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Originally posted by letGodbetrue
Jesus withered the fig tree to demonstrate His power to his disciples, and to get them to ask Him a question. It's just a fig tree, I don't think it screamed as it died or anything. He was just a few days away from the cross, and He wanted His disciples to be thinking about who He really was.

As Lord, and Creator, of the Universe, Jesus could have commanded the rocks to produce figs for Him. He just wanted to engage His disciples.
(RMG's reply: So why didn't the fig tree produce? Did it have freedom of will according to Xianity? I'm sure this is an example of how ridiculous all of this is. This is another reason why I only believe in scientific theories. )


Do you believe that Jesus (of Nazareth, the Jesus of the NT) is fictional, like David?
(RMG's reply: I'm sure Jesus was historical but his teachings and his life story were distorted to sell his religion. The moslems also believe that JC was a prophet, but they have problems with what they consider to be the distorted text of the OT as well as the NT.
They also have problems with all the miracle stories attributed to him. Certainly, you know by now that I don't buy the stories about how JC broke laws of nature.
I believe that Xianity, Judaism and ISlam are beliefs that are a management problem. In the future, I hope that people will look for more plausible religious systems.)

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Originally posted by letGodbetrue
Are you saying why didn't Jesus just command the tree to produce figs? He never used His divine power to satisfy His own physical needs. You have alluded to some perception that it wasn't the right season for figs? Is that what you're getting at?

I do have a pretty good understanding by now of what you don't believe in (I think). I have not yet checked my commentaries on the whole issue of the fig tree, but I will. Thanks for your posts.

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Originally posted by letGodbetrue
One of my commentaries indicates that Jesus chose a fig tree with no fruit on purpose, or because, just as you say, the story doesn't make much sense. Apparently fig trees produce fruit about the same time as they produce leaves, but the fruit is considered barely edible until about June. Sometimes a tree will have all of its fruit fall off, but the leaves are still there.

Jesus cursed the tree because He was showing that someone who believes in God should not just have the outward appearance of a believer (the leaves), but should actually produce good fruit. That tree that was cursed had leaves, but had already lost its fruit for that season, so it was no good. Does that make sense?

I'm not expecting you to believe it or agree with it, I'm not even expecting you to believe anything I believe about Jesus. But does that perspective make sense? Plausible?

Thanks for the question on that, I learned a lot on that one. I was not aware of that background on that event.

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Originally posted by letGodbetrue
are like armpits, everybody has two ( or more ), and they generally stink. First you say you gave up on the Bible and your Jewish faith, in your last post you identify yourself with Jews, as in we, as in 'we Jews'. It might be confusing to the casual observer.

I appreciate that you are familiar with many traditions and theories, however, there has to be some reference work for our discussion to be edifying. David Koresh thought he was Jesus, so what we think is hardly reliable or really matters, except to say, 'Oh, that's interesting'. I can back up my beliefs with what the Bible says, and what most conservative scholars believe through commentaries and systematic theologies.

Open forums like these are great for discussing issues, however they are worthless as a scholarly reference. Why would I go to moshiachtalk.com? It doesn't make sense. Do you know the Torah (OT)? Can't you reference that for what you say Jews believe?