Jesus’ most unusual miracle happens during “Holy Week” …

Potential.

Opportunity.

Those are words and concepts that are almost revered by people around the world — at least, among people who want to do something with their lives.

“She has so much potential!” we think, and watch in hopeful anticipation of fulfillment of that potential.

“If I just get an opportunity …” we think, then our lives will change in significant ways.

But the truth is, most of us have real potential we never tap into or develop, and all of us miss many opportunities in life. In fact, we often don’t even “see” or understand the opportunities — including the more important ones — we have, even when they’re right in front of us.

Take, for example, this incredible opportunity told by R. Dunkerly:

In 1269 Kublai Khan sent a request from Peking to Rome for “a hundred wise men of the Christian religion … And so I shall be baptized, and when I shall be baptized all my baron and great men will be baptized, and their subjects baptized, and so there will be more Christians here than there are in your parts.”

The Mongols were then wavering in the choice of a religion. It might have been, as Kublai forecast, the greatest mass religious movement the world has ever seen. The history of all Asia would have been changed. But what actually happened? Pope Gregory X answered by sending two Dominican friars. They got as far as Armenia, could endure no longer and returned home. So passed the great missionary opportunity in the history of the church.

That was an astounding opportunity squandered, the consequences of which still reverberate between nations today.

Human beings often miss the most important opportunities in life.

That certainly was the case for both the people of Israel and their religious leaders in Jesus’s day. They had God incarnate in their midst, personally preaching to and teaching them, and demonstrating clearly that He was the Messiah. But He just wasn’t the “man,” the myth of a warrior leader, they had come to expect; and while there was great celebration and anticipation when He arrived in Jerusalem (John 12:12-13), a few days later the people would join their religious leaders in crying out, “Crucify him!”

Knowing that Israel and the religious establishment had missed the greatest opportunity in their lifetime, He responded with the most unusual miracle of those recorded being performed by Him. It’s Jesus’ most unusual miracle because it wasn’t positive, it had a negative affect because it was a miracle resulting from a curse:

“In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May you never bear fruit again!’ And immediately the fig tree withered up,” Matthew 21:18-19.

Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?

Jesus had just entered Jerusalem, and this event occurs during the week leading up to His crucifixion. The fig tree represents Israel, especially the religious establishment. Just as the fig tree appeared fruitful with its leaves but lacked actual fruit, Israel outwardly displayed religious observance but lacked true spiritual fruitfulness.

And over the last three years of Jesus’ ministry, they failed to rise to their potential by grasping the opportunity Jesus unfolded before them.

In the biblical story, Jesus’ hunger reflects His desire for genuine faith and righteousness among God’s people. Instead of believing in Him, they would reject Him. So, Jesus curses the fig tree, saying, “May you never bear fruit again!” The immediate withering of the tree serves as a visual lesson. This action symbolizes God’s judgment on Israel’s spiritual barrenness and hypocrisy. The fig tree’s fate parallels the impending judgment on Jerusalem and the temple that would come.

Jesus had not performed that kind of miracle before, but it was an important statement on His final steps toward the cross. Having promise without performance (belief, faith) is to have the empty branches of hypocrisy; there may be the suggestion of fruitfulness, but in fact there is only barrenness. Potential is untapped, great opportunity is missed.

The passage challenges us to examine our own lives: Do we merely display religious appearances (like leaves) without genuine faith and obedience (like fruit)? Are we spiritually fruitful or barren? Jesus’ words remind us that God expects more than outward religiosity; He desires hearts transformed by faith and love.

Scotty