From the Sunday Note, with additional thoughts–
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
Luke 13:6-9 from the Gospel for Sunday
The man looking for the delicious fruit of a fig tree reminds us of various Old Testament references to Israel as God’s garden, and in Jesus’ version he has come three different times and found no fruit. Probably the “three” is simply parabolic or storytelling tradition (three wishes, three chances) but even so, it does match up well with three major acts of rejection of God in Israel’s history.
–after God’s gracious rescue of the enslaved Israelites from Egypt, the people fell into an idolatrous orgy before Moses can even get down the mountain with the chiseled stones of the Ten Commandments.
–then, after giving the Israelites the king and kingdom they craved and the beautiful Temple of His Presence, the king (Solomon) fell into idolatry, the kingdom was split in two, and idolatrous worship became complete in the Northern Kingdom and thoroughly mixed into the worship of the Southern Kingdom.
–now, after God graciously rescued devoted Israelites from Exile and the 2nd Temple was built, the people as a whole are ruled by corrupt kings not of David’s line, led in worship by high priests not correctly descended from Aaron, instructed by self-aggrandizing scribes and Pharisees, and enflamed by fanatics who mistake holy war for actual holiness. True faithfulness is practiced by a small remnant of the people. This is the time of Jesus’ appearance.
In the parable, the one who owns the orchard says the time has come to destroy the useless tree, but “the gardener” (the man’s “Son” in this case we may assume) persuades him to stretch out the time of mercy, to see if fruit will not appear in another year.
As we know from history, Jesus holds off the cutting down of the useless tree for some 35-40 years (a generation) while his messengers go to extraordinary lengths to bring the Gospel’s good news to people. Their work he describes as “cultivating and fertilizing” around the fig to see if it will respond. Overall, they do not respond, which brings on the disaster of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the exile of the survivors.
So much for history. It most likely Jesus intends a personal message for his hearers. What might we take from all this? Cultivation disturbs the ground, uprooting weeds, digging out invading roots, etc. Fertilizing means adding nutrients—some of them rather pungent. In fact, several English translations use the plainer, original “manuring” for “fertilizing.” So, be alert: if the Lord is doing a little disturbing “cultivation” in my life or yours, if we notice some pungent “fertilizer” being tossed our way, it is likely the Lord is expecting us to begin bearing fruit! Start simple—who is someone in the family you need to forgive? To be generous with? To have that difficult conversation with? …
For further reflection:
In the parable, the fig is given one more year. In Jesus’ immediate application to Israel, we look back and see that His Father waited another generation before the predicted judgment came. “A lifetime.”
Exactly what each of us has.
He is generous with His time set apart for repentance. It is up to us to remember that the judgement is as inevitable as the generosity.