When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How is it that the fig tree dried up at once?”
The disciples, having witnessed the fig tree dry up immediately, are amazed not so much at the tree’s withering as at the power of Christ’s word, which acts without mediation. Their amazement is natural, because for the first time they see such an instantaneous effect of the divine word upon nature. This episode reveals that Jesus’ word bears a power of divine, creative character: just as in the beginning God spoke and it came to be, so now His Son speaks and it is done. The withering of the fig tree becomes for the disciples an experiential lesson of faith, to understand that faith unites a person to that same power that works through the Lord’s word. Thus, from their amazement a transition is made to Jesus’ next teaching about the power of faith, which can “move mountains.”