15 September 2024
Intermediate Sunday School Lesson 127 : The Withering of the Fig Tree
Intermediate Sunday School Lesson 127 : The Withering of the Fig Tree
Text: Matthew 21
- Speaker:
- Rev Dr Charles Tan
- Series:
- Studies in the Gospel of Matthew
Message Notes
INTERMEDIATE SUNDAY SCHOOL 15 SEPTEMBER 2024
STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
Text: Matthew 21
Topic: The Withering of the Fig Tree
18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.
19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”Matthew 21:18-22
THE RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS TO JERUSALEM
1. He lodged in Bethany
2. He returned to Jerusalem for ministry
a) To teach
b) To heal
c) To preach the gospel of the kingdom
ON THE WAY TO JERUSALEM
1. He was hungry
2. He saw a fig tree by the road
3. It looked promising
4. But it did not bear any fruit
5. The Lord Jesus then said
“Let no fruit grow on you ever again.”
4. Immediately the fig tree withered away.
AN OBJECT LESSON FOR THE DISCIPLES
1. The fig tree
a) It is one of the symbols of Israel
b) The vine is another symbol Isaiah 5
2. The pronouncement
a) The fig tree was not productive
b) It might as well wither away
c) It withered away immediately
3. This was a lesson the Lord must have sought to teach the Disciples
a) About being fruitful
b) That Israel was unfruitful for a long time
c) One day, the nation would perish
THE SURPRISE OF THE DISCIPLES
1. This astonished the Disciples
a) They marvelled and then asked
b) “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
2. They failed to see what the Lord sought to teach them
a) They were more struck by what they saw
b) The withering of the fig tree caught their attention instead
THE LESSON THE LORD JESUS SOUGHT TO TEACH THE DISCIPLES
21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”Matthew 21:21-22