Luke 13:6-9 Bearing Fruit

Luke 13:6-9 Parable of the fruitless fig tree. Parallel passages in Matthew 21:18-19, and Mark 11:12-14 & 20-21. This parable is rather puzzling in that Luke did not record that Jesus offered any explanation of it. The next section seems to be a different scene, so we can only connect this to the previous passage. In this context, it would appear that Jesus is using the fig tree (often a symbol for Israel, but perhaps a symbol for any individual person) to make the point that the owner of the vineyard tries to get it to bear fruit, and waits patiently for it to bear fruit. But His patience is not unlimited. At some point, he says to cut it down. And so perhaps there is a hint here relating to the previous passage the those on whom calamity has seemingly fallen without provocation may in fact fall in this category. God tried to get fruit from them. He tilled the soil and put out fertilizer in an effort to get fruit. But when that all failed, and the fig tree was determined to be irrevocably barren, it will be cut down. In Matthew and Mark, an actual event in Jesus' life, He looked for fruit from the tree but found none, and so cursed it. Immediately, the next day, it was found to be withered and dead.  Not so many opportunities here, but this event occurred on the eve of the Passion week, and Jesus was approaching the climax of His life.

          The issue here is not a judgment of condemnation, but of liquidating a bad investment. Of course we do not know (at least in this passage) how God feels about this, but if we are investing in a mutual fund that year after year fails to show a return, we would not stick with it out of loyalty ... eventually we would shift our investment to a fund that does actually yield a return.

          We might wonder what He considers fruit, and perhaps that is a valid question. Jesus often alluded to producing fruit, but the actual content of what that fruit might look like is eclectic. In Luke 3:8 He refers to the fruit of repentance, which presumably means changing one's mind and one's behavior to turn from something to something else (e.g. from sin to righteous living). In John 4:36, the context suggests that the fruit is the lives and souls of people who are led from sin to turn to God. In John 15, it appears that Jesus is referring to fruit as the love of God for the brethren and for the lost. In Romans 7, Paul implies that fruit is serving God in the Spirit, and not under the Law. I Cor 15 refers to firstfruits of those raised from the dead, Jesus being the foremost. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. Ephesians 5:9 identifies fruit with goodness, righteousness, and truth, and Phil 1:11, Hebrews 12:11, and James 3:18 the fruit of righteousness. Colossians 1:10 identifies fruit with good work and knowledge of God. Hebrews 13:15 the fruit of the lips - giving thanks to His name.  The common element in all these descriptions of fruit is that they are not things that can be produced by human effort. To bear fruit, we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and to work out His will and His life in our life. We have to make a decision, and that decision is to obey God and let Him have His way. But it is the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit. Just as the fig tree, which does not produce figs by trying, or exerting itself, or even disciplining itself. It simply allows the sun and the rain and the nutrients of the soil to work with its natural design to produce figs.