One of the very last overtly miraculous displays of power that Jesus performed during His mortal ministry seems somewhat strange on the surface. The day after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is hungry and approaches a fig tree that is covered in leaves and thus has the appearance of bringing forth good fruit. But the tree has no fruit, and so Jesus curses the tree so that no one would ever eat figs from that tree ever again, and as He spoke, the tree dried up from the roots and had neither fruits nor even fig leaves for a covering anymore. It is not an accident that Jesus used a fig tree specifically for this lesson, nor that it was one of the last things that He ever did. Where do we first find a fig tree in the Bible? In the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. After they transgress the Lord's commandment not to eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they discover that they are naked and vulnerable. They don't like feeling so exposed and so they do the best they can with what they have on hand and they try to cover themselves with fig leaves. Their Father teaches them that fig leaves are not the answer. To be truly covered, a sacrifice is required. God sacrifices animals to make coats of skins, and with these garments, made holy through the shedding of innocent blood, Adam and Eve are finally covered. When Jesus Christ curses the fig tree, He is just days away from performing the Atonement. The Hebrew word from which Atonement is translated literally means to cover. The Lamb of God was slain so that no one would have to try to cover their nakedness with fig leaves ever again, but so that all who truly repent and come unto Christ can be covered by His sacrifice. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was no longer necessary for God's children to try to cover their sins inadequately and all too temporarily with the fig leaves of excuses and justifications and convenient falsehoods. We do not have the power to cover our sins, but Jesus Christ does. “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8). Charity is the pure love of Christ. Jesus Christ’s Atonement was the supreme act of Charity, and in this way was Christ able to cover the multitude of sins. Jesus Christ cursing the fig tree was a signal to every last one of us to stop trying to do this on our own. We can't hide our nakedness from Him and we don't need to. So let's stop covering ourselves in lies and excuses and fig leaves. They don't work. Let's stop pretending that we have good fruits when in reality we've got nothing. As we confess our sins, we remove our fig leaves, and once the last fig leaf is gone, and only then, we can finally receive forgiveness and can be covered by the sacrifice and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that we will be properly covered and clothed and protected and adorned only through the Atonement of our Savior and I hope that instead of trying to hide our sins with pathetic and pointless fig leaves, we will hold fast to our Savior Jesus Christ and allow Him to cover us with His robes of righteousness.
