Answer:
yes
Explanation:
An oak tree died the other day
Despite my constant care;
Now men must carry it away
And leave my garden bare.
It came to leaf in early spring,
To live 'twas guaranteed;
Man is so vain and proud a thing,
He vaunted God, indeed.
For how can mortal guarantee
The breath of life, and say
That he can keep within a tree
What God may take away?
It cannot be that man can sense,
As do the sun and rain,
What living trees experience
Of loneliness and pain.
I think they never heard it sigh,
Nor ever dreamed a tree
Could, broken-hearted, pine and die,
Who wrote that guarantee.
Mr. Guest's thoughtful poem brings to mind an incident in the life of Jesus Christ, in which He cursed a fig tree that had not borne fruit. This scene occurred quite late in His ministry, just after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem before His final Passover. Matthew 21:18-19 relates what happened:
Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away.
Mark also records this story, providing more detail:
Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. (Mark 11:12-14)
Many readers of God's Word have found this incident to be very disturbing, and it has been a stumblingblock to more than a few. The idea that Jesus would become angry and curse this tree to wither and die—just because it had no figs at a time when figs were not even in season—seems completely unreasonable to a great many people.
But surely there is more to the story. The Jesus we know from the rest of the gospels is not One who, in a fit of temper, would do something so impulsive and cruel. He is the same Man who healed many people suffering from disease and demon possession throughout His ministry. He took little children in His arms and blessed them (Mark 10:16). He let the woman caught in adultery go with only a warning to repent (John 8:11). He wept at Lazarus' tomb (John 11:35) and grieved over Jerusalem's unwillingness to seek God's help (Matthew 23:37). He even asked God to forgive those who put Him to death (Luke 23:34)!
