Talking to plants isn’t typical behavior. When Mark Wahlberg did it in The Happening, he got mocked mercilessly. Even SNL took it and ran with it. So what are we to make of it in Mark when Jesus doesn’t just talk to a fig tree, he curses it for not having fruit and it dies. Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate for Jesus to have miraculously provided its harvest of figs? Why is Jesus’ last miracle in Mark one that brings death? And what does it tell us that we can apply and take heed of today?