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 8:13; Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1) and the vineyard (Isaiah 1:8; 3:14; Jeremiah 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... 2
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.