Matthew 21:20

The next day in the morning, as Mark says: they had, heard what Christ had said to it the day before, as the same evangelist observes; but did not take notice of the immediate withering of the tree; but the next morning, as they returned from Bethany, they saw it dried up from the roots: they marvelled; not that Christ should curse it, but that it should wither away so soon, and upon his saying what he did; which was a considerable instance of his power and Godhead, all creatures, animate and inanimate, being at his command and disposal: saying, how soon is the fig tree withered away? This was said by Peter, in the name of the rest, who recollecting what Jesus had said to it the day before, and observing how the event had answered his words so soon, addressed Christ after this manner: "master, behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away"; expressing his wonder at it, and ascribing, it to the power of Christ; of which this was an amazing proof and evidence. Matthew 21:21 Ver. 21. Jesus answered and said unto them,....

Ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree; cause one to be dried up, and wither away by a word, as Christ had done to this, which, comparatively speaking, was but a lesser sort of miracle; but also, if ye shall say to this mountain; the Mount of Olives, where Christ and his disciples now were, and were passing over, or, at least, were very near it; or any other mountain wherever they might be, to which they should, upon any occasion, think fit to say, be thou removed, and cast into the sea; which was many miles off from Mount Olivet, and must he a very surprising performance for a mountain to be rooted up, so large as that was, and be carried several miles from its former situation, and be thrown into the sea; and yet, as difficult and amazing as this may seem, it shall be done: that is, provided the person doubts not; or, as it is said in Mark, "shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things, which he saith, shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith": for this must not be confined to the particular instances of drying up a fig tree, or removing a mountain, but the doing of any sort of miracle, how great soever.

There was no visible cause of the fig-tree's withering, but it was a secret blast, a worm at the root; it was not only the leaves of it that withered, but the body of the tree; it withered away in an instant and became like a dry stick. Gospel curses are, upon this account, the most dreadful--that they work insensibly and silently, by a fire not blown, but effectually. (2.) Christ empowered them by faith to do the like (v. 21, 22); as he said (John xiv. 12), Greater works than these shall ye do. Observe,The description of this wonder-working faith; If ye have faith, and doubt not. Note, Doubting of the power and promise of God is the great thing that spoils the efficacy and success of faith. "If you have faith, and dispute not" (so some read it), "dispute not with yourselves, dispute not with the promise of God; if you stagger not at the promise" (Rom. iv. 20); for, as far as we do so, our faith is deficient; as certain as the promise is, so confident our faith should be.The power and prevalence of it expressed figuratively; If ye shall say to this mountain, meaning the mount of Olives, Be thou removed, it shall be done. There might be a particular reason for his saying so of this mountain, for there was a prophecy, that the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem, should cleave in the midst, and then remove, Zech. xiv. 4. Whatever was the intent of that word, the same must be the expectation of faith, how impossible soever it might appear to sense.

[Bible] And there came to him blind and lame men in the temple, and he healed them, and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, `Hosanna to the Son of David,` were much displeased; and they said to him, `Hearest thou what these say?` And Jesus saith to them, `Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?` And having left them, he went forth out of the city to Bethany, and did lodge there, and in the morning turning back to the city, he hungered, and having seen a certain fig-tree on the way, he came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and he saith to it, `No more from thee may fruit be — to the age;` and forthwith the fig-tree withered. And the disciples having seen, did wonder, saying, `How did the fig-tree forthwith wither?` And Jesus answering said to them, `Verily I say to you, If ye may have faith, and may not doubt, not only this of the fig-tree shall ye do, but even if to this mount ye may say, Be lifted up and be cast into the sea, it shall come to pass; and all — as much as ye may ask in the prayer, believing, ye shall receive.` And he having come to the temple, there came to him when teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people, saying, `By what authority dost thou do these things? and who gave thee this authority?` And Jesus answering said to them, `I will ask you — I also — one word, which if ye may tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things; the baptism of John, whence was it? — from heaven, or from men?` And they were reasoning with themselves, saying, `If we should say, From heaven; he will say to us, Wherefore, then, did ye not believe him? and if we should say, From men, we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.` And answering Jesus they said, `We have not known.` He said to them — he also — `Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Of the Withering of the Fig-Tree, and of the Question as to the Absence of Any Contradiction Between Matthew and the Other Evangelists in the Accounts Given of that Incident, as Well as the Other Matters Related in Connection with It; And Very Specially as to the Consistency Between Matthew and Mark in the Matter of the Order of Narration. 130. Matthew continues thus: "And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were sore displeased, and said unto Him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise? And He left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and He lodged there. Now in the morning, as He returned into the city, He hungered. And when He saw a single fig-tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig-tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig-tree withered away! But Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree; but also, if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." [1140]

Then, further, his account bears that the astonishment which the disciples expressed at finding how the fig-tree had withered away, and the reply which the Lord made to them on the subject of faith, and the casting of the mountain into the sea, belonged not to this same second day on which He said to the tree, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever," but to a third day. For in connection with the second day, the said Mark has recorded the incident of the casting of the sellers out of the temple, which he had omitted to notice as belonging to the first day. Accordingly, it is in connection with this second day that he tells us how Jesus went out of the city, when even was come, and how, when they passed by in the morning, the disciples saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots, and how Peter, calling to remembrance, said unto Him, "Master, behold the fig-tree which Thou cursedst is withered away." Then, too, he informs us that He gave the answer relating to the power of faith. On the other hand, Matthew recounts these matters in a manner importing that they all took place on this second day; that is to say, both the word addressed to the tree, "Let no fruit grow on thee from henceforward for ever," and the withering that ensued so speedily in the tree, and the reply which He made on the subject of the power of faith to His disciples when they observed that withering and marvelled at it. From this we are to understand that Mark, on his side, has recorded in connection with the second day what he had omitted to notice as occurring really on the first,--namely, the incident of the expulsion of the sellers and buyers from the temple

And when the disciples saw [it], they wondered, saying, How immediately is the fig-tree dried up! And Jesus answering said to them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and do not doubt, not only shall ye do what [is done] to the fig-tree, but even if ye should say to this mountain, Be thou taken away and be thou cast into the sea, it shall come to pass. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. And when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him [as he was] teaching, saying, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answering said to them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John, whence was it? of heaven or of men? And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say to us, Why then have ye not believed him? but if we should say, Of men, we fear the crowd, for all hold John for a prophet. And answering Jesus they said, We do not know. He also said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. But what think ye? A man had two children, and coming to the first he said, Child, go to-day, work in [my] vineyard. And he answering said, I will not; but afterwards repenting himself he went. And coming to the second he said likewise; and he answering said, I [go], sir, and went not.

And answering he said to it, Let no one eat fruit of thee any more for ever. And his disciples heard [it]. And they come to Jerusalem, and entering into the temple, he began to cast out those who sold and who bought in the temple, and he overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of the dove-sellers, and suffered not that any one should carry any package through the temple. And he taught saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers. And the chief priests and the scribes heard [it], and they sought how they might destroy him; for they feared him, because all the crowd were astonished at his doctrine. And when it was evening he went forth without the city. And passing by early in the morning they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering [what Jesus had said], says to him, Rabbi, see, the fig-tree which thou cursedst is dried up. And Jesus answering says to them, Have faith in God. Verily I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou taken away and cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but believe that what he says takes place, whatever he shall say shall come to pass for him. For this reason I say to you, All things whatsoever ye pray for and ask, believe that ye receive it, and it shall come to pass for you.

[Reformed Biblical] Matthew does not affirm that it withered away in their presence, and Mark affirms that they made the discovery on the morning after it was "cursed." {h} "when he saw" Mr 11:13 "saw a fig tree", or "One fig tree" {i} "withered away" Jude 1:12 ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 21 - Verse 20 Verse 20. And when the disciples saw it. That is, on the morning following that on which it was cursed, Mr 11:20. They marvelled, saying, etc. Peter said this, Mr 11:21. Matthew means only to say that this was said to him; Mark tells us which one of them said it. ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - Chapter 21 - Verse 21 Verse 21. Jesus answered and said, etc. Jesus took occasion from this to establish their faith in God, Mr 11:22. He told them that any difficulty could be removed by faith. To remove a mountain, denotes the power of overcoming any difficulty. The phrase was so used by the Jews. There is no doubt that this was literally true, that if they had the faith of miracles, they could remove the mountain before them the mount of Olives—for this was as easy for God to do by them as to heal the sick, or raise the dead. But he rather referred, probably, to the difficulties a

He uses again this like expression upon an occasion of the drying up of the fig-tree. And concerning that, you read in Mark xi. 20 : "As they passed by, they saw the fig- tree dried up from the roots. Peter calling to remembrance, saith unto him, Behold, the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away. Jesus answering, said unto them, have faith in God. And verily I say unto you, whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, &c." Here the faith called for is both faith of miracles and a justifying faith too. A faith of miracles, it is brought in upon occasion of this miracle, Christ says, If he have faith, he shall not only do this, but he shall remove mountains. But here is a jus tifying faith also intended, for he says, " Have faith in God," verse 22, so you read it. But in the margin of your bible it is, have faith of God; when as the scripture speaks of a justifying faith, it uses to speak in such an expression as this: so Paul says, " I live by the faith of the Son of God; n