– PARABLES OF JESUS –
The Parable of the Fig Tree
Some people told Jesus about a group of Galileans whom Pilate killed. Jesus’ reponse indicated those who brought it up believed they got what they deserved. He said to them:
Do you suppose these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:2-3)
Jesus spoke of another tragedy, eighteen souls on whom a tower fell. Did they deserve to die? Were they evil? No, no more than any other man. Again, Jesus made the statement,
…unless you repent you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:5)
This context helps us understand why Jesus gave the parable of the fig tree. The crowd around Him judged others to be worthy of death, but did not consider their own deeds and what their due reward was. Paul revealed that all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and thus, all are worthy of death (Romans 6:23). Physical death came into the world because of sin and comes upon all, but worse than that, those who have sinned are subject to spiritual death.
…sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived men, and by it killed me (Romans 7:8-11).
It will be evident to the honest Bible student that Paul is not speaking about physical death in this text, but spiritual. He does not say that death was going to come upon him in the future, but that when he became subject to the commandment of God, he died (verse 9). God’s commandment, which will bring life to the obedient, he found to bring death (verse 10). When he disobeyed the will of God, it killed him (verse 11). Sin resulted in spiritual death, which is elsewhere in the Bible identifies as separation from God (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Isaiah 59:1-2).
With the understanding of man’s condition before God because of our sin, and the realization that in the immediate context, Jesus had just heard heartless people speak disparagingly of those who had died (possibly even in the act of making sacrifice to God), let us turn our attention to the parable of the fig tree.
Jesus spoke to them:
A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down, why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ (Luke 13:6-9)
What does this fruitless fig tree represent? Is it not Judah, the people of God, who bore Him nor fruit? Isaiah used a similar analogy in Isaiah 5, where he spoke of the Lord planting a choice vine, expecting to receive good grapes from it, but instead it brought forth wild grapes (Isaiah 5:2). Here what the Lord would do to His vineyard, since it would not bring forth good fruit. He said:
…I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned, and break down its wall, and it shall be tramped down. I will lay it waste, it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it. (Isaiah 5:5-6).
This was the case with Judea of Jesus’ day. The Lord expected to see fruit from them, but they bore none. They occupied a place in His vineyard, but had no produce to give glory to God. It is interesting that Jesus speaks of the owner of the vineyard having come to seek fruit from the fig tree for three years. Is it coincidental that people typically perceive our Lord’s ministry on earth to be just a bit over three years in length? He looked for good fruit from the nation, but He saw none.
God displayed His patience with Israel and Judah for a long time. He sent prophet after prophet to them, urging them to forsake their evil ways and to bear good fruit for Him. They did not. Eventually, He sent His Son. If the three years of the parable are representative of a three-year ministry for Jesus, the Lord was still being patient and seeking to find fruit among the people of the Old Covenant. There was none.
In the parable, a servant plead with the landowner to allow more time – just one more year to dig around and fertilize the plant. Maybe it would respond favourably and bear good fruit. This took place in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He was here on earth, specifically with the Jewish nation, digging up ground which generations of apathy towards God had trodden down. While Jesus worked among the Jewish people, He not only worked the ground, but He fertilized it. Jesus spoke the message of God with authority. He shared the pure seed of the kingdom with His people, in the hope that it would grow and prosper in their hearts. It didn’t; they would be cut down.
That is exactly what happened to Judah. On the day those whom He came to save put Jesus to death, God departed from the temple in Jerusalem, leaving a torn curtain behind. In that same generation, a judgment similar to that Assyria exercised against Israel or Babylon against Judah fell upon the land of Judah, especially the city of Jerusalem. The Romans besieged the city, and would eventually burn it and tear it to the ground. The fig tree was cut down.
Now, why would the comment about the Jews killed by Pilate provoke this parable? Here were a people slated to be destroyed because of their wickedness, and yet they had the gall to infer that those who died at the hand of Pilate deserved it! Their comment was the epitome of arrogance and the height of ignorance. The Judge of all mankind must have felt great frustration hearing those who would eventually stand before His throne, be found guilty, and be cast out while judging others. He knew the state of those whose blood was mixed with their sacrifices, these self-righteous sideline judges did not.
What might we learn from the parable of the fig tree? We too will come before the Judge of all humanity someday. He expects us to bear fruit, to do good, to obey His word, to give glory to Him in all that we do. Will we be like the nation He came to, indifferent to the will of God and unconcerned about the coming judgment, or will we be those who heed every word of God with diligence, preparing ourselves to enter heaven by His mercy?
Let us not judge where we have no knowledge or right to judge; and may we ever be of a penitent spirit, always bringing our sins to Him from a contrite heart. If we repent, He will forgive; if we do not repent, we shall die in our sin.
Links: YouVersion | GROW magazine
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