Mark 11:14; Job 18:16-17, Job 20:5-7; Isaiah 5:4, Isaiah 40:24; Matthew 13:6, Matthew 15:13, Matthew 21:19-20; John 15:6; Hebrews 6:8; Jude 1:12
they saw: Matthew informs us that this tree grew by the way-side, and was therefore not private, but public property; so that the destruction of it really injured no one. Our Lord was pleased to make use of this miracle to prefigure the speedy ruin of the Jewish nation, on account of its unfruitfulness under greater advantages than any other people enjoyed at that day; and, like all the rest of his miracles, it was done with a gracious intention, to alarm his countrymen, and induce them to repent.