Sir Kyle of Elsewhere
Inscriven
It was a dramatic presentation of an analogy he was trying to make.
Israel is the fig tree. When God the "farmer" comes to his tree and sees that it is barren and devoid of spiritual fruits, then God will condemn them all for their lack of faith and destroy them.
So it's not really about the tree, but a warning.
Dude, it specifically describes
a fig tree that does not bear fruit BECAUSE it isn't in season. The tree has no choice. That's a very awful comparison. We have the choice to believe in God whereas the tree is only able to grow fruit one season of the year. Also, that doesn't sound like a loving God.
Quote:
The fact that Mark adds these words shows that he knew what he was talking about. When the fig leaves appear about the end of March,
they are accompanied by a crop of small knobs, called taqsh by the Arabs, a sort of fore-runner of the real figs. These taqsh are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. They drop off before the real fig is formed. But if the leaves appear unaccompanied by taqsh, there will be no figs that year. So it was evident to our Lord, when He turned aside to see if there were any of these taqsh on the fig-tree to assuage His hunger for the time being, that the absence of the taqsh meant that there would be no figs when the time of figs came. For all its fair foliage, it was a fruitless and a hopeless tree.
- Bruce, Are The New Testament Documents Reliable? [Intervarsity Press; Downers Grove, Ill, fifth revised edition 1992]
That's the context you're missing to Jesus' actions. The bible makes frequent analogies to figs and vines as God's people and the people inviting destruction from God because of their actions. Mark talks about a parable where a farmer left his vineyard in care of some guys and whenever he sent his servants to collect the harvest they were beaten. When he sent his own son, they killed him. So naturally, when the farmer goes back himself, he would kill them all.
This whole loving save all the things perception of God that you understand did not start until after Christianity started. Israel and the world as a whole was at it's core completely and irreparably screwed up and worthy of being utterly destroyed for its disobedience to God. God showed his mercy and compassion and they turned from him and served only themselves.
Usually Jews would offer a blood sacrifice to atone for their sins to God, but at this point the amount of debt they would have to pay so God was so immense that it was completely impossible for humanity to redeem itself. That's why Jesus was the last ditch effort to save humanity from itself. His example, his being, and his sacrifice was the only perfect act of atonement that humanity had left.