Parable Of The Fig Tree

Luke 13:6-9:

⁶ 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. ⁷ 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?’

⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

The tree appearing in this story does not yield fruit even though it has been at the fruit bearing age for fig trees. Two years go by, then three years, but it doesn't have fruit.
 
The surprising thing being said in this parable is not in the first half of it but rather the second part. The words of the owner to "chop it down" are a normal judgment call, but on the other hand the very very unusual words are those of the gardener that come after his.

So, let's take a moment to listen to his statement. The gardener answered the owner, "Master, leave it be for this year. I'll dig around the tree and fertilize it. Then, next year it may bear fruit. If it is still no good after that, chop it down," (verses eight and nine).

The gardener asked that the fruitless fig tree might stay on till next year. Were the tree to remain, there would be no particular benefit to the gardener. Instead, it would only add the extra work load for him of digging around it and giving it fertilizer. Nevertheless, the gardener petitioned the owner on behalf of the tree.

 Well, the words of the gardener end with "If it is still no good after that, chop it down." But nothing is said conclusively about a year later regarding whether the fig tree gave forth fruit or if it didn't have fruit and was chopped down. This means that the heart of what Jesus meant to say in this parable was not on whether the tree was ultimately to be cut down or to be left alone. None of that mattered. The place we ought to be looking is on the point that the tree still stood though it deserved to be cut down because of the way it was.

This parable is given in the context of "God's judgment." When we think of how that it is on God's judgment, our thoughts inevitably turn to whether we will be chopped down or saved on "the last day." However, the parable of Jesus draws our eyes so apt to turn to "the last day" back to "now, this hour." For, the main thing is not "the last day, but "now, this hour" in which we stand under the intercession of Christ and are shown God's mercy and patience. It is always the "now, this hour" that has do to with repentance. We must respond with gravity to this hour given to us as a gift of grace for now, for the very present moment. Paul had something to say on this, "Right now is the hour of grace; right now is the day of salvation," (Second Corinthians 6:2).