fig tree

Harmony #79: Fruit, Mold and Mountains (Matthew 21:10-22; John 12:17-19; Mark 11:11-24; Luke 19:45-46)

Let’s talk about figs and fig trees in the Bible.

·   “How miserable I am! I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest who can find nothing to eat. Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig can be found to satisfy my hunger. The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.” (Micah 7:1-2)

·  “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the ‘first ripe’ in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.” (Hosea 9:10)

·   “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, the teeth of a great lion. He has laid my vine [Judah] waste, and barked my fig tree...” (Joel 1:6-7) 

·   “The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master/lord will be honored.” (Proverbs 27:18)

So, figs and fig trees are used throughout the Old Testament as a symbol for God’s people, and sometimes very specifically the leaders. In addition, sitting under one’s own fig tree became a common OT image of the Israelite enjoying freedom and prosperity in the land (2 Kings 18:31Isaiah 36:16Micah 4:4Zechariah 3:10); meanwhile, its destruction was a symbol of the nation’s judgment (Jeremiah 5:17Hosea 2:12Joel 1:712).

We are going to read an interesting incident in the life of Jesus today, one in which he performs his only recorded “miracle of destruction.” He is going to kill a fig tree. It feels a little jarring because it seems petty and a little mean, like Jesus had a really bad day and he just did not have time for this stupid fig tree!

However, this story wraps around a visit to the temple where the “fig tree” of the leaders of His people are defiling the temple. I am going to suggest that Jesus’ treatment of the fig tree tells his disciples something very important about the future of the Temple and the Sadducees. Let’s read the passage, then talk about what Jesus was doing with the fig tree.

As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” So the crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it.

Because they had heard that Jesus had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him. Thus the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!” Then Jesus went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.

Now early in the morning  the next day, as they went out from Bethany and returned to the city, Jesus was hungry.[1]After noticing in the distance by the road a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it.

When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.  He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again. Never again will there be fruit from you!” And his disciples heard it.

Apparently, fig trees put out leaves and fruit pretty close together. If it has leaves, it should have some kind of fruit. Even before it is “the season for figs,” there are these little early figs that let you know the harvest will happen (the ‘first ripe’ in Hosea 9). They are like a teaser trailer for the upcoming show. This seems to be what is happening. Not only is this tree lying about its fruitfulness, it’s not going to bear fruit when the season hits.

Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,[2] and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.[3]

Then Jesus began to teach them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of robbers!”[4] The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them.[5]

But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?”

Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?”[6] The chief priests and the experts in the law heard it and they considered how they could assassinate him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching.

When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered to the roots.” When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did it wither so quickly?”[7]

Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you.[8] For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”[9]

THE TEMPLE AND THE FIG TREES (SADDUCEES)

During Passover, hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims would travel to Jerusalem. They would have to exchange their own currency for temple currency and purchase animals and other items for sacrifices. Guess who controlled this whole process? The Sadducees.

You may remember that ever since the Sadducees asked Herod to be the King of the Jews to appease Rome, the priesthood was a political system controlled by Herod. Instead of priests descending from Zadok (1 Chronicles 24), the empire selected the high priests. As you might expect, this led to bribes and corruption, with the chief priests, captains and treasurers of the temple becoming wealthy and influential families who formed a small, powerful group within society with their own little group of thugs #templeguard to make sure they got their way.[10]

They raised the sacrificial animals, sold them, changed the money (for profit), etc. It was a huge money grift. And they did it in a part of the temple where the Gentiles were supposed to be able to worship.

It seems that Jesus cleared the Temple courtyards twice: once at the beginning of his ministry and once at the end. In Levitical law, there was only one scenario for which God’s people need to do a cleansing twice: mold. If after the first cleansing the priests found no more mold, the house was cleansed again and then the family can move back in. However….

If the mold has spread on the walls, he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town. He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town.[11] Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean.  It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place. (Leviticus 14: 39-45)[12]

Or, to use Jesus’ fig tree imagery, it must be withered to the root.

It turns out that Jesus’ triumphal entry took Jesus to the heart of first-century Judaism: the temple, where Sadducee and Temple trees had lots of leaves - and mold, and no fruit. There was nothing to feed and nourish God’s people. It was maybe even toxic and destructive. They were clearly not being the “light to the nations” that God intended of His people.[13]

I believe the destruction of the fig tree was a tangible rabbinic parable that his disciples understood as pointing to the coming destruction of the priesthood and Temple, “withered to the roots.”[14]

This would indicate two things.

  • The rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem will no longer be a goal of redemptive history. The New Covenant Temple is the church in which all are priests (2 Corinthians 6; 1 Peter 2) and believers in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3).

  • What we now call Judaism will no longer be the primary carrier of the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is here. It’s meant to be the church: the new temple, with a new priesthood.[15] This does not mean we don’t appreciate and learn from the beautiful foundation of the Old Covenant – they were God’s chosen people - but the mantle has been passed, like Elijah to Elisha, to the New Covenant people.

We must take this seriously. We are not immune from the dangers facing the followers of God in the time of Jesus. We are called to ‘be fruitful and multiply,’ to produce fruit of righteousness that draws the nations to Jesus with words and lives free of hypocrisy, greed, and the love of power.

It struck me yesterday that the Jewish people’s greatest threat had never been other nations in the Bible. It was always themselves. Babylon could take their bodies into exile, and Egypt could enslave them, and Rome could kill them, but the mold that withered them to the root came from within. Say what we will about the course of this country depending how elections go and what the future may look like for followers of Jesus, but nothing out there threatens the church as much as the mold of false and corrupted worship threatens the church.

We are called to not only be God’s temple but to keep His Temple, the church, holy: set apart, pure, full of truth and grace, characterized by generosity, humility, and the kind of love that is will to be broken and spilled out for others in honor of our Savior.

We may will need His cleansing power at times to drive out sin from our personal and corporate temples.  The mold has got to go. Pride. Greed. Unforgiveness. Immorality. Gossip. Slander. Division. Judgment. Untruth. Meanness. Pettiness.

Nothing should get between us and our mission: to glorify the goodness of God with the entirety of our lives, and to demonstrate in all that we do the compelling message of salvation, life and hope that is grounded in Jesus and experienced in His church. I like how Adam Clarke summarizes what Jesus was doing here.

“Having condemned the profane use of the temple, he now shows the proper use of it. It is a house of prayer, where God is to manifest his goodness and power in giving sight to the spiritually blind, and feet to the [spiritually] lame. The church in which the [spiritually] blind and the lame are not healed has no Christ in it, and is not worthy of attendance.” (Adam Clarke)

That’s not scripture, but I think it’s inspired in its own way. I know I’m convicted as I apply that to myself.

  • When people are around me who are spiritually struggling or lost, are they healed as I show the presence of Christ in me – God’s truth, grace, love, hope, kindness – or are they hurt?

  • Did they pick up some mold from being around me? Or do they leave with maybe a little mold gone, or at least some tools to get rid of it, because the Holy Spirit has worked in our time together?

  • Am I just leafy – because I can put on a show if I need to – or is the fruit of the Holy Spirit evident such that my attitudes, words, thoughts, and actions nourish those in my presence with the goodness of God’s provision?

I urge you to consider this for yourself. With your family, you friends, at work, when you are here on Sundays and Wednesdays,

What is the fruit you demonstrate in your character or offer as a service to those around you – not as a show, but as a gift of nourishment in Christ?

What might be the mold clinging to you that Jesus needs to cleanse? What needs to be driven out lest you begin to wither?

If you think this sounds like a daunting task, it is. Good news: Jesus tells his disciples what to do right here in this passage. If the disciples demonstrate faith in God – if they live faithfully - they can remove the mountainous problem of fruitlessness and mold.

When rabbis told parables[16], they wanted a physical representation to make their point. Jesus is likely standing on the Mount of Olives with the Herodian and the Temple Mount in sight. He is probably pointing toward one of these. I lean toward the Herodian, but it’s not a hill I will die on J Why? Because “faith” almost always means “faithfulness” – trust in action – and the Herodian gives a prime example of what seemingly insurmountable hurdles can in fact be conquered when we put one foot in front of the other over and over in the service of a cause.

The Herodian was a mountain fortress overlooking the town of Bethlehem built on a mountain Herod had commanded be literally moved from one location to the place he wanted it to be. One shovelful at a time. If you think of faithfulness as “steadfast commitment,” that’s what it took to literally move a mountain.

Jesus once told his disciples that faith as small as a mustard seed could move mountains. He wanted his followers to know that our lived out faith can accomplish far more than the most amazing earthly feats. You’re impressed that Herod, a ruler of the Empire, moved a mountain? Wait until you see what can be moved with the authority and power of the ruler of the universe behind the faithful witness of your life.

You know what’s more amazing than moving a mountain of stone?

  • Being freed from addiction.

  • Learning how to control your words.

  • Having pride replaced with humility.

  • Learning how to really, truly love that person.

  • Becoming patient when you have been characterized by impatience for so long.

  • Learning to see people as imago dei instead of objects of lust.

  • Being moved from greed to generosity.

  • Replacing a reputation for being caustic and rude with a reputation for being kind.

  • Seeing the fruit of the Spirit[17] – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – replace the mold of sin.

To go back to today’s text, what about that mountain of fruitlessness, mold, and hypocrisy? Is it even possible to move that mountain? Yes, and the disciples will show that in the book of Acts. They will faithfully go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Historians believe the Christian population grew by 40 percent a decade: probably about 1,000 Christians in AD 40 to 33 million in AD 350.

Mountains are moved when Jesus works within our lived out faith. I like the old joke, “How do you eat an elephant? One spoonful at a time.” How do we move mountains? One faithful shovel at a time, one righteous moment after another, whether it’s in our individual lives, our church life, or our concern for our nation.

And may God, who is a Good Father, be so good as to cleanse His Temple for our good, the good of the world, and God’s glory.

________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “Recalls God’s statement that his bringing Israel out of Egypt was like the joy of finding early figs and his later complaint that Israel’s idolatry and injustice rendered the nation barren and without justice (Hos 9:7–17Mic 6:1—7:6)…In spite of God’s gift of his law and the land, and his presence now in Jesus, Israel and its leaders have failed to produce the justice and mercy God desires…Jesus, as Israel’s Lord, enacts that image in fulfillment of Malachi’s threatened curse upon the land (Mal 4:6) and hence his following announcement of the destruction of the temple.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[2] The cleansing of the temple by Jesus is reminiscent of how kings like Hezekiah (2 Chr 29–31) and Josiah (2 Chr 34–35) repaired the temple prior to the celebration of Passover. (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[3] This is the second time Jesus has cleansed the Temple courtyard, reminiscent of Jeremiah twice cursing the temple (Jeremiah 7 and 26). There are soooo many Old Testament hyperlinks in the life and teaching of Jesus.

[4] “Perhaps ‘robbers’ should be translated ‘nationalist rebel’ (as in Jeremiah 7:11). The temple was meant to be a house of prayer, but… had become, like the first temple, the premier symbol of a superstitious belief that God would protect and rally his people irrespective of their conformity to his will.” (Expositors Bible Commentary)

[5] “Most Jewish authorities forbade any person lame, blind, deaf, or mute from offering a sacrifice or appearing before the Lord in his temple. But Jesus heals them, thus showing that "one greater than the temple is here" (12:6).

[6] Jesus here quotes the Greek of Psalm 8:2; Hebrew reads “strength” instead of “praise.”

[7] When they say, “How did you do it so quickly?” I tend to think they knew what Jesus was doing and are wondering how the Sadducees will be dealt with so quickly. They will be in AD 70, when the Temple and the Sadducees are destroyed.

[8] The Eastern Orthodox tradition is all in on the literalness of this. “While it is not recorded that an apostle literally moved a mountain, the Fathers are clear that they had this authority if the need had arisen (certain saints did make crevices appear in mountains). Furthermore, not everything the apostles accomplished was written down.” Orthodox Study Bible) I love the “not everything was written down.” This would suggest they might have moved mountains, but it never made it into the historical record, as if moving the mountain was never the point. I don’t prefer a literalist reading of this teaching, but I appreciate their bold and confident perspective.

[9] NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[10] HT NIV Women’s Study Bible

[11] I suspect the ‘unclean place’ in Jesus time was the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, which Jesus references multiple times as a place of punishment and destruction.

[12] Side note: Jesus is about to tell some parables that include this kind of cleansing in which people are cast out to places of judgment, very similar to this scenario.

[13] “The tree is fully leafed, and in such a state one would normally expect to find fruit. This symbolizes the hypocrisy and sham of the nation of Israel. The “withered” fig tree likely stands for the nation’s coming destruction.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

“The tree with its leaves had the marks of fruitfulness, but it bore no fruit. Israel was likewise practicing hypocrisy (Mk 7:6)…Jesus might also have been illustrating religious hypocrites like the ones he had thrown out of the temple.” (NIV Women’s Study Bible)

“There were leaves, which speak of profession, but no fruit for God. Jesus was hungry for fruit from the nation.” (Believers Bible Commentary)

[14] HT NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

[15] ESV Reformation Study Bible

[16]  “Many of the rabbins are termed rooters up of mountains, because they were dexterous in removing difficulties, solving cases of conscience, etc. In this sense our Lord's words are to be understood. He that has faith will get through every difficulty and perplexity. Mountains shall become molehills or plains before him. The saying is neither to be taken in its literal sense, nor is it hyperbolical: it is a proverbial form of speech.” (Adam Clarke)

 [17] Galatians 5

Harmony #66: Bearing Fruit (Luke 13:1-9)

Once again, I am finding that Jesus often teaches in a classic rabbinic way that invites the hearers to really dig. Is it this? Maybe this? We are supposed to search for the hidden gold of truth. I found today’s passage to be no exception. I have been digging. I offer what I found, while noting that others have found different things here. I look forward to discussion afterward.

Once again, context is crucial for today’s passage. In Luke 12(the previous chapter)…

  • Jesus warns about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (v. 1-3) Look for the word “hypocrites” to show up later today.

  • Don’t be afraid of those who merely kill the body (v. 4-5); have a more eternal perspective.

  • He encourages his disciples, whose physical comfort was sparse: “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (v. 13-21). This, too, becomes important later.

  • He tells a couple parables (v.35-48) about the importance of being faithful servants who understand the master, know what to do, and then do it faithfully. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Watch for what he has to say about those who has been entrusted with the “much” of being spiritual leaders of His people with access to the valuable revelation God has given them in the Old Testament and the person of Jesus.

  • Then he says, “I have come to bring fire,” (v. 49) the purification of the Word and the testing God allows or brings into our lives. He’s establishing the need for serious change. It’s probably going to have something to do with forming faithful servants who understand the master, know what to do with what they have been given, and then do it faithfully.

The next two paragraphs have something to say about understanding the master, knowing what to do, and actually doing it. (v. 54-59).

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west (Mediterranean Sea), immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind (desert) blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is.Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time (‘season’)? 

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

In other words, you hypocritical leaders of the people (“to whom much has been entrusted”), you understand the importance of being reconciled with an earthly judge when you have done wrong; why are you not concerned about the wrongs for which you will have to answer when you answer to God for what you with what’s been entrusted to you?

Now there were some present at that time (‘season’) who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things?[1] No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish in like manner!  

Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem?[2] No, I tell you! But unless you repent you will all perish in like manner!”[3]

They seem to be smarting at Jesus’ implication that they have something for which to repent. They wanted Jesus to affirm that people who were killed by the sword or the collapse of the tower must have been sinful. Those standing in front of him were still alive; ergo, they don’t have sin to answer for! Case closed!  (Once again, they are thinking about this life rather than having an eternal perspective).

Jesus is about to say, “Oh, you have missed the point!” through a parable about the sin for which they need to repent. 

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the vineyard keeper, ‘For three years now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it I find none. Cut it down! Why should it continue to deplete the soil?’

”But the vineyard keeper answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer on it. Then if it bears fruit next year, very well, but if not, you can cut it down.’ “

So, let’s talk about the variety of ways this has been interpreted. If it is unsettling to not have a clear consensus, just remember that the rabbis were in their element debating passages that could be understood and applied several ways. Some ambiguity – and the freedom to interpret – was deeply ingrained in Jewish religious life.

First, who are the fig tree and the vineyard? Old Testament writers use the image of the fig tree (Jeremiah 8:13Hosea 9:10Micah 7:1) and the vineyard (Isaiah 1:83:14Jeremiah 12:10; Isa 5:1- 7) to describe God’s people. Jesus will talk about us being part of a vineyard (He’s the vine; we the branches[5]). 

Second, Some commentaries suggest that this is a reference to Jerusalem’s upcoming destruction of the Temple in 70 AD as a result of Jewish sin. After all, the city collapsed and tens of thousands of Jewish people died from Roman swords. I don’t think that’s the point of the parable. After all, Jesus just made that point that they shouldn’t automatically conclude that people who get killed did something wrong. If anything, Jesus is pointing away from trying to put an = sign between bad things and bad people. The Romans destroyed the temple in response to a violent Jewish revolt, not in response to the kind of things Jesus is talking about here.[4]

Third,, some commentaries see God the Father as the owner and the vineyard keeper as Jesus. This seems to pit God the Father and Jesus the Son against each other. They are not on the same page about what to do with this seemingly lifeless fig tree. This feels like a mean Old Testament God being constrained by a nice New Testament Jesus so God doesn’t destroy a sinner. This kind of fracturing of the Trinitarian unity of God creates problems for me.

So this parable seems to be about God’s people and two other characters: one who impatiently wants to destroy a seemingly useless tree,[6] and one who wants to save it and nurture it.

Fourth, what happened to the fig tree after the story ended? Is there an ending the audience assumed? It turns out there is. Let’s talk about that first, because it set’s the table for everything that follows.

* * * * * *

According to my #commentarycrush Adam Clarke, there is a very similar story in an ancient Greek agriculture book called the De Re Rustica (spanning 1st century BC and 1st century AD)[7].

“How to make a barren tree fruitful.” Having girded yourself, and tied up your garments, take [an] axe, and with an angry mind approach the tree as if about to cut it down. Then let some person come forward and [stop you from] cutting down of the tree, making himself responsible for its future fertility. Then, seem to be appeased, and so spare the tree, and afterwards it will yield fruit in abundance. Bean straw (manure of that material,) scattered about the roots of the tree, will make it fruitful."

So, I’m not saying this is great agricultural science, but this story was a known story with a known ending at the time of Jesus. To give you an idea of lasting power of this story, Clarke also cites a dude named Ibn Alvardi (1200s) who prescribed the following as the mode to render a sterile palm tree fruitful:

"The owner, armed with an axe, having an attendant with him, approaches the tree, and says, ‘I must cut this tree down, because it is unfruitful.’ ‘Let it alone, I beseech thee,’ says the other, ‘and this year it will bring forth fruit.’ The owner immediately strikes it thrice with the back of his axe; but the other preventing him says, ‘I beseech thee to spare it, and I will be answerable for its fertility.’ Then the tree becomes abundantly fruitful." 

Clarke’s conclusion: 

“Does not our Lord refer to such a custom?” (Adam Clarke)

I think He did.

Who is looking at the tree and seeing nothing but a fruitless waste of space?  Who is ready to pronounce judgment on how this tree looks to them? The man in charge of the farm: the leaders of the Jewish people. The Pharisees, who loved to look on the outside while God looked on the heart. 

In this parable, a struggling fig tree that is assumed to deserve judgment is rescued by the one who has not given up on that tree’s future. (Note: Jesus follows this by healing a woman on whom society had given up. He gives her a future. More on this next week.)

What does the vineyard keeper do in the parable?  He advocates for not giving up on the life of the tree. He lays out his plan for replenishing the soil with nutrients from, literally, dung.  He is personally going to look this tree’s health. The owner may think the tree is a lost cause, but the vineyard keeper knows that the tree’s history is not its destiny.

The apostle Paul was also on board with this, as we see in Romans 11. If we go back to the Old Testament, God’s plan was for His people to be the means by which salvation would be spread throughout the world.

“I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:6-7) 

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

In Romans 11, Paul’s overall point is that the Jewish people failed to do that. #nofruit #nolight  Consequently, the gospel message was taken directly to the Gentiles (of which Paul is a forerunner in the early church). However – super important - this fruitless fig tree of Israel was not cut down.

So I ask: did God’s people stumble and fall off the deep end? Absolutely not! They are not lost forever; but through their misconduct, the door has been opened for salvation to extend even to the outsiders… So if their misconduct leads ultimately to God’s riches coming to the world and if their failure turns into the blessing of salvation to all people, then how much greater will be the riches and blessing when they are included fully…? 

Imagine some branches are cut off of the cultivated olive tree and other branches of a wild olive (which represents all of you outsiders) are grafted in their place. You are nourished by the root of the cultivated olive tree. It doesn’t give you license to become proud and self-righteous about the fact that you’ve been grafted in. 

I can almost hear some of you saying, “Branches had to be pruned to make room for me.” Yes, they were. They were removed because they did not believe; and you will stay attached, be strong, and be productive only through faith….If those branches that have been cut from the tree do not stay in unbelief, then God will carefully graft them back onto the tree because He has the power to do that... 

I am going to let you in on the plan so that you will not think too highly of yourselves. A part of Israel has been hardened to the good news until the full number of those outside the Jewish family have entered in. This is the way that all of Israel will be saved…You see, when God gives a grace gift and issues a call to a people, He does not change His mind and take it back. 

There was a time when you outsiders were disobedient to God and at odds with His purpose, but now you have experienced mercy as a result of their disobedience. In the same way, their disobedience now will make a way for them to receive mercy… 

For God has assigned all of us together—Jews and non-Jews, insiders and outsiders—to disobedience so He can show His mercy to all. For all that exists originates in Him, comes through Him, and is moving toward Him; so give Him the glory forever. Amen.

 That’s the parable in action. Jesus is really good at bringing life from what appears to be death; he brings fruit from trees other have given up on.

So, from what is his Pharisee audience supposed to be repenting? Hmm.

  • They had been given the rich soil of Scripture and the clear revelation of Jesus, and the people they led were dying from lack of the nourishment of gospel truth.

  • They passed judgment on the hearts of people (I mean, those who suffered calamity were clearly terrible sinners, right?).

  • They didn’t understand the Kingdom at all. They assumed physical safety, health and wealth were the fruit that demonstrated spiritual life; meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples did not have wealth or physical safety (most would die martyrs), and yet they had the true riches of the Kingdom.

These hypocrites, who had been entrusted with much, claimed to know God and His will, but they couldn’t have been further from it.

Where the Pharisees saw death, Jesus saw life. Where the Pharisees saw a waste of space, Jesus saw a future blessing. Where the Pharisees saw uselessness, Jesus saw the potential for flourishing. When the Pharisees pushed off, Jesus pressed in. The vineyard keeper knew the truth:

“If you’re ready to chop down the tree every time it fails to bear the fruit you think it should, pretty soon you’ll find yourself surrounded by nothing but a bunch of dead stumps.” (Leah Schade)

The vineyard keeper says:

  • Trust in God’s provision and patience.

  • Don’t keep trying to figure out how bad people are really are – get in there and minister to them. Dig in the rubble if their lives have already collapsed. Be sobered by the temporary nature of your life also, and consider the state of your heart.

  • Don’t give up on those whose branches seem fruitless. Tend the soil of their – and your - heart, mind and soul with truth of God’s word, with prayer, with love and faithfulness. You may be shocked at what next year’s harvest brings.

 I appreciated a somewhat poetic post from Leah Schade as I was researching this. She gets the final word.

I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff and thy shovel and thy wheelbarrow full of compost – they comfort me.  I fear no evil because I look forward to seeing what God is going to do about this. How God is going to take a dead tree and throw manure around it and bring it back to life. 

So I stand here looking at that empty tree, shaking my head.  And I watch that Gardener fervently, (seemingly) foolishly digging, digging, digging around that tree. And then the gardener beckons to me, and hands me a shovel.[8]


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[1] It was widely believed that sin invited tragedy. Job’s friend Eliphaz asked, amidst other bad advice, “Who, being innocent, has ever perished?” (Job 4:7).

[2] “Tragedy is no sure sign of sinfulness, just as the absence of tragedy is no sure sign of righteousness. All alike – those whose lives are tragic and those whose lives are tranquil – are sinners and all alike must repent before God.” (Africa Study Bible)

[3] “ωσαυτως, ομοιως, in a like way, in the same manner. This prediction was literally fulfilled. When the city was taken by the Romans [after a violent Jewish uprising], multitudes of the priests going on with their sacrifices were slain, and their blood mingled with the blood of their victims, and multitudes were buried under the ruins of the walls, houses, and temple.” (Adam Clarke) I think this is part of Jesus’ warning to Peter that those who live by the sword will perish by the sword. I don’t think this is what Jesus is talking about here, as I will explain.

[4] I’m thinking of something else Jesus said that’s probably more relevant to the Temple’s destruction: “Those who live by the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52)

[5] John 15

[6] Just how much at fault was the tree? A tree does not decided whether or not to produce fruit. It’s a result of many factors. In this case, the vineyard manager seems to identify the problem: it has not been properly nourished in the soil into which it is planted.[6] Hmmmm. The owner has asked someone to tend to a vineyard and tree that is on his land – and his land has terrible soil. That sounds like an owner problem, which is yet another reason I don’t think the owner is God the Father.

[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Re_Rustica

[8] Leah D. Schade, https://st-ignatius.net/rethinking-the-parable-of-the-fruitless-tree-in-luke-131-9/. A number of my closing thoughts are borrowed from her.