Some people told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply,
“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way
they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed
when the tower at Siloam fell on them–
do you think they were more guilty
than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent,
you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
The people of Jesus’ time had an incorrect belief that the “natural” evils that afflicted people were a punishment from God for their sin. If you had disease it meant you were in unrepentant grave sin. If you suffered a calamity (like in todays reading), it meant that you were a bad person, and were being punished for your sins. Those events, the “bloodshed of pilot” and the “tower of siloam” are not recorded outside of the New Testament, but they both put urgency behind the need for repentance for sin. Nevertheless, the cultural practice of associating illness and calamity with sin. lead to a lot of abuse of the afflicted. The people in most need of help were ostracized, and pushed out of the community. It also meant that people that had a lot of real grave sin on their hearts were validated in their sin because they were not ill, or injured.
This is why Jesus spends so much time with the unclean, and afflicted, healing their maladies, and bringing them back into the community, and conversely he also spends a lot of time going after the pharisees, and bringing them to account for their grave sins. It is not any different today, but the dividing line is not illness and affliction, it is culture. The people that are trying to uphold God’s values, and teachings are ostracized and called hateful, while the people living in grave sin, celebrating “pride” are held up as pinnacles of modern virtue, tolerance, and Love. Hard to believe that that is where we are today. And it is amazing to me how little things have changed.
Then I think of the second part of this reading. The parable of the unfruitful fig tree. The owner is God, the gardener is Jesus, and the fig tree is…, well, multiple things. The Ignatius Study Bible says that “the fruit may refer to virtues, refelcting inner righteousness, but may also refer to evangelization and producing fruit in others, bringing them to salvation.” The fig then, is first the fruit that adam an eve ate, it represents the human desire to be like God. The tree also is a metaphor for Israel, and the jewish leaders (the pharisees) failure to bear fruit in that garden. And finally the fruit may refer to us individuals today, and whether we are taking the gifts God gives us and using them to do good works in God’s Garden.
But the message is clear if we don’t bear fruit (try to be more like God), then the Lord wants to ultimately remove us from His garden. Again the Ignatius study bible says: “The fig tree represents Old Covenant Israel. Although God found no fruits of repentance, he was patient and gave them an ample three years to accept their Messiah. The impenitence of Jerusalem would later bring divine judgment upon the city.” Jesus is advocating for us, and as a result the Lord gave us Jesus and those wicked pharisees 3 years of Jesus’ ministry, for them to see the good works of the gardener, and ultimately bear good fruit. Jesus is doing the same for us today, He gave us the witnesses, and the stories of the bible to cultiavate the ground around us, and in his death on the cross He redeemed us in the eyes of God.
So whether you are a pharisee, or a member of the modern culture Jesus is trying to build you up, convert you, and cultivate you so that you will bear good fruit. This has been happening all your life, and it is still happening now. What will you do? Will you stay barren, and allow the God to chop you down. Or will you allow the gardener to change you, and cultivate you and to help you bear good fruit. Just because you are a sinner, does not mean that Jesus does not want to help you change and become a saint. So what will you do? Your eternity depends on the answer.
