Skip to main content

174. Pleading for the Fig Tree


Key Verse: He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.
Proverbs 27:18

We have here three main characters: a master, who acquired the tree in hopes of eventually enjoying its fruit, a servant, who looks to the tree to reflect his care and attention, and lastly, the tree itself. The master has the right to expect his investment to pay off. The servant, who has obviously put much effort into the tree, would also like to see fruit. The servant's interest is not only to show his own talent in gardening, but because he wants to please his master. Both the servant and the master are dependent upon the tree to do what it was designed to do.

Their little parable is an interesting way for Jesus to finish off His exhortation to, "repent or perish."  God is the Master. He had a purpose for you before you were even born. (Jeremiah 1:5 & Psalm 139:16) He planted you on this earth to fulfill that purpose. He checks on you to see if you are on or off track and He cares very much about the outcome.

Jesus is the care taker. He loves you and tends to you. He has sacrificed for you and He longs to see you succeed in your mission. When God is disappointed, Jesus still pleads for you, "Give another chance, Father!  Let Me care even more and see what We get."

Then there is us, the tree in the vineyard. Unlike the tree, we have a will. We can choose to serve and obey or not. The fig tree may not be able to help it if it doesn't bear fruit, but we can. That is why Jesus uses the parable of this fig tree to illustrate His point, "if we don't repent, we will perish."

It is true that the Lord is patient and long suffering, usually way beyond anything that we could imagine as a human being. To be honest, there have been times when I myself have longed for God to stop being patient and deal with those who have caused me pain. Unfortunately, my prayers, of this sort, are selfish and short sighted, not taking into account the full picture of redemption. However, the truth is, there will be an end. Jesus spoke of judgment and an end in His parables about the Kingdom in Matthew 13. The history of Israel includes the exile, in which God said, "enough." We do not have forever to decide to get around to obeying Him and fulfilling His purpose for us on this earth. He is watching and He does care, and you have a decision to make. "Repent, or perish." It's as simple as that.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...