Matthew 21:17-22 – Bear Fruit!

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 12 May 2013

Translation

21:17 And after taking His leave of them, He exited out of the city into Bethany and camped out there.

21:18 Now in the morning, as He went back up into the city, He was hungry,

21:19 and when He saw one fig tree on the way, He got on it, yet found nothing in it – except leaves only. Then He said to it, “Let there never be fruit from you forever!” And quickly the fig tree withered.

21:20 Then, once the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How’d the fig tree wither [so] quickly?”

21:21 So, in answer, Jesus said to them, “Really, I’m telling y’all that if you happen to hold faith and are not doubting, not only will y’all do the fig tree thing, but even if y’all shall say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and be thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.”

21:22 and when you believe, y’all will receive all of whatever things y’all might ask for in that prayer.

Introduction

21:17 And after taking His leave of them, He exited out of the city into Bethany and camped out there.

Και καταλιπων αυτους εξηλθεν εξω της πολεως εις Βηθανιαν και ηυλισθη εκει

Exegesis

21:18 Now in the morning, as He went back up into the city, He was hungry,

Πρωι[ας[2]] δε επαναγων[3] εις την πολιν επεινασεν

 

21:19 and when He saw one fig tree on the way, He got on it, yet found nothing in it – except leaves only. Then He said to it, “Let there never be fruit from you forever!” And quickly the fig tree withered.

και ιδων συκην μιαν επι της ‘οδου ηλθεν επ’ αυτην και ουδεν εὗρεν εν αυτη ει μη φυλλα μονον και λεγει αυτη [4] Μηκετι εκ σου καρπος γενηται[5] εις τον αιωνα και εξηρανθη παραχρημα[6] ‘η συκη

 

21:20 Then, once the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How’d the fig tree wither [so] quickly?”

Και ιδοντες ‘οι μαθηται εθαυμασαν λεγοντες Πως παραχρημα εξηρανθη ‘η συκη;

 

21:21 So, in answer, Jesus said to them, “Really, I’m telling y’all that if you happen to hold faith and are not doubting, not only will y’all do the fig tree thing, but even if y’all shall say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and be thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.”

Αποκριθεις δε ‘ο Ιησους ειπεν αυτοις Αμην λεγω ‘υμιν εαν εχητε πιστιν και μη διακριθητε ου μονον το[8] της συκης ποιησετε αλλα καν τω ορει τουτω ειπητε Αρθητι και βληθητι εις την θαλασσαν γενησεται

 

21:22 and when you believe, y’all will receive all of whatever things y’all might ask for in that prayer.

και παντα ‘οσα [ε]αν[10] αιτησητε εν τη προσευχη πιστευοντες ληψεσθε[11]

Application: God wants us to bear fruit

1)     Praise/faith

2)     Love/Godly Character

The Apostle Paul wrote often about this in his epistles:

3)     Disciples (esp. children)

 



[1] See other uses of this word which make it clear that this is outdoors: Jdg. 19:7; 2Sa. 12:16; Neh. 13:20; Psa. 55:7; Job 31:32; Luke 21:37.

[2] Based on a few of the earliest Greek texts (א, Β, D, Θ), Critical editions of the GNT omit this ending, which turns the genitive noun into an adverb. Although less common than the adverbial form, the noun form is undisputed in 2Sa. 23:4; Psa. 65:8; 73:14; 101:8; 130:6; Ecc. 10:16; 11:6; Dan. 8:26; Mat. 27:1; and John 21:4. It makes no difference in translation.

[3] Three ancient Greek manuscripts (א, Β, L) spell this participle in the Aorist tense, indicating that Jesus didn’t get hungry until after he had entered the city, so early Critical editions followed this spelling, but modern Critical editions follow the Present tense which is in the Majority of manuscripts, indicating that Jesus was hungry during His commute.

[4] B & L have an extra “ou” here, adding emphasis to the negative. The extra negative is in early Critical editions, but later editions agree with the Majority here.

[5] א & Θ spell this word in the Optative mood rather than the Subjunctive. No significant difference in meaning.

[6] Literally “along with a need” – generally used in Greek Bible as a synonym for euthus to mean “immediately,” so why does Matthew depart from using euthus for this one story? He may be implying by this that it wasn’t immediate, but timely, presently, pretty quickly, conveniently.

[7] “Thus the sin of hypocrites is made their punishment; they would not do good, and therefore they shall do none…” ~Matt. Henry

[8] This is not a relative pronoun like most English translations render it “this which/what”), but is actually a definite article followed by a genitive, “the [matter] of the fig tree.”

[9] The story is told here, http://www.cavechurch.com/miracle/index.asp with photos of a church amphitheater carved into the side of the mountain.

[10] Greek manuscripts are divided over whether or not this word is spelled with an epsilon as its first letter. A slight majority uses the prefix. It is in my 1896 Patriarchal edition, but not in my 1904 Patriarchal edition, Textus Receptus, or Critical texts. It makes no difference in meaning.

[11] A few early Greek manuscripts add the letter “μ” to the middle of the word, but it is just a variant way to spell the same word; it makes no difference in its parsing.