Faith without Fruit is Futile

A less retold story about Jesus is when he cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit. Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem riding a donkey. He visited the temple and drove off the merchants and money changers, accusing them of turning the house of prayer into a den of thieves. Then, he spent a night outside of the city.

The next morning, he returned to the city, and on his way, he felt hungry. He passed by a fig tree and looked for fruit to eat, but he found no fruit at all. He was more than disappointed. As we know, Jesus hates fruitlessness. The Bible says,

Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (Mt 21:19b).

This is an opposite version of a miracle. Jesus’ miracle usually restores health or life, but this is the reverse. It killed a life. The disciples were impressed to see the tree withered in front of their eyes and asked how it happened.

Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.” (Mt 21:21–22).

This brief moment with the fig tree precedes a profound teaching at the temple a moment later. There are three important messages revealed here.

First, Jesus hates fruitlessness. The fig tree was supposed to bear fruit according to its season. The fact that Jesus looked for its fruit means it was time for it to bear fruit. Jesus had told another parable about a fruitless fig tree in a vineyard, which the owner ordered the gardener to cut down for not bearing fruit.

The second important message is about Jesus’ authority. When he cursed the tree, it withered. It shows nature is under his authority. That is profound! That means He did not need to come to earth to save humanity. Since humans did not bear fruit as they were supposed to, he could just scrap the earth and start over, like he did with Noah’s time. But God promised Noah never to do it again.

Still, the crucial point here is that he had the authority to curse the world to death like that fig tree and recreate a new world. But he did not, keeping his promise to Noah, and now he came to save humanity through grace. Remember, we live and survive due to Jesus’ grace. He expects us to grace it forward, as we mentioned last week.

The third important message is that this authority has been given to the believers. He said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.” This is huge!

Most people interpret this passage as a matter of faith. When you put it in context, it’s not about empty faith but faith that bears fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Faith without fruit is futile. Jesus emphasized this point repeatedly on many occasions.

We can talk about faith all day, but if we don’t have fruit to prove it, we are just like that fig tree, which contributes nothing to society. Jesus’ brother James said, “Faith without work is dead.” He said,

“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (Jas 2:26).

He said faith without work is just like the body without the spirit—a zombie. Faith is futile without fruit.

Jesus nailed this point in this week’s scripture lesson. After studying this scripture lesson, you will never talk about faith without thinking about fruit. So, let’s begin!