SEEDS, PLANTS and SOULS

10 FIG SALAD

Now for a diversion.
I could not resist looking at some fascinating facts
about a favourite tree - the fig.
But first a story:

One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves
 They said to the olive tree,
`Be our king.'
But the olive tree answered,
`Should I give up my oil,
by which both gods and men are honoured,
to hold sway over the trees?'
Next,
the trees said to the fig-tree,
`Come and be our king.'
But the fig-tree replied,
`Should I give up my fruit,
so good and sweet,
to hold sway over the trees?'
Then the trees said to the vine,
`Come and be our king.'
But the vine answered,
`Should I give up my wine,
which cheers both gods and men,
to hold sway over the trees?'
Finally the trees said to the thornbush,
`Come and be our king.'
The thornbush said to the trees,
`If you really want to anoint me king over you,
come and take refuge in my shade;
but if not,
then let fire come out of the thorn bush
and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'
(Judges 9:8-15)

A curious fable, isn't it?
To understand it
you need to read the whole chapter in Judges
and you will see that the trees represent
particular people and places in Palestine.

However,
if I literally had to choose a king out of those trees,
I would have chosen the fig.
There are all sorts of stories
and many strange facts about fig-trees
that are no figment of the imagination!
No other tree can can rival it.

Of course,
I am talking of the royal family of fig-trees -
not just the common one whose fruit we eat,
nor the household rubber plant.
There are in fact some 800 species of fig
ranging from vines to giants of the forest.

If figs are not the tallest of trees,
some are certainly the fattest.
One species in Mexico measures nearly 150 feet in girth,
 with a crown that covers a football pitch,
branches supported by its own stilts.
According to my children's book
on marvels and mysteries of nature,
a fig tree in South Africa
has the deepest roots ever measured -
down to 120 metres!

Some figs are entirely dependent on other trees
for support and sustenance.
Rather than being servants they are parasites.
Their seeds get lodged in the crowns of trees,
transported there by birds
and send down a root which encircles
and strangles the `host'.

The tree eventually dies and rots away,
with a hollow mass of roots and branches of the fig
taking its place.
At first glance it looks like a tree,
but a close examination will reveal the deception.
How many earthly or spiritual "kingdoms"
do such figs represent?

All figs are characterised by their fruit,
which are a variation of the edible fruit
we are accustomed to,
ranging from tiny pea sized ones
to those bigger than oranges.

Have you ever wondered
what makes up the parts of a fig fruit?
It is basically the swollen receptacle of a flower stalk,
 curved over to form a flask with a very narrow neck.
 Lining the inside of the flask are hundreds of tiny flowers
 which form the real fruit.
Within each fruit a tiny yellow seed is found
when the fig is fully ripe.

The juicy bit of the fig is therefore not really the fruit,
but the fruit base -
nd the crunchy bits are all the seeds
in their tiny fruitlets.

Now how do these flowers in the damp and dark
get pollinated and produce their tiny seed?
The answer lies in an equally tiny fig wasp,
which spends almost its entire life
living inside the figs.

In fact,
some of the fig flowers are of a special type
whose sole purpose
is to provide a home for the fig larvae.
The result is that the fruit cannot mature without its wasp,
 and the wasp cannot exist without its figgy home.

To make matters even more curious,
each fig- tree species (over 800, remember)
requires its own species of wasp.
The wasps cannot change allegiance in their fig-doms.
 Here lies a conundrum for the evolutionist -
which came first, the fig or the wasp?

Fig-trees can produce not only edible fruit,
but several other products, such as latex.
Adam and Eve were the first to find a use for its leaves -
 one that would be rather unconventional nowadays.

 People today use fig leaves for livestock food.
Many of the best trees for fodder in Nepal are figs,
and after constant stripping of their branches and leaves,
 they are pathetic apologies of arboreal splendour.
Figs all mashed up apparently have medicinal properties
probably due to the high concentration of sugar in them.
 When King Hezekiah of the Old Testament became ill,
 he was helped back to health by Isaiah the prophet who,
 following God's instructions,
turned medic and said:

"Prepare a poultice of figs."
And they did so and applied in to the boil,
and he recovered".
(2 Kings 20:7)

Such a poultice probably worked
because it is so rich in sugars that bugs cannot grow in it,
and its concentration helps draw out the poison.

One species of fig, the Pipal tree,
is considered holy in the Hindu and Buddhist religions,
 since the Buddha was said to have been enlighted
under one.
The peoples of Palestine did not revere figs,
although there are several references
to trees being considered holy.
But they did have a proper appreciation
of the domestic fig-tree's worth.
To have one was a symbol of prosperity,
such as Solomon - another good king -
provided for his subjects:

During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel,
from Dan to Beersheba,
lived in safety,
each man under his own vine and fig-tree.
(1 Kings 4:25)

Knowing that his followers
were well acquainted with the fig-tree,
Jesus used it to illustrate his teachings.
One of his parables likens Israel, or perhaps ourselves,
to the fig-tree,
and emphasises that
although God gives us a chance to return to him,
there comes a time when it may be too late to change.

"A man had a fig-tree, planted in his vineyard,
and he went to look for fruit on it,
but did not find any.
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard,
 `For three years now
I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree
and haven't found any.
Cut it down! Why should it use up soil?'"
`Sir,' the man replied,
`leave it alone for one more year,
and I'll dig round it and fertilise it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine!
If not, then cut it down.'"
(Luke 13:6-9)

Let's conclude our fig salad with an incident
that has raised a lot of questions and eyebrows -
not to be controversial,
but just to illustrate some of the concerns
that face interpreters of Scripture.

Both Matthew and Mark record Jesus cursing a fig-tree
 after finding it without fruit.
It is the same incident in each gospel,
but with differences in the telling.
I've quoted both below,
so read them and see where they differ:
Firstly, Matthew's account -
Jesus is doing the walking:

Early in the morning,
as he was on his way back to the city,
he was hungry.
Seeing a fig-tree by the road,
he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves.
 Then he said to it,
"May you never bear fruit again!"
Immediately the tree withered.
When the disciples saw this, they were amazed.
"How did the fig-tree wither so quickly?"
they asked.
Jesus replied,
"I tell you the truth,
if you have faith and do not doubt,
not only can you do what was done to the fig-tree,
but also you can say to this mountain,
`Go, throw yourself into the sea,'
and it will be done.
If you believe,
you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
(Matthew 21:18-22)

Now compare that narrative with the next,
written by Mark:

The next day as they were leaving Bethany,
Jesus was hungry.
Seeing in the distance a fig-tree in leaf,
he went to find out if it had any fruit.
When he reached it , he found nothing but leaves,
 because it was not the season for figs.
Then he said to the tree,
"May no-one ever eat fruit from you again."
And his disciples heard him say it.
In the (following) morning,
as they went along,
they saw the fig-tree withered from the roots.
Peter remembered and said to Jesus,
"Rabbi, look!
The fig-tree you cursed has withered!"
"Have faith in God,"
Jesus answered.
"I tell you the truth,
if anyone says to this mountain,
`Go, throw yourself into the sea,'
and does not doubt in his heart
but believes that what he says will happen,
it will be done for him.
Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours.
And when you stand praying,
if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him,
so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
(Mark 11:12-14,20-25)
 
 These passages give any thinking reader
cause for concern.
Jesus' action does seem rather petty.
It wasn't even the season for figs!
How quickly did the tree wither?
When did all this really happen?
What was the point of it all?

First:
was Jesus being petty, impatient, impetuous?
The answer has to be no,
if we are to accept what the rest
of what the Gospels say about Jesus' character.
Such action would have been a sin,
and Jesus - although tempted to act that way -
never gave in.

Therefore what was his attitude?
The answer perhaps lies in an event
that happened at that time -
Jesus' forcible eviction of the money changers
from the temple.
That was a time when he showed a righteous anger,
and perhaps the lack of figs
reminded Jesus of the Jews' disobedience.

What about the season?
Apparently, fig-trees around Jerusalem
begin to get leaves during March and April,
and do not produce figs
until the leaves are fully out in June.
This incident happened just before Jesus' Passion -
ie around our Easter time.

So the tree was rather precocious
in having so many leaves,
and could have been an early fruiter, too.
But, like Israel, it showed no signs of fruit,
and rather than being cut down figuratively speaking
(like the earlier parable),
it was fated to literally wither on its roots.

But that's not all that's wrong, we may say -
Matthew states that Jesus cursed the tree
after cleansing the temple,
and it withered immediately,
whereas Mark says that Jesus cursed it before,
but was seen withered the day after!
So the gospels are in error!

Well - do we expect the eyewitnesses
of such amazing events,
and the narrators of the stories
to get all the details right?
Cannot we allow them some artistic licence
as to how the events were told?
At least both gospels agree about the central event.

And we should remember that Jesus used the incident,
 however prompted,
to remind us that the prayers of those
who really follow God's will,
will be answered exactly as requested.
The ultimate example of this was when Jesus,
as the Word of God, spoke our world into existence.

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