Matthew24:32

Translation

Now learn the parable

from the fig tree; whenever

the branch has become tender and it puts forth leaves, you know that hot weather

is at hand.

Paraphrase

Now learn this comparison from the fig tree; whenever the branch has become tender and it begins to put forth leaves, you can be sure that high temperatures are ready to start.

Footnotes

1

The word is indeed the one from which we get our English word “parable.” It comes from two Greek words, the preposition “beside, or alongside,” and the verb “cast.” It depicted a teaching tool in which something was laid alongside the truth in order to make it more clear; it could be a true story, a story that was made up for this very purpose (the way we use the word parable), an illustration or a word picture. In this case, we would be more likely to call the fig tree an illustration.

2: "Whenever"

The Greek says “when already the branch may have become tender,” but the way we say it in English is simply “whenever the branch has become tender.” The two ways of saying it are similar in that they indicate that the act is either hypothetical or still in the future.

3

This word comes from the verb “to heat.” It basically means “hot weather.” I have chosen to keep it simply as “hot weather” rather than “summer” because, in America, we often associate the word summer with a specific window of time in which school is not in session. But here the point is only about temperature, so it if gets warm before school is out, do we call it summer or not? I wanted to avoid that confusion, so I am staying away from the word “summer” and going with “hot weather.”

4

This Greek word means “to be very near (in time or distance), to be ready, to be at hand.”

THE LESSON FROM THE FIG TREE

When you see it start to happen, when the process begins to unfold, you will know it. The fig trees sprout leaves in response to the weather beginning to warm up. At the time they begin to do this the temperatures are changing, the process has begun; it is not in the unknowable future, it has already begun and is beginning to happen at that moment. You won’t know it until it starts, then you will recognize it. That is what we were intended to learn from the fig tree. This interpretation is reinforced by the words “right at the door” in the next verse.

Every new generation of preachers says that the coming of Jesus is near, and every generation of preachers overlooks the words of Jesus found shortly after this: “but concerning that day and hour, no one knows” Mt 24:36. No one will know when it will happen until it starts to happen.

If we seek first the most obvious meaning for the original audience it is obvious to us that this is all in reference to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Does it also have double meaning with double fulfillment? That is hard to say with any kind of certainty. Double fulfillments can be identified after they occur but seldom can they be predicted with accuracy and I don’t think Jesus wants us to even try to predict them.

FROM HERE TO THE END OF CHAPTER 25

Starting with the illustration of the fig tree, the rest of this discourse is dedicated to points 5 through 7 from my introduction to this discourse. Allow me to remind you of them.

5) These things are unpredictable; you cannot predict them ahead of time.

6) When they start to happen, you will know it, for they will be obvious, and you will know what they mean.

7) Don’t try to figure out any more than what I have told you.

These points could apply to either His comments about the destruction of Jerusalem or about His second coming; they are principles we should follow, not predictive tools. The things Jesus talked about were certain, but the timing of them would be uncertain. He gave the signs He did so people could confirm that He had fulfilled His word, not so we could predict how and when something would happen.

Most of the examples and parables that follow are intended to drive home the principles “When it happens you will know it,” and “Don’t try to figure it all out.”