Chizuk Emunah (Pt 2) Under the Microscope: Chapter 30

Mark 11:12, 13, 14, "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he (Jesus) was hungry; and, seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, as the season of figs was not yet come. And Jesus answered, and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee for evermore." See also Matthew 21:18-22. Jesus acted here neither as a Divine person, nor as a man in whom the Divine Spirit dwelt. For he surely might have known that the fig-tree bears its fruit only at the appointed season; nor would any discreet person cast a malediction on a tree merely for being thus disappointed. Moreover, if Jesus, by his mere word, was able to render a tree barren, might he not as well, by the power of his word, have made the tree bring forth its fruit at the bidding of the moment, in order to appease his hunger? I, having once made use of this argument with a Christian, he explained it away by asserting that the passage has only a spiritual signification, and that the fig-tree named was but a symbol used by Jesus to represent the Jewish nation, in like manner as the prophets designate them the "vine-tree," and that Jesus had cursed Israel for having rejected him as their spiritual teacher, I rejoined that, in our prophecies regarding the time of the expected and true Messiah, we are promised that in the days of the Messiah, knowledge and prophecy shall increase and prevail throughout the world; as it is said in Joel 2:27, 28, "You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else, and my people shall then never again be put to shame. And then I shall pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy." From this prophecy, it is clear that many of the indispensable conditions, requisite for the advent of the Messiah, had not yet been fulfilled, but were still to come.

Troki presents the common fig tree argument, stating that Jesus was too dumb to realize that it was not fig season when he cursed the tree. First, it seems bizarre that Mark would record this in his writings if Jesus did make such an obvious blunder. Secondly, it is easy to see, even before fig season, whether a fig tree will bear fruit. When the leaves grow on the fig tree, the precursors of the fig fruit also grow, as seen in this picture. Jesus would have seen that these mini-figs were not on the tree, and therefore the tree was not going to bear fruit.

And not only does Troki show his ignorance of how fig trees work, he also shows how his own countrymen were like the fig tree. Just as a fig tree has these precursor figs to indicate that later, the tree would produce a full harvest of figs, so too did the resurrection of Jesus show that he was a prototype for the rest of humanity. Just as he received an immortal body that was supernaturally powerful, we too can rest assured that we will eventually receive these kinds of bodies as well. While the full harvest has not taken place, Troki failed to see that Jesus gave us the down payment on the prophecies of Messiah, showing that the rest of these prophecies will be fulfilled by him at some point in the future.