The Parable of the Fig Tree

Luke 13:6-9
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. 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?’ 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.’ ”

This was a parable spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. There are a few key points to note in this parable.

Undeserved Grace

The first is that it has to do with a fig tree planted by a certain man, but interestingly, it was planted in a vineyard. What are vineyards? Vineyards are meant for planting grapes. In a way, fig trees could just be found along the wayside. But in this case, this fig tree had a place in the vineyard. In a way, this was an undeserved grace that was given to the fig tree.

Originally, there should not be a place in the vineyard for a fig tree, as they are meant for vines, yet this man gave a place in the vineyard for this fig tree. This can be deemed as undeserving grace that the fig receives.

It Did Not Respond To This Grace

The second point is that the man came year after year for three years. He came here to find some fruit from the fig tree, and after three years, no fruit was borne by this fig tree. So he told the keeper that “for three years I have come”. If we think about it, he came on year one and found nothing. He was actually still quite patient, he did not say anything. The second year he came again, there was still nothing, and he did not say anything. But then the third strike. Some people say “three strikes and you’re out”. This fig tree hit its three strikes. Third year, still no fruit. This fig tree was quite useless, so the master said “why is it using up the ground?”

So after three years the master said, “let’s cut it down”.

A Second Chance

The third point is that the keeper then told the master “sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.” The third point is “let’s give it another chance”. This is the second chance. The first time, three years, that was one chance. This time round was the second chance. If it bears fruit, well. Otherwise, cut it down.

This fig tree has taken this grace for granted, and yet, it was given a second chance. It’s not recorded what happened the year after, but if it did not bear fruits, we know that it will be cut down.

I think this parable leaves very important teachings for us Christians. In many respects, we have also received grace that we do not deserve. The grace of our salvation was undeserved. In a way, we are likened to the fig tree that as planted in the vineyard. Undeserved grace.

A question for us: how many years has it been already? Year after year after year. If the master has come and looked us up, have we born any fruits? What fruits?

Fruits We Should Bear

Let’s think about what fruits we should be bearing to examine ourselves.

1. Fruits of repentance

Matthew 3:6-10
6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 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.

This was when a group of Pharisees and Sadducees came before John the Baptist. John the Baptist was baptising people unto repentance, asking them to repent and wait for the coming of the Saviour. The Pharisees and the Sadducees also came along, and when John saw them, he actually said to them “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” and in verse 8, he says “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.”

I think this is a very important message for us today. When we were baptised in to the Lord, our sins had been washed away. We are now part of the body of Christ. We have embarked on this journey of salvation. But our salvation was really through grace. The bible tells us that it is by grace that we have been saved, it is not of our selves.

Romans 5:6-8
6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ died for the ungodly, while we were yet sinners. If we think about it, Christ died for the ungodly. Ungodly people are obviously people unworthy of God’s grace. We were not God’s friends, we were ungodly people. We were not holy people who were worshipping Him, we were sinners. Yet when Christ died on the cross, it was not for anyone that had done anything to deserve what He had done, but was precisely for all the undeserving people in the world, including you and I. That was our salvation.

If we recognize that, then all the more it is needful for us to have a heart and actions of repentance. But in our lives today, do we bear the fruits of repentance? John told the Pharisees and the Sadducees that on the surface, they were religious people, they were even religious teachers. But John told them “do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”. But God has given us this chance. It is like a fig tree planted in the vineyard.

So today we might say “We’ve been baptised, we are children of God, members of the True Jesus Church”. Indeed we are, and thank God for that. That is necessary, we have to be part of this whole, but even as we are part of this, do we bear the fruits of repentance? Have we acknowledged where we have fallen short, and resolved to change? It is critical for us in our Christian walk to improve ourselves.

Ephesians 2:1-5
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

We were these kinds of people - dead in our sins. Yet while we were dead, God made us alive. This is a grace of God. So in verse 4 it tells us God is rich in mercy and great in love, that even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive. So verse 8 says it is by grace, it is the gift of God.

So how should we repay?

Ephesians 4:22-31

It’s a very long passage, but it records exactly the things we ought to do as Christians. Verse 22 tells us we have to put off our former conduct, put off the old man which grows corrupt. Verse 23: we ought to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, put on the new man. That is the overarching theme. Bearing fruit worthy of repentance requires us to acknowledge where we have gone wrong. Do we know? Do we really know where we have gone wrong? Some of us may know deep in our hearts, but do we acknowledge this? And when we acknowledge, do we resolve to change? Have we changed? Are we the same old man, or have we renewed our minds and put on the new man?

:25-32 is a series of different behaviours. It tells us to put away lying, not to steal anymore, rather we should labour, work hard. It tells us not to have corrupt word proceed of our mouth, put bitterness, wrath, anger away. Fruit of repentance. Have we borne this fruit?

Each of us is different. What have we been guilty of in the past? Do we like to lie? Are we always angry, and have outbursts of anger? Are we selfish? Full of lust? Greedy? Have bitterness in our hearts? Talk bad about people? Whatever they may be, what are we guilty of? Have we changed? Day by day, year by year, the Lord comes. Will He find this fruit of repentance?

2. Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Here gives us another flavour of fruits. :22 says the fruit of the Spirit. 9 aspects - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Even as we bear fruits of repentance, and put aside the old man, and put on the new man, as we receive the Holy Spirit, let the HS transform us from within. I would say this is another level of transformation, another level of the fruits that we ought to bear in our Christian walk. These various aspects here describe the different Christian virtues that we have to work on.

The fruit of the Spirit itself can take multiple sermons - minimum 9 sessions. Love you can talk even more. Tonight I will not expound on all these, but give us this indication that we ought to let the word of God fill our hearts, so let us ponder and learn about these aspects. Have we borne the fruit of love? Have we learnt love from the perspective of the bible? Have we borne the fruit of joy? The perspective of joy in the bible? And so forth.

Indeed, there are many aspects we can work on in our Christian transformation. What kind of a person really are we? When we look at ourselves in the mirror, when people look at us, when God looks at us, who are we? What kind of person are we? We are a fig tree in this vineyard. Will the master, God, find the fruit of the Spirit in us? Will we look like a Christian? Are there Christian virtues in us that can be seen clearly? This is something for us to deeply reflect about.

3. Fruit of righteousness

James 3:17-18
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Here talks about good fruits, the fruit of righteousness. Good fruits that are without partiality and without hypocrisy. Of course, this talks about wisdom that is from above, which will be pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And :18 talks about the fruit of righteousness. Again, this is another area we ought to consider ourselves. In our life of faith, as we repent and change our ways and actions, as we put on more Christian virtues, which is also the nature in our hearts, the third aspect for us to consider is the sincerity in our hearts.

The fruits of righteousness, good fruits without partiality and hypocrisy - this is an aspect we ought to reflect upon. The bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things.

Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Who can know it, who can know the heart? And this heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. This is an aspect we must be very conscious about as we seek to bear this fruit. Are we sincere? Is it without hypocrisy? This is another transformation we must have.

Sometimes we are able to even trick ourselves. Have we deceived ourselves before? Think about it carefully. Perhaps one of the less serious problems - we keep eating and say “it’s okay, I’ve exercised already this morning, and plan to exercise tomorrow. After all, I really need this/that”, and over eat. Or we tell ourselves that we’ve been working very hard already. Really? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe we have changed, but have we been kidding ourselves? These are still not that serious. Not good, but not too serious.

But if they have to do with our character, I think we have to be very careful. What really goes on inside our hearts? Why do we feel like that? Why do we harbour those kinds of thoughts?

Oftentimes, as human beings, we learn to protect ourselves. It is a very natural reaction. But as we protect ourselves. But sometimes we deceive ourselves to do so, then that’s very dangerous for our life of faith. So even as we transform ourselves, if we have true repentance, if we have true Christian values, they must come from a sincere change from inside.

Jude 12
12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

Here talks about spots in our love feasts. They are supposed to be love feasts, shouldn’t there be love in the midst? But there is a blemish in the beauty. Spots in the love feast. How were these people described? Clouds without water, late autumn trees without fruit. These are like trees but have no fruits.

If we remember, Jesus on one occasion walked past a fig tree by the wayside, full of leaves, but had no fruits. From afar it looked nice, rich and abundant, but had not a single fruit. Jesus cursed the tree. I think this is a way of thinking about hypocrisy - looks good on the surface, but what’s hidden inside? No fruits.

If we look at verse 11:

Jude 11
11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

These three characters.

Cain was an early character who was supposed to know God. But what was hidden in his heart - jealousy, anger, bitterness.

Balaam was a prophet, but what was hidden in his heart - greed, and he could deceive himself. “I don’t dare to do this, let me ask God.” Looks not bad, but he was hoping God would give him the answer he wanted to hear - there was no sincerity in asking God. When he finally heard what he wanted to hear, he said ‘yes let’s go’ - and the donkey stopped, and he was so angry that he beat the donkey. He was on the wrong path, and yet he could deceive himself into thinking this was the will of God, the way to go. He beat the donkey, and it started talking - he still could talk to a donkey - he was in such delusion that he could talk to it without thinking something was wrong. He was a mad prophet.

How about us? Have we borne fruits of righteousness without hypocrisy, that is really sincere?

Matthew 7:17-20
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

A tree that has no fruit will get cut down. This was what we talked about before. But here, even if there’s fruit, the tree still might be cut down -it depends on whether the fruit are good or bad. Only when we go nearer, and taste it, we can see whether the fruits are sweet or sour. From afar, it may look good, but in reality, is it good?

Reflection

We are a fig tree planted in a vineyard. We have received undeserved grace. It’s been year after year. Do we bear fruits? Those fruits that we’ve discussed. If we think we’ve borne fruit, examine, are these good fruits? Is it really good from inside?

A Second Chance

The fig tree also had a second chance. If we ever have a second chance in our life, will we waste it, trash it?

2 Kings 20:1-6
In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ ” 2 Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” ’ ”

Was it bad news that he would die soon? Dying to us might sound like it’s bad news, but in certain contexts, it might not be bad. If God can tell us to set our house in order, He is telling us that He is going to take us back, so it’s good. Hezekiah was a good king, so it’s a blessing from God that He told him “your time is up, thank you for serving Me, you can now join me in heaven, but first you can set your house in order.” But he was devastated, reluctant. He turned his face toward the wall and prayed, as in verse 3. It was exactly because he walked before Him and did good in His sight that He wanted to take him up. But Hezekiah wept bitterly, and since he was so reluctant, God told him that He heard his prayer and saw his tears and would heal him, and add to his days fifteen years. This was a second chance given to Hezekiah.

Have we ever been in a situation where we wished and wished that we had a second chance? Perhaps our boss called us in and said “times are bad, I have to let someone go and you are the one.” Devastating. But if we pleaded, and there was a second chance given to us, and the boss says “okay I will keep you”. Or if we didn’t do well in our exams, because we had been irresponsible as a student, played truant, didn’t pay attention during class, didn’t do our homework, didn’t take our studies seriously, and when we saw our results, and we say “how I wish…”.

Have we been in this kind of situation? We’ve surely had some of these circumstances. If we were given a second chance, what would we do? Unfortunately, if we turn to 2 Chronicles:

2 Chronicles 32:24-26
24 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord; and He spoke to him and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favour shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

So what did he do during this time? He showed off all his possessions and wealth to the ambassadors from Babylon. So God, through the prophet, told him that there would come a time that his people would be taken captive to the land of Babylon. He was a good king.

2 Chronicles 32:31
31 However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

There was pride inside his heart. Why was he not ready to go to heaven - he had just received all these things, but had yet to show off, and had to go? There was pride in his heart.

If we are given a second chance today, how would we take this second chance? The ending of the parable was that the master allowed the keeper to leave the tree for one more year. The story ended there. What was the conclusion one year later - we don’t know. We oftentimes are given a second chance today. What will the conclusion be like? Will we repay the Lord for His grace? Will we change from our ways? Will we bear fruits for the Lord? May God help us.