And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
The disciples saw the tree dried from the roots the next morning and marveled, not at Christ's curse, but that it withered so suddenly upon His word. This was Peter speaking for them all, recognizing in that swift obedience of creation a remarkable proof of Christ's power and Godhead.
AI summary
Verse 20. And when the disciples saw it. That is, on the morning following that on which it was cursed, . They marvelled, saying, etc. Peter said this, . Matthew means only to say that this was said to him; Mark tells us which one of them said it.
Their amazement at the fig tree teaches us that faith is the ammunition of prayer; without it you make noise but accomplish nothing. God gives what He has promised to those who ask believing, though the mountain-moving faith Christ describes belonged to the apostles in the age of miracles, not to ordinary Christians now.
AI summary