would never sprout branches or produce figs again, and Peter remembered what Jesus had said. The verb remember becomes an important term from this point on in Mark’s Gospel. Throughout the passion story Jesus’ disciples witness events whose meaning is much larger than they could comprehend at the moment. Their meaning becomes apparent only in retrospect. So it was with the fig tree. They had heard Jesus’ words in Mark 11:14, but they had not expected the fig tree to wither overnight. It would also