interpretations.



Regarding Matthew 21:19 St. Thomas Aquinas cites several saints and doctors of the Church for interpretation. But before I provide their correct analysis of this challenging scripture passage, let me share my initial thoughts and then check for correctness.



In Matthew 21, Christ is entering Jerusalem. Our Lord, while riding upon an ***, is greeted by many followers who possess the faith. They place palms upon the ground or spread their garments for Him to travel upon. The faithful people cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David… .” Those in Jerusalem wonder, “Who is this?” And Jesus proceeds into the temple to cast out rabble selling and the like. He says, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” The next morning He is hungry and sees the fig tree in question. It is on the wayside, a wild fig tree outside the temple; it has no fruit and He curses the fig tree, “May no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.” Next, Our Lord instructs the apostles on faith and belief. He concludes with the parable of the Husbandmen and the householder.



Therefore, I see only one central meaning of the fig tree, and that is that the Jews are cursed for their faithlessness and unbelief. Christ curses the fig tree for not producing fruit just as He curses the Jews for not producing fruit after 3 years of teaching. They loose the promise. The vineyard, like Noah’s ark is symbolic of the Church; the fig tree in the wild unlike the fig trees in the vineyard are outside the church and cannot be cared for and cannot elicit “good fruit”.



Fr. Fonck agrees and says of the cursed fig tree, “Our Divine Saviour by the symbolic cursing of the fig-tree before the Jerusalem gate would make known the sad results of the impenitence of Israel, which must necessarily draw down the curse of God’s avenging justice.”



Back to the sources of St. Thomas Aquinas:



1. St. Hillary, “But now when He would exhibit a type of his judgements on the rebellious, He represents the future by the destruction of a tree- Let no fruit grow on the tree henceforward forever.”



2. St. Chrysostom, “This was only a supposition of the disciples that it was cursed because it had no fruit; for another Evangelist says that it was not yet the season. Why then was it cursed? For the disciples sake, that they might learn that He had power to wither up those who crucified Him...”



3. St. Jerome, “The tree which He saw by the wayside we understand as the synagogue, which was nigh to the way inasmuch as it had the Law, but yet believed not on the way, that is, on Christ.”





4. Pseudo- Chrysotom, “Also the fig in respect of the multitude of seeds under one skin is as it were an assembly of the fruitful. But, He finds nothing on it but leaves only, that is, pharisaical traditions, an outward show of the law without the fruits of truth.”



5. Origen, “…and because this plant was figuratively a living creature, having a soul, He speaks to it as though it heard. Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. Therefore is the Jewish synagogue barren, and shall continue so until the end of the world, when the multitude of the gentiles shall come in, and the fig tree withered while Christ was yet sojourning in this life, and the disciples seeing by their spiritual discernment the mystery of the withered faith, wondered, and having faith, and not doubting they bare it, and so it withers when their life-giving virtue passes to the gentiles, and by each one who is brought to the faith, that mountain, Satan, is lifted up and cast into the sea, that is, into the abyss.”



An additional source:

6. The Life of Christ by Father Giuseppe Ricciotti-1952, pg. 292:

“If we were to judge the tree as we would a reasonable person, we should have to say it was not guilty for having no fruit in that season. Jesus was, in reality, seeking what was not to be found in the normal course of things. Nevertheless He cursed the tree saying; may no one ever eat fruit of thee henceforward forever!”



“All these considerations indicate that Jesus' act was intended to be symbolic. The crux of the symbol lay in the contrast between the abundance of useless foliage and the lack of useful fruit. Those who, like the Apostles present, knowing the nature of Jesus' ministry and having listened to His discussions with the Pharisees and His invectives against their hypocrisy, would have had no trouble understanding this reference. The true culprit was the chosen people Israel, then luxuriant with PHARISAIC foliage but for a long time now obstinately void of moral fruit, and hence meriting the curse of eternal barrenness.”

Mary, Mother of the Church, Pray for Us.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Pray for Us.
Reply:Jesus often insisted that trees which do not bear good fruit will be cut down (Matthew 7:19; Luke 13:6-9). The fig tree did not bear fruit, was useless, and deserved to be destroyed: the spiritual application being that any human who does not bear fruit for God will also be destroyed for his or her failure to produce.



Jesus did not throw a temper tantrum and curse the fig tree even though it was incapable of producing fruit. He cursed the tree because it should have been growing fruit since it had the outward signs of productivity. Jesus’ calculated timing underscored the spiritual truth that barren spiritual trees eventually run out of time. As for personal application, we should all diligently strive to ensure that we are not the barren fig tree.

gert