Patristic A.D. 407
“(non occ.) We may also say, in another sense, that the Lord sought for fruit on the fig tree before its time, and not finding it, cursed it, because all who fulfil the commandments of the Law, are said to bear fruit in their own time, as, for instance, that commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but he who not only abstains from adultery but remains a virgin, which is a greater thing, excels them in virtue. But the Lord exacts from the perfect not only the observance of virtue, but also that they bear fruit over and above the commandments.”
Catena Aurea: Gospel of Mark, as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on Mark 11:11-14
PD · J. H. Newman (Oxford, 1842) ↗