Jesus’ cursing the fig tree has always been hard to understand. What is going on with Jesus’ one destructive miracle that seems so out of character for our Lord? Zack argues that, like the other Prophets, Jesus is here engaging in a symbolic “sign-act”—a weird, attention-grabbing action that proclaims the deeper spiritual truth that the Temple will be no more. We learn, then, that we are all meant to bear fruit. Moreover, we learn that God is relentless—institutions are judged and fail only because God will do whatever it takes to reach all with His love.
