LUKE 13:6-9
And
He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been
planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find
any." "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I
have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any.' "Cut it
down! Why does it even use up the ground?"
And
he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig
around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if
not, cut it down.'
INTRODUCTION
A new pastor preached his first sermon
at his new church. He preached a wonderful sermon: “Repent, repent, repent! The
kingdom of God is at hand. Go and repent.” Everyone loved the sermon, and some
even said it was the best sermon they had ever heard.
On his second Sunday in the pulpit,
the new pastor preached the same sermon, “Repent, repent, repent! The kingdom
of God is at hand. Go and repent.” Since most of the members did not remember
last week’s sermon, once again many responded that it was the best sermon they
had ever heard.
On his third Sunday, the pastor again
preached the same sermon, word for word. This time, his listeners began to stir
and were disturbed. They approached the governing board of the church and
directed them to look into the matter.
On the fourth Sunday the new minister
preached the same sermon once again, “Repent, repent, repent! The kingdom of
God is at hand. Go and repent.” The church board called in the new pastor for a
full explanation. His answer: Yes, he was able to preach other sermons. Yes, he
did have other sermons. Yes, he did want to preach other sermons. The problem?
He would preach another sermon as soon as the congregation repented!
I. THE DESIGN OF THE FARM OWNER V. 6.
It is doubtless that Jesus
is called “The Master Teacher” and “the best Story Teller.” I
have shared with you that the literal meaning of the word parable comes
from two Greek syllables—para and ballow. Para means
“alongside” and ballo means, “To throw,” “To cast out.” When you put the
two together it means to “to throw alongside” or “to cast alongside.” A parable
therefore is the usage of the familiar to teach the unfamiliar. It is a
familiar story thrown alongside to teach a spiritual lesson.
The
reason for this parable, which Luke alone records, was to expand and enforce
our Lord’s declaration in the verses preceding the parable. Therefore, to do
justice to this parable, let us read the preceding context in verses 1-5.
It
was the custom in Israel to plant fig trees and other trees in a vineyard.
Jesus here tells a parable about a fig tree which was planted in a vineyard,
but which remained without fruit. Notice that this was no foreign or forbidden
tree from a seed planted in the vineyard (Deut. 22:9). The owner has
deliberately planted the fig tree in the vineyard where the soil is most
favorable. The owner desires this particular tree by its nature to produce
figs, and designs its position in a protected part of the vineyard where it
will be skillfully cared for. The owner has made sure that there would be
nothing in the vineyard that would inhibit this fig tree from producing fruit.
The owner is certain that when the time comes, he will enjoy the fruit from
this fig tree.
The
custom was that after the fruit-producing tree has been planted, the owner had
to wait at least three years before the tree began to bear fruit. After that,
according to the Law of Moses (Lev. 19:23) he would have to wait another three
years before the fruit was considered clean. The owner had come to the tree
after the first three years had passed. Year after year he came to look for
fruit but found none. The tree was barren.
The
barrenness of this fig tree was strange because it had been planted in the best
location and had received good treatment. It occupied a parcel of ground that
could have been used for vines. Could you imagine the amount of time, energy,
and money the owner has spent on this fig tree with the hope that a time will
come that he would enjoy the fruit of his labor. Therefore, every year the tree
remained barren and unproductive was a loss to the owner. It took moisture and
nutrients away from the nearby vines. The fig tree was a debt and became
increasingly so as the years went by. This reminds me of my wife's miniature
garden at our backyard. She has okra and tomatoes, and almost everyday she goes
back there to water them.
This owner realizes that he
could have planted another tree or vine, and within a few years enjoyed its
fruit. The farmer has exercised patience all these years, but now his patience
has run thin. Therefore, he says, enough is enough.
II. THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE FARM OWNER V. 7
There was only one reason
for this farm owner to purchase and plant this fig tree, and that was at the
appointed time he might gather fruit. After all the care, time, and money he
had expended on this tree, he had every right to expect fruit. For almost six
years he has waited patiently for this tree to bear fruit, but disappointment
overtook his natural and reasonable expectation. Let us bring this home. Let’s
say you are a parent and you have invested your money in your son or daughter’s
education. You have enrolled him/her in one of the prestigious universities of
the land. You have expended a huge sum of money in his/her education. However,
when graduation time came, to your amazement the school has informed you that
your son/daughter has become a crack cocaine addict, and therefore did not
complete his/her education. What would be your reaction? It would certainly be
one of shock and great disappointment. That is the exact reaction the farmer in
this parable had with the fig tree. Three consecutive years of fruitlessness is
proof of barrenness. The farmer has to resort to a radical decision. He
commands the vinedresser, “Cut it down!” The soil was too valuable to
waste on a fruitless tree, so it must perish, and its room be given to another
tree. Because it not only takes up room but also exhausts the soil in which it
grows, the owner wants the vinedresser to cut it down.
Entitled
to expect fruit, the owner’s expectations have been shattered. What is the
interpretation of these three disappointing and fruitless years? Israel was the
divine vineyard over which Jesus spent so much trouble during the three years
of His earthly ministry. All through these years, Jesus had sought, by life,
parable, miracle, and teaching to make Israel fruitful. Now and again there
were signs of promise, but in the end there came His total rejection by the
nation He had nurtured.
The
fig tree of Israel was willing to content itself with all the benefits of the
sunshine and showers of divine privilege, but most unwilling to produce fruit
for the Owner. Therefore, there came the imperative, “Cut it down!”
III. THE DELAY ASKED OF THE OWNER. VV. 8-9
Knowing that the farm owner
has every right to be disappointed in the barrenness of the fig tree, the
vinedresser intervened with a plea for patience. He wanted to give the tree one
more year, during which he would loosen the soil around it and add fertilizer.
Literally, the vinedresser was interceding, or begging for the life of the
tree. The vinedresser in effect was saying, “Give me one year more to do
something about this continual barrenness.” Notice that the vinedresser did not
plead for the continued barrenness of the fig tree. He only asks for one year
more to use stringent measures for stimulating the barren tree into
fruitfulness. If by the end of the year, and the fig tree has borne fruit, the
vinedresser is convinced that the owner would permit the tree to remain in its
privileged position. However, if it continued in its barrenness, then of
course, there is only one course of action to be taken; and that is to cut it
down. All that the vinedresser asked for was a reprieve or postponement.
This parable
shows that it is impossible to belong to Jesus Christ and not bear some fruit
in your life. You cannot belong to Jesus Christ and continue to live your old
life of sin. The Bible says that Christians are bought with a precious price.
The price is the precious blood of Jesus, which He poured on your behalf on the
cross of Calvary.
This
parable of Jesus shows implied contrast. If the man who was in charge of the
vineyard lavished special care on one fig tree for an extra year, how much more
love and consideration will God shower upon you, and certainly upon His people?
Although the parable does not state whether the owner reaped figs the following
year or whether the tree was cut down, the point of the story is that patience
is delimited by time—one year and that is all. God’s mercy is great, but in the
end the Day of Judgment comes. The time of grace that God grants sinners must
be used to repent and turn to Him. This parable raises the question about how
displeased God is with lack of fruit in our lives.
Jesus
taught the parable of the fig tree in the historical context of Pilate’s
gruesome deed of mixing the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices (vv. 1-5).
Were these slain Galileans sinners who had met divine punishment? The answer
Jesus provided was negative. Repent, said Jesus to His audience, or you too
will perish. Were the eighteen people the Tower of Siloam fell on them greater
sinners than others living in Jerusalem? Again, Jesus’ answer was no. He called
His audience once to repentance and followed it with this parable we are
dealing with today.
What
does the parable teach us today? This parable teaches us that those who know
the grace of God and are secure in it should respond gratefully with a life of
fruitfulness (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14). You have come to Jesus with a heart
that recognizes your need of His grace, and having now experienced His mercy,
your story should be different from that of this unfruitful fig tree (Rom.
12:1-2). To whom Jesus has entrusted much, from him/her much will be required.
The
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews echoes a similar sentiment when he warns
Christians in the second half of the first century to pay close attention to
the gospel. “For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every
violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if
we ignore such a great salvation” (Heb. 2:2-3).
The
point of Jesus’ parable is that when the allotted time for your repentance has
expired, God’s judgment is finalized. The time God allots is a period of grace,
reflecting His mercy toward us. God does not merely go the second mile. He will
go a third mile, and if it need be, a fourth mile in order to save a sinner.
However, when His patience is exhausted and God’s call for your repentance has
gone unheeded, then judgment is unavoidable.
God
is patient but there comes a time when His patience runs out. God is patient,
but there comes a time when it is too late to repent. There are some who
jokingly say, “I will have a good time or enjoy myself, and when I am about to
die, then I will repent.” That is a foolish presumption, because a time will
come when you do not care to repent. Moreover, repentance itself is a gift from
God to you at a specific point in time. Therefore, when you reject God’s offer
for your life, His patience might have run its course.
Therefore,
you must respond to God before it is too late or before you become accustomed
to sinful ways. This parable has an implication for every Christian. Often in
sharing the gospel with others you give yourself a sense that there is much
time for people to decide or repent. In a sense that can be true, for God it is
His patience that delays His judgment. However, in a sense the patience of God
can lull you to sleep. As you share Jesus with other people you can become
complacent. It is true that the Holy Spirit is the Person who causes people to
respond to Jesus, if you take a laid-back attitude, you will not be sensitive
to opportunities to share as you could. Note how the caretaker kept trying to
fertilize the fig tree. We too should keep feeding those who need to hear the
gospel with the seed of truth.
A rabbi was
teaching his students a lesson on preparing for death and on repentance. One of
the students asked, “Rabbi, when should a man repent?” The rabbi responded,
“Repent a day before your death.” His students were confused. “How can a man
know the day of his death?” they asked. His answer: “He cannot, and since he
may die tomorrow, it is all the more necessary for him to repent today.”
This should
be the urgency with which you are to share the gospel of Jesus with others. A
typical example is Hurricane Katrina. The scientists or meteorologists kept
warning the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and neighboring states that
Hurricane Katrina was heading their way. Some people heeded their warnings and
left town, but others were stubborn and unresponsive. That is the way we are to
handle the word and grace of God. We should keep on sharing it with people. If
they repent that is fine, if they refuse they have themselves to blame.
