The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
On day a future martial arts fighter came forward at a Billy Graham crusade and claimed to accepted Christ as his Savior when he was 12 years old.
However, this was not a genuine act as he never really committed his life to serving Christ.
Years passed and he went on to become the karate middleweight champion of the world for eight straight years.
He appeared in karate movies, and in one movie, he fights against Bruce Lee in a death match!
.......
Years later, he starred in the hit TV series.
To the world, he was successful in almost every area of his life.
But in the area that truly mattered the most, he was missing a real relationship with God.
.......
One day, he came home from work, and he saw his wife Gina reading the Bible.
He says “You’re not getting religious on me, are you?”
She said “This is good stuff! You should read this.”
So he sits down on the couch and reads the Bible with her.
And the Holy Spirit started working him over.
And he realized then that he needed to really make Jesus the Lord of your life.
.......
So Chuck Norris surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.
And this time it was the real deal.
Norris’ life was transformed.
In fact, if you watch the last two seasons of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” you’ll see a much stronger emphasis on faith in Christ.
.......
After the show ended, Norris and his wife got involved in all kinds of ministries.
He helps out with the Billy Graham Association and the Make a Wish foundation.
.......
He also began the Kickstart program, which ministers to at risk students in junior high schools across America.
In other words, Chuck Norris doesn’t just mentally acknowledge Jesus Christ.
He really repented of his old ways and now lives a life that is changed for the better because of Jesus Christ!
As we talked about last Sunday...
We will again talk about the importance of repentance on this Palm Sunday.
.......
So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 13 and focus on verses 6 through 9.
Our message this morning is titled “The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree.”
.......
As you are turning to our passage today please keep in mind that this fact...
Jesus will provide us with a parable that will illustrate for us the urgency of repentance...
And what happens when the window to repent has closed.
.......
So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Lack of Fruit
2) The Hope for Fruit
And...
3) The Final Judgement
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
.......
Heavenly Father...
You are are so great and mighty...
In all of Heaven and earth...
No one else is like You!
.......
Thank You for allowing us a time to repent of our wicked ways...
Thank You for Your patience...
And thank You for all Your mercy and grace that You shower on Your children!
.......
Help us to communicate Your urgent call to repent to this world...
Help us to reach our family...
Help us to reach our friends...
Help us to reach our neighbors...
Help us to reach our community...
Help us to reach our fellow countrymen...
And help us to reach anyone who is lost that we come into contact with...
Even to the farthest regions of the world!
.......
And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
.......
Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Lack of Fruit
1) The Lack of Fruit
Verses 6-7: And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’
In order for us to truly understand this parable...
We need to first look at what Jesus was previously talking about...
Which is found in what we covered last week when we studied Luke 13:1-5 which says:
1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?
3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?
5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
So, in this exchange betwen Jesus and the crowd we witness the urgent call of repentance by our Lord and Savior...
And it is with this in mind that we get into our passage for today.
.......
Jesus, in order to illustrate the urgency and need of repentance, starts His parable by saying:
“A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.”
.......
First off, we need to stop and look at one of the main characters of this parable...
The fig tree...
You see Beloved, fig trees were very common in Israel...
In fact, fig trees and figs are mentioned more than fifty times in Scripture...
Additionally, many owners and gardeners placed their fig trees in vineyards as stated in this parable...
This would be a safe place for the fig tree to grow.
.......
Now, a typically fig trees bore fruit annually and they grew from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height...
The fig itself grew to the size of about a cherry...
But the fig tree did not only provide fruit...
In addition, fig trees were an excellent source of shade.
.......
Now, that we covered a little about fig trees and their use and popularity in the 1st century...
We need to consider what they often represented.
.......
You see Beloved, the fig tree is often used as a symbol for Israel...
And this parable symbolizes Israel’s last opportunity to repent before experiencing God’s judgment...
However, in this case, the parable’s lesson about fruitlessness also applies equally to each individual soul.
So, make sure as we are going through this lesson you are not only thinking about the warning to Isreal...
But look internally, for the warning here is also for you and me.
.......
Next the owner of the garden says to the vinedresser:
“Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none.”
Now, this three years mentioned signifies that Israel has had more that enough time to repent...
Remember, fig trees normally produced fruit annually...
So, for three years in a row the fig tree was barren...
This symbolizes that God was very patient with Isreal...
This symbolizes that God is very patient with us...
As 2 Peter 3:8–9 says:
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
However, God is not going to wait forever...
There comes a time of judgement...
As the owner said to the gardener:
“Cut it down.”
Beloved, when the owner says to cut down the fig tree...
That represents the warning of divine judgement for the country and individuals who do not repent.
.......
The owner of the garden even says right after that, “Why should it use up the ground?”
Because the fig tree not only takes up room...
But it also exhausts the soil in which it grows...
The owner wants it to be cut down and to make room for a tree that will actually grow and produce fruit.
As the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says it like this:
“This fig tree should have borne fruit annually, so the hope for fruit is not good.
The act being considered does not reflect impatience.
The owner’s disgust is indicated by the remark that the fig takes up space in the vineyard and robs the ground of nutrients.
Thus the other vines and fruit trees suffer.
His judgment is that the vineyard would be better off without the fig, especially since it steals nutrients from the soil to sustain its growth.
.......
The fig tree pictures the nation and portrays Israel as not having borne any spiritual produce for some time.
The owner’s disgust pictures God’s evaluation of Israel’s current status.
It is possible that the vinedresser represents the merciful element in God’s character pleading for patience.
Such imagery is vivid and descriptive, but it is not designed to indicate an argument within the Godhead.
Rather, it is a graphic way to portray God’s displeasure alongside his patience.”
.......
However, despite the failure of the fig tree to produce fruit for three years...
The dresser pleads with the owner that the tree should be spared for just another year...
And if, after being specially cared for, it still does not bear any fruit, then it must be cut down...
And that is were we will focus next in our second point.
2) The Hope for Fruit
2) The Hope for Fruit
Verses 8-9(a): And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good;
This section of the parable illustrates both the intercession of Christ and the extreme patience and graciousness of the Father.
You see Beloved, Isreal was very rebellious against God...
And they became so worldly that they missed the Messiah because He did not fit their image of what they wanted the Messiah to be...
In Israel's history we see much unfaithfulness...
The worshipping of idols...
The breaking of God’s commands...
The obsession with having kings rule them instead of being ruled by God alone...
Desiring political freedom while ignoring the need to become free from the power of sin.
.......
Well, that kinda sounds like our day and age, too.
.......
Yet, despite this pattern of unfaithfulness...
God is still extending His hand...
God is still allowing Isreal time to repent and turn back to Him as a nation...
As Romans 2:4 says:
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
So, the period of grace and opportunity is extended, but only for a limited time.
You see, that God does not punish sinners immediately does not mean that He approves of their sin.
America still standing does not mean God approves of our actions as a nation...
Rather, His patience shows that He is merciful, and that they Isreal and we America and all other nations should repent while there is time.
And individually speaking, you and I need to make sure we have repented and been made right with God while there is still time.
.......
So, the gardener says to the owner, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.”
The phrase “dig around it” implies loosening the soil so that water can flow easily to the roots.
In other words, the digging serves to loosen the soil in order to allow water to sink down to its roots and allow room for the roots to grow.
This is to give the fig tree the best chance for it to bear fruit...
Likewise, we are to share the Word of God with others and present them with the Gospel message...
For it is only by this truth that anyone will come to the point of genuine repentance and saving belief.
.......
As the vinedresser says:
“Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good.”
However, if no fruit appears after that, it is clearly a bad tree.
So, the keeper of the garden proposed giving the tree one more year to bear fruit in which he would work on it by cultivating and fertilizing the soil around it.
Let us too, all those who genuinely believe, let us minister to others...
Let us pour into them and enrich them with the Word of God...
And if the people we are ministering to have ears to hear...
And if they have eyes to see...
Then we will witness in them true repentance and a totally changed life...
A life that has surrendered to the Lord and now lives for Him.
.......
So Beloved, if you have already experienced God’s grace...
Then go and share His truth...
For each person will be judged...
If the receive the Good News...
Then they will experience blessing...
But is they reject and ignore the Good News...
Then they will experience the fires of God’s wrath...
As Hebrews 6:7–8 says:
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
.......
And it is the warning about rejecting God’s truth that we turn to next...
So, that takes us to our third and final point.
3) The Final Judgement
3) The Final Judgement
Verses 9(b): but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”
Beloved, this is the warning of God’s wrath on the unrepentant...
That may apply like to a nation like it does here to Isreal...
Just as in the time of Jeremiah, the people of Israel had before two ways...
As it says in Jeremiah 21:8:
8 “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
Unfortunately, Isreal as a nation rejected Christ...
You see Beloved...
Today is Palm Sunday...
And about 2,000 years ago on this day...
The people of Isreal cheered on Jesus as He entered Jerusalem...
They cried out “Hosanna!”
“Hosanna!”
“Hosanna!”
As recorded in Matthew 21:9:
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
This Hebrew word “Hosanna” means “save us” or “Lord, grant salvation.”
It is a plea for divine intervention...
And a cry of praise...
However, what the people wanted to be saved from was the Roman Empire...
And they praised Jesus because they thought He was coming to Jerusalem to bring a revolution.
.......
Yet, when Jesus was talking to them about a spiritual revolution...
When He spoke to then of spiritual freedom...
They changed their tune rather quickly.
So, much so that in less than a week...
Those cries of “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna!”
Quickly became cries of “Crucify Him!”
“Crucify Him!”
“Crucify Him!”
As recorded in Matthew 27:23:
23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
.......
This rejection of the long-promised Messiah lead to great judgement on the nation of Isreal...
For in April 70 AD, about the time of Passover, the Roman general Titus besieged Jerusalem.
Since that action coincided with Passover, the Romans allowed pilgrims to enter the city but refused to let them leave—thus strategically depleting food and water supplies within Jerusalem.
Within the walls, the Zealots, a militant anti-Roman party, struggled with other Jewish factions that had emerged, which weakened the resistance even more.
.......
Josephus, a Jew who had commanded rebel forces but then defected to the Roman cause, attempted to negotiate a settlement, but, because he was not trusted by the Romans and was despised by the rebels, the talks went nowhere.
The Romans encircled the city with a wall to cut off supplies to the city completely and thereby drive the Jews to starvation.
.......
By August 70 AD the Romans had breached the final defenses and massacred much of the remaining population.
Likewise, they also destroyed the Temple.
.......
God’s wrath was poured on the nation of Isreal for their refusal to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
In fact, this tragedy should go out as a warning to all nations...
If you turn your back on God and continue in rebellion...
The time of repentance may very well pass and God will unleash His wrath.
.......
In fact, the blessings that should have gone to Isreal if they recieved the Messiah instead now fell to the Gentiles as Matthew 21:43 says:
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
.......
So, no nation is able to avoid this warning...
It doesn’t matter it’s past...
It doesn’t matter if their forefathers built own’s nation to honor the Lord...
That won’t save a nation...
As it says in Matthew 3:7–11:
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
.......
Likewise, the image of the is judgement is much like John the Baptist’s warning that the ax lies at the root of the tree as it says in Luke 3:9:
9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
As New Testament Scholar Darrell L. Bock says:
“A quick response is needed, for once the time is up, it will be too late.
When this time passes, nothing more can be done for this generation of the nation.
Literarily, the parable’s ending is open-ended, awaiting an appropriate response by those it represents.
.......
The Book of Acts shows that the nation failed to respond, an act that brought the Gentiles into the picture in a more significant way.
Tragedy is hard and life is short.
But life is more tragic if one does not turn to God.”
.......
So Beloved, let us keep 2 Chronicles 7:14 top of mind and in our hearts which says:
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Oh how badly our nation has to turn back to God...
For I fear we are getting to the point of no return...
Just like Isreal who refused to repent and was meet with God’s wrath...
What do you think will happen to our nation...
To our home land...
If we keep murdering our children...
And calling the wicked things good...
And calling the good things wicked...
So, spread the Gospel message...
Because our issues are not primary political ones...
The heart of the matter is the heart!
.......
This warning that applies to our nation applies to the individual, Beloved.
We must understand that the call to repentance is an urgent call...
There is no time to wait...
If you are right with the Lord...
Great...
Now go and tell someone about Jesus!
.......
If you are not right with the Lord...
Then today is the day to surrender your life to Him...
As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says:
2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
.......
Did you see that?
Now!
Now is the day of salvation!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this:
On January 23, 1996, Joe Wright, the pastor of Central Christian Church in Wichita, KS was asked to be the guest chaplain for the Kansas State House in Topeka.
He prayed a prayer of repentance that was written by Bob Russell, pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
According to an article in the Kansas City Star from January 24, 1996, his prayer stirred controversy, and one member of the legislative body walked out.
Others criticized the prayer.
.......
The controversy didn't end there.
Later that year in the Colorado House, a Republican representative angered lawmakers by using Joe Wright's prayer as the invocation.
Some members there also walked out in protest.
.......
Paul Harvey got a hold of the prayer and read it on his program.
He got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done. Here’s what he prayed:
.......
“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.
We confess that:
.......
We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
.......
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
.......
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
.......
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
.......
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
.......
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
.......
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice.
.......
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
.......
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
.......
We have abused power and called it political savvy.
.......
We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.
.......
We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression.
.......
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
.......
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state.
Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will.
.......
Amen
.......
Beloved, may we pray that our state...
The Empire State...
New York...
May we as a state turn back to God...
For our state is non of the most rebellious against God...
And may the other states in our nation turn back to God...
And may our country and the countries of the world turn back to God.
.......
May that be our prayer...
That stone hearts will be turned to flesh!
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
.......
Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Open their eyes to see the undeniable truth found in the Word of God...
Open their minds to understand Your ways...
And open their ears to hear with spiritual ears the Good News of Jesus Christ.
.......
I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
For those hearing this message who already know You...
Give us the boldness to share the Word of God with the people we encounter...
Give us the faithfulness to model Your ways to the world...
And give us the courage to declare the Good News of Jesus Christ with a hostile world.
.......
Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
It is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.
