Both Repentance and Fruitfulness Required
Our Lord did not hesitate to hang great lessons on passing events. It is a great art to lead men's thoughts from the outward and transient to the unseen and eternal. God often gives us texts in the happenings of His providence, and when men's hearts are awed and softened there is a conspicuous opportunity for striking home.
We have no right to suppose that sudden disasters prove the presence of special sin in those who are involved in them. Sin is avenged in this life, but rather in the natural sequences than by some sudden “act of God.” Accidents are not necessarily punishments, and we who witness the sad fate of others have no right to congratulate ourselves on our moral or spiritual superiority. Instead of judging others, let us look to ourselves and repent.
The parable of the fig-tree, with its three years of effort to secure fruitfulness, was intended primarily for the Jewish nation favored with our Lord's three years of ministry. But it is of universal application. God is always seeking fruit; love is ever pleading, but sometimes may have to acquiesce in judgment.