Jeremiah 24

Good and Bad Figs [T]he Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Jeremiah 24:1b-2 Figs and dates are some of my favorite fruits. Dried out, they’re like candy. A few years ago in Israel, I tasted a fresh, ripe fig for the first time, picked right from the tree. I excitedly looked for more afterward. Later we found several fig trees and picked a dozen or more figs and stored them in a […]

The Case of the Missing Figs

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. Matthew 21:18-19 Continuing to think about Holy Week, this is my thought to ponder for today: What’s the deal with Jesus cursing the fig tree? While he goes on to talk about faith, but I want to focus on the tree itself. Figs ripen during the summer. Why would […]