Caught in their Own Trap

March 23

Jesus and His disciples came into Bethphage, a small village on the Mount of Olives, very close to Bethany between Jericho and Jerusalem. Jesus saw a fig tree covered with leaves, but it bore no fruit. Because there was no fruit on the tree, Jesus cursed it, though not because He was still hungry. As always, God, in a pair of sandals, was up to something.

It was not yet fig season. (v. 13) Figs wouldn’t appear for another month or two. So, one might think that Jesus’ curse was inappropriate. However, during this time of year, figs grew their leaves, and small buds also grew along with the leaves. These small buds were not full-grown figs but were edible. Jewish pilgrims often picked these small buds a quick snack as they traveled.

The irony of this story is that Jesus is in Bethphage, a word which means “house of the unripened fig”. How prophetic!

Jesus later encountered a group of Jewish leaders who tried, once again, to trap Him by asking questions regarding the basis of His authority. The Lord responded using a common debate technique of counter-questioning the leaders with His answer depending on their answer. Their questions and answers would actually indict themselves—not Jesus.

These religious leaders were afraid of the Jewish people because they knew the people listened to John, knowing he was a prophet sent from God. But, if they admitted that fact, then Jesus would have asked why they didn’t believe and support him. They were also caught because, if they said that John’s authority was of human origin, then they would upset the people. So, they chose to avoid the entire issue by claiming that they didn’t know where John’s authority came from. Jesus then refused to answer their question because they were clearly demonstrating a lack of good faith.

Jesus’ response here nods back to Psalm 18:25-26. Watch how God conditions His response to the spiritual temperature of people: “With the faithful you prove yourself faithful, with the blameless you prove yourself blameless, with the pure you prove yourself pure, but with the crooked you prove yourself shrewd.” The scribes and elders thought they could play games with God, and found out that He doesn’t.

Jesus’ encounter with the fig tree and the Jewish leaders who questioned His authority were living parables. (vv. 27-33) Both the fig tree and the religious leaders appeared to be healthy, but they had no fruit.

Application

Symbolism without substance. Posers. Hypocrites.

Over and over again, throughout our daily readings, we’ve seen the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders. Yet, for some reason, the Gospel writers say nothing about the opinion of the average Jewish man of the day. Either the man on the street didn’t recognize the hypocrisy or was apathetic about it, much like the way many Americans feel about hypocritical politicians and religious leaders today.

Or, perhaps the common people knew the leaders were just religious, but not godly.

Do you see a common theme between religious leaders back then and today? Are religious leaders today more interested in their followers’ rigid obedience to church tradition rather than biblical truth?

How about you?

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman