Matthew 21:20-22

Mark separated the cursing of the tree and the disciples’ discovery that it had withered by one day (Mark 11:13; Mark 11:20). Matthew simply combined both events into one story without saying anything that would make Mark’s account incompatible.

Jesus’ response has led some commentators to conclude that what He was teaching with the cursing of the fig tree was simply the importance of faith, not God’s judgment on Israel. [Note: E.g., Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 159-60.] However this seems unlikely to me in view of the preceding context and the symbolism of the fig tree. It seems to me that Jesus was teaching both lessons. The disciples’ amazement that the fig tree had withered so quickly led Jesus to comment on that lesson but not on the other. He used the miracle to teach them a lesson on the power of believing prayer.

Jesus had exercised faith in God when He cursed the tree. God had rewarded Jesus’ trust by killing the tree. Jesus pointed out that trust in God can have amazing consequences. The hyperbolic figure of casting a mountain into the sea was one that Jesus had used before to illustrate the power of faith (Matthew 17:20). There His point was that even a little faith can accomplish great feats. Here His point was that His disciples should believe God rather than disbelieve Him. The disciples had been observing many doubters in those who did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah in spite of the evidence that God had given them, and they themselves had struggled with doubt. Jesus was urging them to have full confidence in Him as the Messiah with the promise that that kind of faith can accomplish supernatural feats (cf. Acts 3:6-7). [Note: See David DeGraaf, "Some Doubts about Doubt: The New Testament Use of Diakrino," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 48:8 (December 2005):733-55.]

". . . belief in the NT is never reduced to forcing oneself to ’believe’ what he does not really believe. Instead, it is related to genuine trust in God and obedience to and discernment of his will . . ." [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 446.]

Jesus may have been teaching a deeper lesson with His reference to the mountain cast into the sea. A mountain in the Bible sometimes stands for a kingdom (Psalms 30:7; Isaiah 2:2; Isaiah 41:15; Jeremiah 51:25; Daniel 2:35; Daniel 2:44; cf. Revelation 8:8; Revelation 16:20; Revelation 17:9). The sea likewise has the metaphorical meaning of the Gentile nations (Deuteronomy 33:19; Psalms 72:8; Psalms 114:3; Psalms 114:5; Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 60:5). Perhaps with this illustration Jesus was anticipating the coming of His kingdom that would destroy Gentile world dominion (cf. Matthew 6:10; Daniel 2:44-45).

Matthew 21:22 assumes what Jesus taught elsewhere about prayer, namely, that God will grant the petitions of His people when they are in harmony with His will (Matthew 6:9-13; Matthew 7:7-11; cf. John 14:13-14; John 15:16; John 16:23-24; 1 John 5:14-15). His point was that when we pray we should believe that God can do anything we request and that He will do what is consistent with His will and what He has promised to do. [Note: See Thomas L. Constable, Talking to God: What the Bible Teaches about Prayer, pp. 170-76.]