“The Lord made the fig-tree to wither away under His curse, that all men who saw it, and all men who hear of it, might know that they will be condemned by the judgment of God, if they content themselves with the talk of godliness, without the solid fruit of good works, even as that barren fig tree was clothed only with a rustling garb of green leaves.”
(Venerable Bede, 11th Homily on Lent)