Sycamine Tree

   Yesterday I learned something in the Sunday school lesson from Luke 17:5-19. Verse 6 mentions a sycamine tree. In Luke 19, Zaccheaus climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus as he passed by. When I read that, I always pictured a North American sycamore tree with white peeling bark. Wrong! The sycamore in Israel was a fig tree. There were two kinds of fig trees, the sycamore fig and the mulberry fig. The mulberry fig was sweet and good to eat but the sycamore fig was bitter. 

   In the first four verses of Luke 17, Jesus told his disciples that if someone asked for forgiveness seven times in a day, they should forgive. The disciples said they needed more faith to do that. Then Jesus said, "If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you." Jesus was saying a small amount of faith can do great things, even the ability to forgive the same person seven times in one day. 

   Why did Jesus use a sycamore tree for this illustration? 

   The sycamore grows wild everywhere. It is a tall tree with deep roots. It is difficult to get rid of. If you cut it off, the root will send up a new shoot. The fruit is bitter. It can only be eaten in small bites. The wood was preferred for coffins. 

   The sycamore is like unforgiveness. Anger, bitterness, and grudges (unforgiveness) grow naturally in every human being around the world. The root of bitterness goes down deep and is difficult to remove permanently. Unforgiveness produces a bitter fruit. If harbored and chewed on a bite at a time, it can poison your life and even make you physically sick. Jesus said if you can't forgive others, neither will God forgive you. So the fruit of unforgiveness is death.

   Unforgiveness is hard to get rid of but it can be rooted out by faith in Christ who overcame death. As we follow Him and live by the principles He taught, we can forgive like God forgives. Ezekiel 18:21-22 says, "If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live." God forgives and forgets, never mentions the sin again. The fruit of forgiveness is life.

   Although North American sycamores do not produce figs, they will always remind me of the high cost of unforgiveness.

Sycamore in Israel