Matthew Part 2

So much goes on in the rest of the book of Matthew but in keeping with my Albanian Jesus theme, I want to focus on Matthew 21:18-22, where Jesus curses a fig tree.

Since coming to America, I have only had figs once in my almost 2 and a half years here. It was this summer at a friends house, they had figs and I got to enjoy the taste of figs again! It was not quite as good as the figs we used to eat in Albania, and they were much smaller, but figs they remained. It's not that we had figs often at my house, but I remember in our neighborhood when I was growing up, there was a fig tree about fifty yards from our house. It was a giant tree and from what I remember one of the biggest trees in the neighborhood. It had great branches and very distinct large green leaves.

If you cut one of the branches a white creamy fluid, the tree's sap, would ooze out. I remember being about 5 or 6 when my older brother very knowingly explained to me that if that sap got in your eye it would make you go blind. He ordered me to never look up while I walked under a fig tree in case it's sap would drip in my eye and make me go blind. As a dutiful younger brother I did so faithfully for years! I have no idea if it really makes you go blind or not, but whenever I read about fig trees in the Bible, I always picture these lush, huge big trees that were so fun to play in, but also my brother's stern warning to not look up.

It makes me wonder if the disciples had talked about these things as kids like my brother and I. Maybe they had the same affection towards fig trees as myself, but it must have been a powerful lesson to see a lush fig tree wither so drastically because of Jesus command. I'm sure they never forgot it. I know I never would.