Matthew 21:19 (WEB)
Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
Fathers and councils · 40
Cyril of Jerusalem
“God forbid that in us should be done what befell that barren fig-tree, that Jesus come not even now and curse us for our barrenness.” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19.
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Augustine of Hippo
“This barrenness in the tree He cursed, when seeking fruit He found none.” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19.
Read the whole comment“If thou hast tasted, in thy fruit be it found, not in words alone, as it were only in leaves, lest by the curse of the Lord, to wither like that fig-tree thou shouldest deserve.” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19.
Read the whole comment“He created so many trees throughout the whole earth, and no one wondereth: He dried up one with a word, and the hearts of mortals were thunderstruck.” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19, 20.
Read the whole comment“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 14–22.
Read the whole comment“On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xxi. 19, where Jesus dried up the fig-tree; and on the words, Luke xxiv. 28, where He made a pretence as though He would go further.” — the author cites it
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Athanasius of Alexandria
“Verily, when He came and found no fruit in them, He cursed them through the fig-tree, saying, ‘Let there be henceforth no fruit from thee;’ and the fig-tree was dead and fruitless so that even the disciples wondered when it withered away.” — editor's note: Ib. 19
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John Chrysostom
““And when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19.
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Hilary of Poitiers
“Again, He Who hungered could condemn the tree which offered no fruit for His hunger: but how could His nature be overcome by hunger if He could strike the green tree barren by His word?” — editor's note: St. Matt. xxi. 19 and St. Mark xi. 3.
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Aphrahat
“Accordingly, by the coming of the offspring of the Blessed Mary the thorns are uprooted, the sweat wiped away, the fig-tree cursed, the dust made salt, the curse nailed to the cross, the edge of the sword removed from before the tree of life and it given as food to the faithful, and…” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“Wherefore, he says, He cursed the fig-tree, because He did not find upon it that sweet fruit—the sought-for produce.” — editor's note: Matt. xxi. 19, 20; Mark xi. 13, 14, 20, 21.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
A bad man is better overcome by giving way to him than by replying to him; for wickedness is not instructed but stimulated by reproof. The Lord accordingly sought by withdrawing Himself to check those whom His words…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Hence it is to be understood that the Lord was in so great poverty, and so far from having courted any one, that He had found in all that city neither entertainer, nor abode, but He made His home in a little village,…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Seeking surely to lodge in the body where His spirit also reposed; for so it is with all holy men, they love to be not where sumptuous banquets are, but where holiness flourishes.
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
When the shades of night were dispersed, and He was returning to the city, the Lord was an hungred, thus shewing the reality of His human body.
Read the whole comment - Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
For in permitting His flesh to suffer that which properly pertains to flesh, He foreshews His passion. Mark the earnest zeal of the active labourer, Who is said to have gone early into the city to preach, and to gain…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Lord about to suffer among the nations, and to take upon Him the offence of the Cross, sought to strengthen the minds of His disciples by a previous miracle; whence it follows, “And seeing a fig-tree by the…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
He came not because He was an hungred, but for His disciples’ sake; for because He ever did good and inflicted suffering on none, it behaved that He should set forth an example of His power of punishment; and this He…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
Herein also we find proof of the Lord’s goodness; where He was minded to shew forth an instance of the salvation procured by His means, He exerted the power of His might on the persons of men; by healing their…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
“For ever,” (in sempiternum,) or, “To the end of the world,” (in saeculum,) for the Greek word, αἰῶν, signifies both.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
This was only a supposition of the disciples that it was cursed because it had not fruit; for another Evangelist says that it was not yet the season. Why then was it cursed? For the disciples’ sake, that they might…
Read the whole comment - Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Creator does no wrong to the owner, but His creature, at His will, is converted to the profit of others.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
And that you may learn that this was done for their sakes, to the end, namely, that they should be stirred up to confidence, hear what is said further. Jesus answered and said unto them, “Verily I say unto you, if ye…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Gentile dogs bark against us, affirming that the Apostles had not faith, because they were not able to remove mountains. To whom we answer, that many wonders were done by the Lord which are not written; and…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
This that the Lord speaks of He ascribes to prayer and faith; whence He continues, “And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive.”
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
For Christ’s disciples pray for nothing that they ought not, and as confiding in their Master they pray only for things great and heavenly.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
But whenever we are not heard when we pray, it is either because we ask something adverse to the means of our salvation; or because the perverseness of those for whom we ask hinders its being granted to them; or…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
It must be considered that Mark relates the wonder of the disciples at the withering of the tree, and the answer of the Lord concerning faith, to have been not on the day following the cursing of the tree, but on the…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
Mystically; the Lord leaving the Chief Priests and Scribes withdrew without the earthly Jerusalem, which therefore fell. He came to Bethany to ‘The house of obedience,’ that is, to the Church, where when He had taken…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
For had His hunger been as man for carnal food, He would not have hungred in the morning; he truly hungers in the morning who hungers after the salvation of others.
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The tree which He saw by the wayside we understand as the synagogue, which was nigh to the way inasmuch as it had the Law, but yet believed not on the way, that is, on Christ.
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
And that is compared to a fig tree, because the Apostles being the first believers out of Israel, like green figs shall in the glory, and the time, of their resurrection, be before the rest.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Also the fig in respect of the multitude of seeds under one skin is as it were an assembly of the faithful. But He finds nothing on it but leaves only, that is, pharisaical traditions, an outward shew of the Law…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
And because this plant was figuratively a living creature, having a soul, He speaks to it as though it heard. “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.” Therefore is the Jewish synagogue barren, and shall…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or; “Into the sea,” that is, into the world where the waters are salt, i.e. the people are wicked.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
And he avenges his exclusion from the elect by more cruel treatment of the reprobate.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or, this is to be said by each servant of God in his own case respecting the mountain of pride, to cast it from him. Or, because by Jews the Gospel was preached, the Lord Himself, who is called the mount, is by the…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
For every man who is obedient to the word of God is Bethany, and Christ abides in him; but the wicked and the sinners He leaves. And when He has been with the righteous, He goes to other righteous after them, and…
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
That is, nigh to the world; for if a man lives nigh to the world, he cannot preserve in himself the fruit of righteousness.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
But if the Lord come seeking fruit with temptations, and one be found having nought of righteousness but only a profession of faith, which is leaves without fruit, he is soon withered, losing even his seeming faith;…
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Cross-references · 11
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in Origen on Matthew 21:17–22 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.
Cited together in The Refutation of All Heresies VIII.1.