In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!"

And immediately the fig tree withered up.

Matthew 21:18-19 NLT

Sometimes Jesus said and did things that seem strange, unconnected, mysterious.

Why would he condemn a fig tree just because he was hungry?

There was usually a message for his team.

He had just been in Jerusalem, just been at the temple, a place that should have been life giving, and he discovered that it had become the opposite. 

And Jesus was heading back there.

It seems that he was using the fig tree to show his followers that things had changed. The place you went for nourishment was no more.

The Living Water, the Bread of Life, was right here.

There's no need for a temple to meet with God if He is right here, walking around with you.

Even if his disciples hadn't really noticed, everything was changing.

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