The Unfruitful Fig Tree

 

The Unfruitful Fig Tree                                                                                                       

Luke 13:1-9

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’  “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Jesus was speaking to people about repentance. What is repentance? It means we must have sorrow for sin, but being sorry is not enough. To truly repent means we need to stop sinning. We need to make a complete change in the direction of our lives. Jesus spoke about people who had been killed very recently. He spoke of an incident everybody knew about, in which Pilate, the same governor who had Jesus crucified, this same Pilate killed people and then mixed their blood with the blood of the animal sacrifices being brought to the Temple. This was a horrible thing to do. But Jesus asks the question: Were these people worse sinners than anyone else? The answer is no.

Jesus also spoke about eighteen people who died when a tower fell on them. Again, he asks the question: Were these people worse sinners than everybody else? Again, he said no. Many people died when the Twin Towers fell in New York City on September 11, 2001. These were ordinary people going to work, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and close friends, who never came home. Were they worse sinners than you and me? No. But they were sinners, as we all are; and their lives were cut short suddenly. None of us knows how many days God will give us on this Earth. One time when I was speaking at the Mission I was asked to pray for people who were killed suddenly in an auto accident. We never know how long we have.

So I want to ask you the question: If you were to die today, or tomorrow, or next month, or next year; do you know with complete certainty that you will go to Heaven when you die? Jesus came to Earth and the Bible was written so that you would know the answer to that question.

“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31

The reason Jesus came to Earth and lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins was so that we could go to Heaven when we die.

John 3:16-18

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

So we are all sinners and we need to repent of our sins and trust in Jesus as our savior to be saved from our sins. The most important thing we need to repent of is our unbelief. We need to really believe in our hearts that there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn salvation. There are no good works that are good enough to earn our way to Heaven. We do not deserve salvation but must simply accept it as a free gift.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God —  not by works so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Only Jesus was without sin. Only Jesus was qualified to be the sacrifice for our sins. The only way we can be saved is to put our trust completely in Jesus’ death which paid the penalty for our sins, and in his resurrection, by why we are granted the free gift of eternal life.

(Go back and read the parable of the fig tree). The fig tree was not bearing any fruit. The spiritual meaning is that people are not showing the fruit of repentance. Is this the case in your life? Are you like a fruitless fig tree? The gardener does not want the tree to be cut down. Asks for more time. To tend the tree, to fertilize it. If after a year it still bears no fruit, then cut it down.

2 Peter 3:8-10

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything that is done in it will be laid bare.”    

God is very patient with sinners. He gives us second chances, third chances, even 100 or 1000 chances. But someday his patience will run out. The end will come suddenly. Like it did to the people who died on 9/11.  One day they were alive, then they were dead. Today is the day of salvation. Don’t put it off.

Pray salvation prayer. Ask for hands if anyone prayed in their hearts.