“And leaving them, he went out of the city into Bethania, and remained there. And in the morning, returning into the city, he was hungry. And seeing a certain fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only, and he saith to it: ‘May no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.’ And immediately the fig tree withered away. And the disciples seeing it wondered, saying: “How is it presently withered away?’ And Jesus answering, said to them: ‘Amen, I say to you, if you shall have faith, and stagger not, not only this of the fig tree shall you do, but also if you shall say to this mountain, ‘Take up and cast thyself into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.’”
To rebuke the one that is obstinate against the faith and belligerent in words is better left alone than fought: “He that teacheth a scorner, doth an injury to himself: and that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himself a blot” (Proverbs 9:7). To reprove is to stimulate into debate, which is a fruitless exercise: “Give not that which is holy to dogs… lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you” (Matthew 7:6), and so Jesus goes from the Pharisees into Bethany. The reason He goes into Bethany is His poverty, not finding a welcoming home and not being able to afford an inn in Jerusalem, He goes to the home of Lazarus and his sisters: “Jesus therefore, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life” (John 12:1). While the Pharisees were engaged in sumptuous, expensive banquets to prepare for the feast, Jesus goes where love is: “It is better to be invited to herbs with love, than to a fatted calf with hatred” (Proverbs 15:17), before returning to the city the next morning. Jesus then goes to a fig tree, and, because His every act was love and He would never bring even the slightest discomfort on another, yet He wanted to demonstrate a lesson in punishment, He goes to a plant to teach His followers. Consider, Theophila, how many more are the acts of love in the Gospels than the lessons in punishment, for a union of hearts and the gift of self to the Beloved can only take place in a place of security and beauty: “Our bed is flourishing. The beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress trees” (Canticle 1:15-16), which is not attained through focusing on being punished: “Fear is not in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath pain. And he that feareth, is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). This lesson was to show that those who practiced external piety yet had no fruits of love, such as the Pharisees, scribes, and chief priests, would wither away as dead limbs: “If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth” (John 15:6), while the lover of God bears fruit naturally, giving God to whomever they wish: “The fig tree hath put forth her green figs” (Canticle 2:13). Now, the virtue of charity encompasses God, self, neighbor, and your body, all of which you are commanded to love, and so a fig tree, while a beautiful piece of God’s creation, falls outside of this virtue, and so it is with animals, plants, and material things. While man is called to be a good, caring steward of creation, living harmoniously with what is created: “And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15), one does not build a love story upon them: “And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself” (Genesis 2:20). He then gives a greater lesson, one of confidence, faith, and the power of prayer. To pray for what is heavenly and spiritual for the sake of your love story or that of others, that is prayer that is answered. Rabanus gives three reasons why prayer would not be answered, first that it would be harmful for one’s salvation, for even what is good may be harmful to you, like a medicine being given to someone for an incorrect sickness: “Every one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that” (1 Corinthians 7:7); second, that the one for whom you pray, by their obstinacy, cannot receive the gift God wishes to give them; third, that your desire may be enkindled, and draw you into reaching for what is truly important and making yourself worthy of it: “Arise, take up thy bed, and walk” (John 5:8). In the mystical sense of the text, the hunger Jesus most feels is for your love: “Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices” (Canticle 2:9), for a heart plump with affection, holding the souls of the faithful within like so many seeds: “I give thanks to my God in every remembrance of you, always in all my prayers making supplication for you all, with joy” (Philippians 1:3-4), this is what the Lord most seeks from you. Pursuing God without truth, good works without love, these are also types of the fig tree, but for your sake, can your Savior and Spouse come into your soul and find His refreshment, Theophila? “I am come into my garden, O my sister, my spouse, I have gathered my myrrh, with my aromatical spices: I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved” (Canticle 5:1). If your soul is His workplace rather than His home, ah, this is when deep faith becomes necessary, for many are the mountains, weeds, and thorn bushes in a soul that is called out of darkness. The mountains represent pride, and long is the winding journey of trying to scale it with learning humility, but to cry out to Jesus that you need His love in order to love, He will move mountains to give you this gift: “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people… The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock” (Psalm 113:1-4. Even in His Church, He hungers for a lover’s heart, one that will open like a flower in the sun before His Sacred Heart: “The vines in flower yield their sweet smell” (Canticle 2:13), that the two may become one, that you and Him may both eat of the best fruits: “Charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity” (Galatians 5:22-23) together, for all things are better when shared: “And all they that believed, were together, and had all things common” (Acts 2:44). Thus, Theophila, you are called to be “As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters” (Canticle 2:2), by opening the door of your heart to the love of Jesus: “Behold, I stand at the gate, and knock. If any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Apocalypse 3:20).