"First, Jesus was not omnipotent during His ministry."
Jesus' abilities were not limited. He said,
"all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matt. 21:22), including the ability to demonstrate an effective metaphor (if that's not the desperate ad hoc attempt that it appears to be) without killing food sources like pigs and fig trees (let alone the issue of unnecessary cruelty to a sentient being).
If it was to show a miracle as a supposed metaphor (e.g. to metaphorically show the moral state of God's chosen people, etc. See also the fig tree in Mark 11:13-14, 20), wouldn't the principle just as easily have been demonstrated with (off the top of my head) the utterance of a word that cracks a giant stone or sends the demons into stones that create a harmless (but effective) avalanche into the sea, etc...? For the fig tree example, why didn't Jesus make the out of season fig tree bear fruit and provide food for Himself and others (like he did in John 6 with the bread and fish) as the miracle, showing how Israel's naughty moral state (represented by the dead fruitless tree) can be invigorated by God's love? The possibilities are endless...
Jesus' abilities were not limited. He said,
"all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matt. 21:22), including the ability to demonstrate an effective metaphor (if that's not the desperate ad hoc attempt that it appears to be) without killing food sources like pigs and fig trees (let alone the issue of unnecessary cruelty to a sentient being).
If it was to show a miracle as a supposed metaphor (e.g. to metaphorically show the moral state of God's chosen people, etc. See also the fig tree in Mark 11:13-14, 20), wouldn't the principle just as easily have been demonstrated with (off the top of my head) the utterance of a word that cracks a giant stone or sends the demons into stones that create a harmless (but effective) avalanche into the sea, etc...? For the fig tree example, why didn't Jesus make the out of season fig tree bear fruit and provide food for Himself and others (like he did in John 6 with the bread and fish) as the miracle, showing how Israel's naughty moral state (represented by the dead fruitless tree) can be invigorated by God's love? The possibilities are endless...
