‘Now in the morning as he returned to the city, he felt hungry,'
The fact that even while cutting down the story drastically Matthew still mentions Jesus' hunger demonstrates that he intends it to indicate some kind of lesson. In his Gospel hunger refers to a longing to see the establishment of righteousness (Matthew 5:6). This may suggest therefore that here Jesus is depicted as not only feeling peckish for food, but also as being hungry to discover righteousness in Israel. He wants to find figs.