SERMON OUTLINE

Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree – Luke 13.1-9

Introduction

-Parable about Israel (also The Two Sons, Matt 21.28-32; The Wicked Tenants, Matt 21.33-46, Mark 12.1-12, Luke 20.9-19; The Wedding Banquet, Matt 22.1-14, Luke 14.15-24)

-This parable is an appeal for Israel to recognize God’s coming to them in Jesus Christ so they can repent and avoid God’s judgment.

Explanation From Previous Verses

Luke 12.54-56 – Recognize the present time

Luke 13.1-5 – Unless you repent you will likewise perish

Luke 13.6-9 – A prophetic warning to recognize their danger, repent, and avoid God’s judgment

Things About God From the Parable

1) God is Creator and has a right to ownership over us

2) God has a right to expect good from His creation

3) God has a right to reward of judge His creation Romans 2.6-11

Things About Israel From the Parable

1) Israel had a good beginning

2) Israel was not fruitful in fulfilling God’s expectations

3) Israel was ready to be judged by God. Luke 19.41-44, Luke 13.31-35; Romans 11.25-32

Things About Us From the Parable

1) God knows who you are and owns you

2) God expects Christ-likeness from you

3) God will reward those who are Christ-like and will judge those who refuse to submit Christ’s Lordship

Conclusion

Seriously consider what the Bible has to say about Jesus Christ and the way to heaven and eternal life before your time runs out.

SERMON NOTES

Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree                   Luke 13.1-9

We are going to be studying three more parables before we leave this series on the parables of Jesus. This morning we are going to study the parable of the fruitless fig tree. This parable is part of a group of four parables specifically about Israel. You can find references to the other three parables about Israel in your bulletin (The Two Sons, Matt 21.28-32; The Wicked Tenants, Matt 21.33-46, Mark 12.1-12, Luke 20.9-19; The Wedding Banquet, Matt 22.1-14, Luke 14.15-24).

Next week we will study a parable on discipleship, the Good Samaritan. And then at the end of August a parable about prayer, the parable of the friend at midnight. That will end our study on the parables of Jesus.

The parable of the fruitless fig tree is simple to understand if we do not try to identify every feature of the parable with a person or event. My goal is to help you understand the message Jesus was seeking to communicate through this parable. This parable is an appeal for Israel to recognize God’s coming to them in Jesus Christ so they can repent and avoid God’s judgment.

Some parables have a summary explanation of the parable at the end of the parable but in this parable we find the explanation of the parable in the verses that come before the parable.

In chapter 12, verses 54-56, Jesus says to the crowd… [read]

Jesus is challenging Israel to interpret the present time of his coming to them. Why is Jesus here? What are these miracles all about? What is Jesus teaching? How does his coming fit into OT prophecies? Jesus is calling Israel to recognize the present time of his coming to them.

Then in chapter 13, verses 1-5, we find two incidents of tragic death to which Jesus responds, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners that all the other Galileans, because they suffered this way? …Do you think those on whom the tower of Siloam fell were worst offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?” Twice Jesus repeats, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”. Jesus is prophetically warning Israel that if they do not repent of their sin, individually and as a nation, that great tragedy awaits them. There is still time to repent but as the following parable teaches, their opportunity to repent is coming to an end.

The parable that follows is an appeal for Israel to recognize God’s coming to them in Jesus Christ so they can repent and avoid God’s judgment.

Now let’s look at the parable and then draw some conclusions from it. We have a fig tree planted in a vineyard. This was common practice. We have the owner of the vineyard and fig tree coming to inspect the fig tree for fruit for three years in a row. I am told that it is difficult to see the fruit of the fig tree from far away because of the fig leaves and so the owner would have to come near to inspect it for fruit. Finding no fruit over three years the owner of the vineyard commands the vinedresser to cut down the tree. The vinedresser asks for one more year to work on the tree in order to produce figs. If there is no fruit after one year the vinedresser tells the vineyard owner that he can cut down the tree.

Both the vineyard and the fig tree are symbolic of Israel and this parable is first of all addressed to the nation of Israel. Jesus is speaking to the nation of Israel and its leaders. It is easy to picture the owner of the vineyard and fig tree as God. Finding an equivalent for the vinedresser and interpreting the three years is more difficult and does not help us to understand the message of the parable. One interpretation of the three years is God’s inspection of His people before the Law was given during the time of the Abraham and his sons, then under the Law of Moses and the prophets, and finally at the time of Christ’s coming. That is not important to the main message of the parable.

What we can conclude for certain is that this parable is a prophetic warning to Israel that if God does not see any fruit of repentance and response to God’s mercy toward them in Jesus Christ, they can very soon expect judgment upon them as a nation. They are to interpret the present time of God’s coming to them in Jesus Christ and respond in repentance to God or face severe judgment.

What I would like to do in the time remaining is point out three things that this parable teaches us about God; three things about Israel; and three things about us.

Three things this parable teaches us about God: 1) As our Creator, God has the right of ownership over His creation. You may deny that God is your Creator and you may have fallen for the lie of evolution that says you are the result of a chemical accident, but that does not change the reality that God is your Creator and has the right of ownership over you. God’s ownership over us is not a truth that we easily accept. That is why we make up alternative theories for our existence. If God is our Creator, God owns us and can do what He wants with us. The owner of the fig tree had the right to do as he pleased with the fig tree. Our Creator has the right to do as He pleases with His creation.

2) As our Creator, God has the right to expect good from His creation. We should rejoice in the truth that our God is Holy and Loving in character and expects us to live in accordance with His character. God expects our lives to embody and reflect His Holy and Loving character. God looks for good works from His creation. God has a right to expect good from His creation.

3) Finally, As our Creator, God has the right to reward or judge His creation. God rewards or judges His creation according to His Holy and Loving character. God never rewards or judges His creation with partiality but always justly. God, the Judge of the universe is righteous and true in all His judgments and rewards. Let me read to you Romans 2.6-11… [Read].

Now three things that this parable teaches us about Israel: 1) Israel had a good beginning. The fig tree is planted in a vineyard and is kept by a loving vinedresser. The fig tree has good soil and special care. The vinedresser loves the fig tree and does not want it to be cut down and will not cut it down even if it does not produce fruit in a year but tells the owner of the vineyard that he must cut it down himself if it does not produce.

God chose Israel out of all the nations of the world, and blessed Israel with Himself and His Law and the prophets. God has always drawn near to Israel as His special people, providing for them and protecting them. Israel was special to God, called His Son, His Bride, and His people. In many places in the OT, God speaks of His special love and care for Israel as a nation chosen above all other nations of the world.

2) Israel was not fruitful in fulfilling God’s expectations. God chose Israel so that through Israel He might declare His Holy and Loving character to the rest of the world. Instead for the most part Israel lived in disobedience to God by following the idols of the surrounding nations. We do not have to read much of the OT to discover that Israel did not fulfill God’s expectations for them as a nation. During the time of Jesus, Israel was especially self-righteous, self-assured that all was right between them and God, and misrepresenting the holiness and love of God.

3) Israel was ready to be judged by God. Instead of being a holy and loving witness of God to the nations, many times Israel experienced the judgment of God. Israel was often warned of God’s coming judgments by God’s prophets and was finally destroyed and brought into captivity in Babylon, losing their land and scattering them all over the world.

When Jesus came he once again called Israel to repentance and to faith in God, calling them to follow him as their promised Messiah. Only a few believed. In this parable Jesus warned Israel that their time was short and God’s patience with them was coming to an end. Judgment was coming if they did not repent and turn back to God and produce fruit in their lives.

A week before his crucifixion Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst the cheers of the people proclaiming him as the Son of David, the King of Israel. And yet on this festive occasion Jesus wept as he entered Jerusalem saying … Luke 19.41-44 [read].

“Because you did not know the time of your visitation”. They did not properly interpret the present time. They missed God’s coming to them in Jesus Christ. God’s judgment would soon fall upon them. This happened about 40 years later in 70 AD when Jerusalem was brutally and utterly destroyed by the Romans.

At the end of chapter 13, we find Jesus making another statement about the future of Israel. He says in 13.35, “Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

I praise God for His faithfulness even to a people that have been so disobedient to Him. God promises that in the last days of human history there will be a great revival among the people of Israel when they will recognize Jesus as the Messiah. This promise is found in Romans 11.25-32.

I want to close by making an application of this parable to us. Here are three things that this parable can teach us this morning. 1) God knows who you are and owns you. God intimately knows everyone in this room and has complete ownership over everyone of us. We are not isolated from our Creator, nor are we to be autonomous in our behavior. We have both an owner and someone we are responsible to who has complete ownership over us. You are not alone in this world, nor are you to live in this world by your own rules. You belong to God and you must report to God as your owner.

2) God expects Christ-likeness from you. God’s expects us to be like His Son Jesus Christ. It is impossible for us to fulfill God’s expectations. God knows that since Adam’s sin, all of us were born as slaves to sin and slaves to sin cannot be like Christ. We are powerless to fulfill God’s expectations for us to be like Jesus Christ before God. In love God has provided a way for us to be like Christ and to meet His expectations. Through God’s redemption in Jesus Christ we are freed from the slavery of sin and made righteous before God in Jesus Christ. By the work of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit we can be like Christ before God. God does not ask us to be religious, nice people, church goers, ethical, or charitable. God expects us to become like Christ by coming to Christ for salvation and for the power to be like Christ. To be Christlike is to be holy before God and to love others in the power of God.

3) Finally God will reward those who are Christ-like with eternal life and will judge those who refuse to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I cannot emphasize enough the fact that every single one of us will stand before God to give an account of our lives. There are people here today, and people I meet everyday who brush this fact off without even a second thought. I know that most of the people I meet will one day stand before the throne of God in deep remorse because they took this truth so lightly and did nothing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who have submitted to Jesus Christ as Lord will rejoice forevermore but those who have refused to submit to Christ and have chosen to live their own way and to follow their own path, with be filled with grief and suffering forever. There will be no second chances at the Judgment seat of God.

Again this morning I plead with you to consider what the Bible has to say about Jesus Christ and the way to heaven and eternal life. As Jesus warned Israel to consider the present time so I ask you to consider why you are in this church or why you are listening to this message on the website. Don’t miss the day of God’s visitation in your life that can keep you from the eternal judgment of God. If you feel you need to speak with me make sure that you do and don’t put it off.

Let me close this morning by reading again from 2 Peter 3.8-13.