Bearing Fruit Matthew 21:19

19And 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.



Jesus is on His way into Jerusalem. It is early in the morning and He has not eaten breakfast and so He is hungry. He sees a fig tree that should have had figs but when He got to the tree, there were no figs on it. Jesus made the following statement, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again."

The tree was on Jesus' way to Jerusalem. This is a direct reference to Jerusalem and their failure to be bearing fruit as Jesus has come. The tree had leaves and looked like a tree that would have been filled with fruit. It was in season and should have had fruit. The primary purpose of life is to bear fruit. Jesus cursed the fig tree and said, "be no more fruitful." We need to be careful that we do not make the same mistake as Christians and as a church.

The tree was on Jesus' way to Jerusalem. We have churches all along our way today almost everywhere we go. We are fig trees on people's way somewhere. What kind of fruit are you and I bearing for those who pass by us? The Jews failed miserably. Jesus was not pleased at the fig tree's lack of fruit. He was not pleased at Judaism's lack of fruit. He is no more pleased with our lack of fruit either.

We need to make sure that we bear fruit for those around us. The fruit that we need to bear is not for our benefit but for the benefit of those who pass by us. We need to make prayer a priority in our lives because prayer is the key to the fruit bearing process. It is God's will that we bear fruit and prayer is the lifeline that rings that fruit to maturity in our lives.