The time wasn’t right for figs,

but Jesus looked for them anyway,

did he need a bit of sweetness

to combat the rising gall

of the coming crucifixion,

with the rejections, humiliations and betrayals

that would accompany it?

Surely a tree could offer just one ripe fig

for the one who spoke the universe into being,

but no, no sweetness was available to him!

So he cursed it!

Cursed it…

what was going on within him,

was anguish churning,

was fear gripping him?

He who left the realms of heaven

to take on flesh

now faced the ultimate vulnerability,

he had shed tears over Jerusalem,

longing to gather them,

but they would not be gathered to him,

so he turned tables,

challenged authority,

and grappled with his fate,

oh that I had a fig to offer,

but there is nothing sweet here to bring,

not even a teaspoon of honey…

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Loving Jesus, though you cursed that tree,

I seek your blessing,

for you know the inner turmoil of a struggling mind,

you know what inner darkness feels like,

and you wept, bled and struggled for us all…

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There were no figs,

nothing when you needed sweetness most,

but still you walked that deepest valley,

the struggle, despair and horror were all real,

I pray there will be figs

in the new and coming kin(g)dom.