Mark 11:14

‘And he answered and said to it, “No man eat fruit from you from now on for ever.” And his disciples heard it.’

There are no grounds for suggesting that Jesus was angry. It was a straightforward declaration. Nor did he ‘curse’ the fig tree in any bad sense. Rather He destined it to failure because of its outward profession which was not accompanied by fruitfulness. It may well be that He recognised that the fig tree was past its best and would no longer produce fruit. But what He was wanting to portray justified His performance of the miracle in His hastening its end by His word. He wanted to portray the most solemn of messages, the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (chapter 13). In Jeremiah 24:2 good and bad figs depicted blessing on the captives in Babylon and punishment on those who remained in the land (compare also Micah 7:1). While the application is different it illustrates the use of the product of a fig tree to denote judgment on ‘Israel’.

‘Now and for ever.’ Temple worship would never rise again. It was finished.

‘And his disciples heard it.’ Mark wants us to know where his own information came from. It came from the disciples. But the phrase also parallels ‘and the Chief Priests and Scribes heard it’ in Mark 11:18 indicating a connection of the ideas.