Never to Bear Fruit Again

Paul, in his Spirit inspired wisdom in Galatians writes of how the era of the flesh and its power is powerless to produce fruit. Only by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling a person can fruit exist. In contrast to one another, the deeds of the flesh are sin, the fruit of the Spirit is the godly life (Galatians 5 (esp. 16ff)). This is because Christ, through His victory and exaltation, received the promise of the Spirit and poured Him out upon His people(Acts 2:29-36). This Spirit is the same Spirit who was upon Christ and caused Him to walk a fully righteous life (note throughout the Gospels the emphasis upon Jesus being filled with the Spirit and walking in the power of the Spirit).

Thus, it is those who are in Christ, the True Vine, who receive the Spirit and walk by the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ (cf. John 15). When Jesus ascended as the exalted Christ to the right hand of the Father, He sent the Spirit who submits to Him and who is from the Father. Thus, as Christ commands His disciples to abide in Him to bear fruit, His point is that the Spirit is in those who are His and in Him--the Spirit will seal them so that they remain in Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14) and heed His (as well as other Scriptural) warnings about being separated from Him (cf. Hebrews 2:1-4; 6:1-12; 10:19-39).

In light of Christ being the True Vine (i.e. the True Israel), the fruit bearing Vine, we read Mark 11:12ff. In this short passage, Jesus curses a fig tree that is not bearing fruit, because it is out of season. In the surrounding context we note that Jesus enters the Temple (both before and after the incident). After Jesus cleanses the Temple (the sign of judgment upon the Jewish Temple system) we read: "As they were passin gby in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to Him, 'Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.'" (Mark 11:20-21) This is just as Christ said: "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" (11:14).

Jesus had not acted in a fit of rage. Rather, His act was prophetic. Because Judaism was a fig tree out of season, that is, before the initiation of the Kingdom in the Messiah (His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation), and the coming of the Messianic Spirit upon the people to form the wholly regenerate new covenant community (cf. Jer. 31:27ff), Judaism did not bear fruit (cf. Is. 5:1-7). For this reason Jesus passes judgment upon the failed system--"No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you" (Matthew 21:18). The Jewish system is no longer effective--the Old Covenant is over, Jesus is bringing in His own blood the New Covenant. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, "He has made the first [covenant] obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolte and growing old is ready to disappear" (Hebrews 8:13, cf. all of ch. 8). Christ has fulfilled the Old Covenant (He is the 'Seed' to whom the promise was made, cf. Galatians 3:10-22), and has brought about the New Covenant, an eternal covenant (cf. Hebrews 13:20ff).

This new covenant is made to people of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9-10). The way of salvation for Israel (that is, both Jew and Gentile, the Israel of God who are the body of the True Israel of God (Christ)--the Church, as Eph. 2:11ff. clarify), the way to know God, which is eternal life (John 17:3), is in Christ in the New Covenant. All who are members of the New Covenant community "will all know" God (Jer. 31:34). A partial hardening of Israel has occurred now to bring in the fulness of the Gentiles. When the full number of the Gentiles are brought in (from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (I'm not sure that we should over literalize the 'all')), God will regraft a large number of Jews into the vine (or Vine), showing mercy to all (Romans 11:1-32). Thus God's great wisdom is manifested (Romans 11:33-36). The Old Covenant system is obsolete and has passed away never to bear fruit again, as God bears fruit through Christ, and expands His kingdom. Jesus alone is the way to the Father. He alone is to be exalted.