In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (Matthew 21:18,19 ESV)
Accusation
I hate it when one of my guitar strings slips out of tune. I hate it to the degree that I enjoy passionately playing the guitar. If I did not love my music, I would not try to fix it when it needs tuning.
The same concept holds true when it comes to training a dog, finishing a painting, writing a story, mowing the lawn, or teaching a skill.
Ignoring faults, failings, errors, problems, mistakes, or blemishes does not help anything.
That is why Jesus pauses outside of Jerusalem, in front of a fig tree. He notices that the fig tree is not bearing fruit, and He accuses it. He does not ignore it. He does not look the other way.
That fig tree is a symbol, of course, of God’s people.
We, like the fig tree, do not bear Christian fruit. We do not act like we are His people. We do not yearn for righteousness. We do not love. And if Jesus did not love us so deeply, He would let us go along our merry way.
But instead, He points out our sins. He teaches us through His Word, His Spirit, and the gentle nudging of His people.
For one reason: So that He can show us the way to hope. He killed that tree to show us that we should die. But instead, Jesus dies for us!
It starts with Him teaching us about our Sins. It starts with accusations. But those accusations are the first step of salvation.
We are peculiar, we get to be accused!