CRITICAL NOTES
Luke 13:6. A certain man had a fig-tree.—This parable is peculiar to St. Luke, and tells of impending destruction because of long-continued abuse of God’s mercy. The fig-tree is the Jewish nation, the vineyard is the Church, the owner of the vineyard is God, and the vinedresser is Christ (or. according to another interpretation, Christ is the owner, and the vine-dresser the Holy Spirit). It is hard not to see some reference in the seventh verse to the three years of Christ’s ministry. This is not, however, fatal to the identification of the owner with God, and of the vine-dresser with Christ, as in Christ’s coming to seek fruit God might be said to come. The objection to the identification of the vine-dresser with the Holy Spirit is that it represents Christ as one to be interceded with—a view of His character quite contrary to the spirit of the New Testament. It is useless to say that we should not press the parable too far by such identifications, as in the parables expounded by Christ Himself (those of the Sower and the Tares) every detail is shown to be significant.
Luke 13:7. Three years.—Apart from the allusion above noted, the time here specified is that within which a fig-tree, if it is going to bear fruit, should show some signs of fertility. Cumbereth.—Lit. “make of none effect,” “make idle.” It takes the place of a tree that might yield some fruit, and impoverishes the ground by drawing nutriment from it.
Luke 13:8. Lord.—I.e., “sir.” Dig about it.—I.e., dig holes for casting in manure.
Luke 13:9. Well.—This word is supplied to fill up the broken sentence. There is great solemnity in the significant gap left in the speaker’s words—in the suggestion that amendment is barely possible, but that a certain time will be allowed to see if it will take place. After that.—Omitted in R.V., but of course the words are understood in any case.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Luke 13:6-9
The Barren Fig-Tree.—No doubt this parable, in its primary reference, set forth the then state of the Jewish people—the pains that had been spent upon them, the meagreness of spiritual results that had been yielded by them, and the certainty of Divine retribution if there were not a speedy change in their condition. But the solemn lessons which it contains are equally applicable to every individual whose life has been subjected to religious influences, and who has failed to yield the fruits of righteousness.
I. The worthless tree.—Note that it enjoyed special advantages. It was planted in good soil, and it was attended to by one who both knew how to apply, and was diligent in applying, helps to its growth and fruitfulness. It was not a tree growing wild among the rocks, or on the road-side, which the passer-by might strip of its scanty fruit, and which no one would be surprised at finding devoid of figs, even in the season when they were naturally to be expected. Nor can we fail to see the spiritual meaning of this. From those who are outside the influences of religion little can be expected. But from us, who are placed in the most advantageous conditions; who have been taught the truth as it is in Jesus from our earliest years; who have enjoyed all the helps and privileges the Church can give; to whom God’s Word is so familiar that we are in danger of losing reverence for it;—much is expected. There was no fruit upon this fig-tree. Yet it was not dead; and was probably all the more richly clothed with pretentious foliage because it bore nothing. Instead of being a fruit-bearing tree, it had become a tree of the ornamental kind, and—for it represents a being with moral responsibilities—it had no right to make the change. It was not planted for ornament, but to yield fruit; if it did not yield fruit, it had no claim to its place in the vineyard. In it, therefore, we have a picture of the mere profession of religion, as contrasted with genuine, vital religion. The person whom the fig-tree represents is in the Church; he has all the advantages of that position; he clothes himself in the guise and uses the language of the Christian. But one thing is wanting. He yields no fruit; no one is any the better for his existence; he exercises no good influence. Even in the case in which he is not a mere deceiver, masquerading as a religious person, all the privileges and blessings he enjoys go to his own nourishment—to feed his own self-complacency—and he is of no use or service to God or man. He is never known to do a generous, kindly, Christ-like action, or to assist in any good cause. And this is the great test of the value of a life. The goodness Christ requires is something that imparts itself and not something that merely pleases the eye. It yields fruit, which serves to feed and nourish the spiritual life of others.
II. The patient owner.—He is impoverished and disappointed by the fruitlessness of the tree. Its fruit would have value for him as an article of food and merchandise, and he is all the poorer for its absence. In the same way, and in as absolute a sense, we belong to God, our life has been ordered for us by Him, the place we occupy is that which He has assigned to us, and it is adapted to the purpose for which He has chosen it—viz., that of our yielding the fruits of righteousness and holiness. Some may be more favourably situated than others, but all have it in their power to yield some fruit. Note the patience and perseverance of the owner: “Behold, these three years I come, seeking fruit on this fig-tree.” More than three annual visits are implied. The fig-tree bears three times in the year—in early spring, in summer, and in autumn—fruit of different degrees of lusciousness and value. So that we are at liberty to think of the owner of this fig-tree as coming time after time during these three years, to see if there were any signs of fruit. Our Master also is patient. If He were not, what would become of us? If He did not know how to wait, which of us would not, long ago, have come under His sentence of condemnation? He comes to us every season—that is to say, whenever new circumstances occur in our lives, when there are fresh influences brought to bear upon us, or we pass into a new phase of experience. A great sorrow or a great joy befalls us, we are put into different conditions, and He comes in due time to see what gain we have made. And He is not easily discouraged, even if the condition of matters that meets His eye is unsatisfactory. He comes time after time to see if there is in summer what there was not in spring, if in autumn what was not in summer. He is slow unto anger, and time after time re-visits the tree, in spite of previous disappointments. And if we pass to the spiritual side of things, we see that He does more than visit the tree periodically. He Himself creates those new circumstances, He arranges those new events which are to our lives what the changes of season are to the tree. He sends them for the very purpose of exciting to fruitfulness, and every time that He has thus dealt with a life, or acted upon it, He draws near to it, to see if at last it is beginning to yield fruit. When, after protracted patience, there is no prospect of fruit, His sentence is simple and clear: “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?” The decision of the owner is all the more serious for the reason which he alleges. The tree is useless. It has been planted there to bear fruit; it does not bear it, and there is no reason for any longer preserving it. It is taking up the space which might be occupied by a fruitful tree; it is not only doing no good, but it is hindering good from being done. The spiritual truth which is thus pictorially set forth is a very solemn one. God is patient, but there is such a thing as exhausting even His patience, and as making further long-suffering ridiculous. He waits long, but a time may come when He will be forced to leave to their fate those who are resolutely set upon disappointing Him.
III. The loving intercessor.—The owner has pronounced the sentence of condemnation, but an intercessor is found in the vine-dresser. He has a love for all the trees that are within his care; he loves this tree, not only for the fruit which it may yield, but also for its own sake. However, it is very noticeable that it is only a respite that he asks for. The success of his intercession is beforehand and by himself subordinated to the success of his undertaking. I will do so-and-so with it, and try all in my power to correct the defect; but if failure attend my efforts, I will not have a word to say in its behalf. There is a deep spiritual meaning in this. We are the subjects of intercession, but this intercession has conditions attached to it. There is One who loves us profoundly—loves us for our own sakes, independently of what we may become, or, to use this figure, of the fruit we may bear. But at the same time He knows that eternal life can only be given to those who live unto God, and who, by their fruits, give evidence of the genuineness of their faith in God and love for Him. He intercedes for us—that is, He asks for time to make use of every means within His power for stirring us up to be fruitful in all good works. The vine-dresser in the parable would have had no ground to stand upon, no reason to plead, if he had put in a word for sparing a tree that had proved itself hopelessly barren. And so in the spiritual side intercession avails in the case of those who, though backward and disappointing at first, yield to the heavenly influences brought to bear upon them, and begin to live unto God. The mercy which is shown to the penitent, whatever may have been the depth of their guilt, warrants no inference of mercy being shown to those who are finally impenitent. The plain, definite, solemn warning which the parable contains is, one may say, one of the means which the Heavenly Vine-dresser uses to make us bestir ourselves. The words are calculated to shake us out of indifference, and to urge us to begin at once to bear fruit towards God, in a devout and holy life.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE Luke 13:6-9
Luke 13:6-9. The Unfruitful Fig-Tree.
I. The vineyard.
II. The fig-tree in a vineyard.
III. The fig-tree visited.
IV. The fig-tree doomed.
V. The fig-tree spared.
I. The promise of fruit.
II. Patient waiting.
III. Deserved condemnation.
IV. Loving intercession.
The Lessons of the Fig-tree.
I. For the Jewish Church. 1. Its privileges.
2. Its unfruitfulness.
3. God’s forbearance.
II. For the individual Jew.
III. For the individual Christian.—
1. The value of Church membership.
2. Individual responsibility.
3. Unfruitful Church members need warning.
4. The day of grace is drawing to an end. What then?—W. Taylor.
The Teaching in the Parable—
I. Cuts up all pleas of negative goodness.
II. Calls on us to examine ourselves whether we be barren or fruitful, and to follow out the result aright, whatever it may be.
III. Calls on us to be thankful to the Lord for sparing us hitherto.
IV. Warns us not to abuse God’s mercy so as to presume upon it for the future.
The Parable also Teaches—
I. That a solemn responsibility attaches to those who are within the pale of revealed religion and of the Church.
II. That God notes the length of time that men continue fruitless under the means of spiritual culture.
III. To be cut down is the rich desert of all the fruitless.
IV. The purpose of the mercy that is shown to them is to produce a change in them.
V. Genuine repentance, however late, avails to save.
VI. The final destruction of those who are, after all forbearance, found fruitless, will be pre-eminently and confessedly just.
Luke 13:6. “Fig-tree in his vineyard.”—The most frequent emblem for the Jewish people is the vine. Here the fig-tree is chosen to imply advantages bestowed for a definite purpose, to be withdrawn if that purpose is not served. Vines belong to a vineyard: a fig-tree can only find a place in it by the choice of the owner of the vineyard. So God, of His own free will, chose Israel to occupy a special place in the world, and to fulfil special duties in the education of the world in spiritual things.
“Sought fruit.”—Cf. Isaiah 5:2: “He looked that it should bring forth fruit.” He has a right to it, and will require it.
From Whom Results are Expected.—The time when God thus comes is not the day of judgment only; for the tree is represented as allowed to stand, with a view of its beginning to yield fruit. It is now, therefore, during our present state, that God comes seeking fruit from us. He expects results—
I. From those who have received a Christian education and are familiar with holy examples.
II. From the faithful sermons we have heard.
III. From the trials of life which are designed to discipline the soul.
“Fruit.”—There is a wonderful fitness in the simple image running all through Scripture which compares men to trees and their work to fruit. The three kinds of works whereof Scripture speaks may all be illustrated from this image.
I. Good works, when the tree, having been made good, bears fruit after its own kind.
II. Dead works, such as have a fair outward appearance, but are not the genuine outgrowth of the renewed man—fruit, as it were, fastened on externally, alms given that they may be gloried in, prayers made that they may be seen.
III. Wicked works, when the corrupt tree bears fruit, manifestly after its own kind. Here it is, of course, those good fruits of which none are found; both the other kinds of fruit the Jewish fig-tree only too abundantly bore.”—Trench.
Luke 13:7. “Cut it down.”—Threatenings precede judgment; in this the love of God is manifested, for the threatenings may excite a penitence which will avert judgment.
“Cumber the Ground.”—Why does it not only bear no fruit, but also hinder the land from bearing any, by occupying the place of a better tree? It is itself sterile and it sterilises the soil.
1. It occupies space.
2. It shuts out the sun.
3. It impoverishes the soil.
Luke 13:8. “Dig about it,” etc.—Sometimes affliction may turn the soul to God; sometimes the bounties with which He enriches us may have the same effect.
Time Left for Repentance.—The idea of God’s final sentence being delayed, that time may be left men to repent, runs all through the Scriptures. Before the Flood, there was appointed a space of a hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3); Abraham intercedes on behalf of Sodom (ib., Luke 18:23, seqq.); the destruction of Jerusalem did not follow till forty years after the ascension of Christ; and the coming of Christ is delayed through the long-suffering of God (2 Peter 3:9).
Luke 13:9. Intercession for a Respite.—Nature of Christ’s intercession: not that the sins of men may go unpunished, but that the sentence may for a while be suspended, to prove whether they will turn and repent.
The Significance of the Special Pains taken with the Tree.—The special treatment accorded by the vine-dresser to the barren tree represents the marvellous deeds of love wrought by Jesus in His death and resurrection, and afterwards in the gift of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the apostles, in order to rouse the nation from its impenitence. This parable informs those who hear it that their life hangs by a thread, and that that thread is in the hand of Him who speaks to them.—Godet.