Luke 13:6-9 The Barren Fig Tree 2/5/17
6 Then he (Jesus) told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
I was very sad and disappointed when one girl, who had the Bible Study with me faithfully, was expelled from the program and her program-provided apartment because of her addiction. It was hard for her to cut off her bad habit. Jesus said in v. 5, “…unless you repent, you too will all perish,” prior to telling the parable of the barren fig tree. The fig tree represents God’s chosen ones planted in His Promised Land, Israel, as well as God’s family in our time. God expects us to bear spiritual fruit, but in this case found a person who bore none. God felt that this person turned out to to be useless, and was wasting God’s grace and love.
The worker, Jesus, pleaded with the man (God) that He would dig around and fertilize it. What fertilizer would He provide? The fertilizer He provided was His blood, His life, His love, and His mercy, and his sacrifice on the cross was for us to be fruitful and useful trees. We also have to do our part: first, we must repent our own bad habits, like pruning dead branches that waste the nutrition and fertilizer given by the Worker Jesus. We must also receive His nutrition and fertilizer through His word by reading and meditating. Let us all become His fruitful fig trees in His vineyard; He will be so happy with us, proud of us all. (Rev InSook Do)