At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they Did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” 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 13:1-9 New American Bible translation)
I love when Jesus uses parables to share a message. It forces us to look deeper. It’s like a puzzle we have to put together or figure out. Like everything else, it requires work. We have to be willing to put the work in and that is exactly what Jesus is telling us in the parable of the barren fig tree.
Through this verse Jesus is calling us to commit to change our lives to live more responsibly. That’s what it means to repent. There’s a sense of urgency in His message as well. In the parable, we see the fig tree getting yet another chance to change and so it is with us – God gives us many chances to change our ways, to “cultivate” our hardened hearts in order to bear fruit which He considers satisfactory. What fruit can we bear? Galatians 5:22 tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Contrary to these are immorality, impurity, licentiousness (promiscuity), idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of anger, acts of selfishness, dissensions (disagreements that lead to arguments), factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. Where do you fit in? Is there a need for repentance in your life? Is there something that needs changing or cultivating?
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