This evening’s message is entitled “It Bore No Fruit,” and it’s taken from what is commonly called “The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree.” “Die when I may,” said Abraham Lincoln, “I want it said of me that I plucked a weed and planted a flower wherever I thought a flower would grow.”(1) Lincoln wanted it said of him that during his life he bore fruit; that he made a positive impact in his time on this earth. This parable and sermon addresses the topic of bearing fruit; of how important it is, and how God despises fruitlessness.
A Vineyard and Fig Tree (v. 6)
6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.”
Before this parable can be understood, we must interpret the symbolism behind the objects that Jesus mentioned here. The first item of symbolism is the man who planted the tree. This man is representative of the God of Israel. We also see that Jesus mentioned a fig tree growing in a vineyard. So, what have we discovered from some other parables about the identity of the vineyard? The vineyard is symbolic of the Lord’s followers here on earth. It often refers to His group of chosen people, the Jews.
What does the fig tree symbolize? Jesus mentioned the fig tree on few occasions, and each time He did it was in reference to its destruction. The Harper’s Bible Dictionary says, “A fig tree that failed in its purpose of bearing figs was cursed by Jesus perhaps as a metaphor for the destruction of the Temple that similarly failed to bear proper religious fruit.”(2) The fig tree is symbolic of the Temple in Jerusalem. The fig tree, or Temple, arose high among the vineyard, and was in view of God’s people, Israel. If the fig tree is symbolic of the Temple, and Jesus was speaking of its destruction, then what is this all about? We will soon find out.
Notice that verse 6 mentions how the man came to the fig tree and found no fruit on it. When a tree is fruitful, it brings forth something that is useful to other creatures as sustenance. It is helpful and life-giving. In the Old Testament the fig tree represented security and life. Take for instance Micah 4:4, which says, “But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”
Jesus’ parable here is addressing spiritual fruitfulness – or, just the opposite, fruitlessness. We will see as we go along that this parable is directed towards the people who are running or operating the temple – the religious leaders – but it’s directed toward “people.” Now, the Scripture compares people to trees on many occasions. People can become barren or fruitful. Those who are fruitful bring life to the people around them. Christians are fruitful whenever they direct someone to eternal life in Christ Jesus, and bring them the sustenance of God’s Word, which is the Bread of Life.
Psalm 1:1-4 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.”
In order to become fruitful we must remain close to the Lord and keep His Word, or the Scripture, close to our heart. If we do this, then we will become fruitful. When the Word of God abides in our heart we will be obedient to it, and we will do as commanded in Matthew 28:19-20 which tells us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Only when we are faithful and obedient to the Word will we become fruitful.
The Temple was supposed to bring forth life to God’s people, namely spiritual life; but something happened which made it unfruitful. If meditating on God’s law and being obedient to the law will make someone fruitful, then did the Temple leaders fail to abide in the Word of God?
No Fruit in Three Years (v. 7)
7 “Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’”
Verse 7 says that the keeper of the vineyard sought fruit on the tree for three years. In reference to the three years, The New Bible Dictionary says, “Mosaic law decreed that fruit-bearing trees be regarded as unclean for three years after planting, as the Lord’s in the fourth year, and to be eaten by the people only in the fifth year. This preserved the health of the tree against premature plucking, and gave God His due place.”(3) This reference to three years may not be literal, but may represent another number.
Something happened to the Jerusalem Temple that caused it to become barren. At the turn of the first millennium A.D., around the time that Christ was born, Judea was a Roman province under the control of Herod. Herod was a decent ruler who did some good for the people of Judea. Herod rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple during his reign, and provided prosperity and stability to the land.(4)
After Herod’s death in 4 A.D., riots broke out in Jerusalem and were controlled by force under the leadership of his sons Archelaus, Philip, and Antipas. During this time, the Temple in Jerusalem was burned and looted.(5) The land then came under the control of Herod’s sons. In the reign of his sons the restored Temple and its religious leaders were corrupted by allegiance to Rome.
The Scribes and Pharisees became perverse and self-righteous, ignoring the needs of the people around them, and refusing to give them spiritual guidance. They were disobedient to the Word of God. Jesus condemned the Scribes in Luke 11:52, when He said, “Woe to you [Scribes]! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” The Temple and religious leaders were not bearing spiritual fruit, so the Lord decided that the Temple should be destroyed.
Jude describes people who have gone astray from the Lord, and have been disobedient to Him, declaring, “They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots” (Jude 12). In Matthew 3:10, John the Baptist said, “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” What John the Baptist was saying is that anyone who is disobedient to the Word of God will be cut off and destroyed. Commentator Gary Davenport says,
It was not unusual to see fig trees . . . in vineyards. The soil was so shallow and poor that trees were grown wherever there was soil to grow them; but the fig-tree had a more than average chance; and it had not proved worthy of it . . . The parable teaches that uselessness invites disaster . . . Nothing which only takes out can survive. The fig tree was drawing strength and sustenance from the soil; and in return was producing nothing.(6)
Going back to the parable, the Lord told the keeper of the vineyard that He had been waiting three years for the Temple and its leaders to change its ways. Three years may be symbolic of three decades, which is about how long it was from 4 A.D. to the time that Jesus began His public ministry. The Lord was waiting for the Temple to change while His own Son was growing and preparing. Now He wanted to tear it down. If thirty years had already passed, and God was conversing with someone about tearing down the Temple, with whom might He have been speaking? As we continue, we will see that Jesus is the answer to this question.
Digging Around and Fertilizing (vv. 8-9)
8 “But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down’.”
Back in verse 7, the man who planted, representing God, discussed the condition of the fig tree with the keeper of the vineyard. This keeper is symbolic of Jesus, God’s one and only Son. Jesus basically said, “Hold on a minute, Father. Let me try a few things before you cut it down.”
The keeper wanted to dig around the tree and fertilize it. Digging around the tree is for aeration of the soil, so that the roots and tree will grow. The fertilization of a fig tree is a more difficult matter. “The fertilization of the fruit is dependent on a tiny wasp, which carries pollen into the inner parts by boring into the center of the fruit. The fig tree therefore will not bear fruit if the wasp is absent, and may even require hand-fertilization by incision.”(7)
Being that this passage is a reference to the lack of religious leadership found in the Temple, Jesus was saying that He was going to dig around the Temple, and strike right at the heart of it. Jesus dug around the Temple by preaching to the people located in the countryside, outside the walls of Jerusalem. He wished to penetrate the Temple, like a wasp penetrated a fig, by preaching to the religious leaders inside Jerusalem.
I stated earlier that Jesus rarely spoke about the fig tree except in reference to its destruction. In both Matthew 21:1-11 and Mark 11:12-14, Jesus spoke of the destruction of the fig tree, or the Temple, in direct correlation with a certain action that He took in the Temple. Within just a few verses of Jesus cursing the fig tree, we find the account about the “Cleansing of the Temple.”
At the “Cleansing of the Temple,” in Mark 11:17, we see the heart of Jesus’ teaching aimed at the religious leaders. He said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves’.” He said, “My house is a house of prayer.” In other words, “You should abide in prayer and in My law and worship Me.” I can just imagine Jesus driving the moneychangers out of temple with a whip, and His voice ringing through the air as He confronted the Scribes and Pharisees. The sound of His voice was like the sting of that wasp that entered the fig.
Jesus spoke the truth, and His words pierced the hearts of those who heard Him at that moment. Truly the fig was fertilized that day, but would it bear fruit? In 70 A.D. Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans. Jesus had dug around the tree, and had penetrated it, but both the people outside and the people inside still refused to listen to Him. The Temple and its leaders did not bear fruit; and therefore, it was destroyed.
Time of Reflection
To apply this passage to us, if a person does not abide in God’s Word, and live in obedience to the Word, then he or she will be cut down. How does a person abide in the Word? A good start is to abide in Jesus, the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14). Jesus said in John 15:5-6, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
Are you living in disobedience to the Word of God? If so, allow Jesus Christ to penetrate your heart tonight as He penetrated the temple, or as that wasp penetrated the fig. You are said to be the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Allow God’s Word to invade your heart and mind. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit.” Are you going to allow Jesus Christ, the holy Word of God, to pierce your heart tonight? Will you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and walk in obedience to Him?
NOTES
(1) Gary Davenport, “The Gospel of Another Chance,” a sermon preached at West Broward Church of Christ. Taken from the Internet July 2000 at http://www.c-concepts.com/wbroward/parables18.htm.
(2) Achtemier, Paul J., Th.D., “Fig,” Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.) 1985.
(3) “Fruit,” The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1962.
(4) Walter A. Elwell, and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 49.
(5) Ibid., 50.
(6) Davenport.
(7) Achtemier.
