Matthew 21:19

¹⁹And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.h

Matthew 21 marks a decisive pivot in the Gospel narrative. Jesus enters Jerusalem in a deliberately provocative display of messianic kingship, cleanses the temple with prophetic authority, curses a fig tree as a living parable of judgment, and engages in escalating confrontations