Man, that webcomic was supremely thoughless - no willingness to engage at all with the text, unlike Life of Brian.

That passage appears in the context of Jesus and his disciples making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate Passa, which takes place in April. Just after the fig tree incident comes the purification of the temple.

Everyone who has a fig tree in the garden knows that some varieties bear an early crop, which is what Jesus was hoping to find. And no one swears at trees, as the webcomic helpfully points out.

The only possible interpretation is that that tree wasn't a fruit tree at all but some random wild tree from the fig genus that doesn't bear edible fruit. The Jesus that appears in the gospels is averse to showy and thoughtless practice, and this is yet another instance.

I think it's clear in context that the fig tree is symbolizing the kingdom of Judah, who's leaders Jesus is very critical of. In the gospels, he says they will be disowned and their kingdom given over to another. The fig tree is a symbol of the kingdom of Judah and it really works in context.

I generally don't look to webcomics for quality exegesis.

You'd like to see a willingness to engage. "You are all dumb" never was a good argument, you get many more points for "Dogma X is outrageous".

You can make fun of the anti-homosexual tendencies of evangelicals as much as you like and they'll just reply that queers are gross and the bible says it. But if you point out that the prohibition of homosexuality appears in the context of cultic practices you meet them on their own ground and imply that they don't understand their own foundational text.

Funnily enough, I've seen similar arguments to "proof by mortification" in apologetics around historical Jesus - basically, if you were going to invent a Messiah, you wouldn't do it like this e.g., the first witnesses to the resurrection being women, in a very patriarchal world.

it's a symbol of the kingdom of judah..