What is the Meaning of This Parable

I'm sure there are some out there who have loads of commentaries sitting on their home library shelves within which they can look this up and get some unacquainted scholar's opinion. Some of those commentaries can weight upwards of ten pounds, and still be ten pounds of worthless paper that fails much of the time to measure up to the standard of scriptural truth.

So upon your own personal study in the broadness of your knowledge of scripture, to what events in scripture can this possibly have alluded to dare we think outside the box of religious paradigms?

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.

MM

I'm sure there are some out there who have loads of commentaries sitting on their home library shelves within which they can look this up and get some unacquainted scholar's opinion. Some of those commentaries can weight upwards of ten pounds, and still be ten pounds of worthless paper that fails much of the time to measure up to the standard of scriptural truth.

So upon your own personal study in the broadness of your knowledge of scripture, to what events in scripture can this possibly have alluded to dare we think outside the box of religious paradigms?

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.

MM

I can't say I understand your question. Plus I don't really do commentaries. I certainly do not have bookshelves full of them LOL. As to the parable itself, it is my understanding that Jesus is alluding to His own three years of ministry, the fig tree being representative of Israel and the temple system, which Jesus foretold the end of and actually cursed for being unfruitful, on His way to Jerusalem during what is often referred to as holy week (leading up to Jesus' crucifixion). This was an indication of how unfruitful the temple sacrificial system was, and in cursing the fig tree for its lack of fruit, Jesus was indicating that that whole system was coming to an end.

I'm sure there are some out there who have loads of commentaries sitting on their home library shelves within which they can look this up and get some unacquainted scholar's opinion. Some of those commentaries can weight upwards of ten pounds, and still be ten pounds of worthless paper that fails much of the time to measure up to the standard of scriptural truth.

So upon your own personal study in the broadness of your knowledge of scripture, to what events in scripture can this possibly have alluded to dare we think outside the box of religious paradigms?

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.

MM

Hi MM,

Jesus came to confirm the promises to Israel. (Rom. 15: 8) Thus this parable concerns Jesus coming to Israel seeking to find them repentant. For 3 years of His ministry He sought fruit from Israel, but didn`t find it so that generation and succeeding generations were `cut off.`

God does not give up on people simply because they resisted His leading once.. God will make multiple attempts to move a person before eventually giving them over to delusions and deceptions..

I'm sure there are some out there who have loads of commentaries sitting on their home library shelves within which they can look this up and get some unacquainted scholar's opinion. Some of those commentaries can weight upwards of ten pounds, and still be ten pounds of worthless paper that fails much of the time to measure up to the standard of scriptural truth.

So upon your own personal study in the broadness of your knowledge of scripture, to what events in scripture can this possibly have alluded to dare we think outside the box of religious paradigms?

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.

MM

I'm sure there are some out there who have loads of commentaries sitting on their home library shelves within which they can look this up and get some unacquainted scholar's opinion. Some of those commentaries can weight upwards of ten pounds, and still be ten pounds of worthless paper that fails much of the time to measure up to the standard of scriptural truth.

So upon your own personal study in the broadness of your knowledge of scripture, to what events in scripture can this possibly have alluded to dare we think outside the box of religious paradigms?

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.

MM

The parable is about God's longsuffering with sinners. He wants them to come to repentance, but His patience will eventually run out. Then there will be judgement.

Notice in the story that led to Him telling the parable that He was addressing the peoples' belief that those who suffered calamity were more deserving of punishment than the ordinary person. He said the Galileans who perished were not a special class of sinner, but all Galileans would perish if they didn't repent. He said the same thing about the inhabitants of Jeruselem on whom the tower of Sloam fell. They were not especially sinful, but all inhabitants of Jerusalem would perish if they did not repent.

It’s about Israel and thier rebellious kingdom and how the messiah was thier last hope of salvation.

Do you see anything in the timelines in that parable, and anything else with which it may compare that happened after, or before, the timelines in that parable?

MM

There is also another parable that gets even more specific than this, the parable of the wicked tenants. Matthew 21:33-46

33 “Hear another parable. There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; 35 and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. 37 Afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The very stone which the builders rejected
has become the head of the corner;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits of it.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet.

This is pretty clear down to the Pharisees understanding the He was talking about them. This is also exactly what happen at the end of the AGE that Jesus told them was coming before THAT generation pasted away. That happened within 40 years of when He said it when Rome invaded and torn down the temple, not one brick left on another. It all happened EXACTLY how He said it would, EXACTLY when He said it would and for some reason we have created this "future to us" idea that frankly makes Jesus either wrong or a liar.

He's not, but if you buy into the idea that everything Jesus said would happen "before this (the generation He was speaking to) generation passed away, that he told "there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom", or when He said "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes", even strange little things like on the way to the cross when he tells the weeping women not to cry for Him, but to cry for THIER children, then you have to think He was wrong or lying. If there's another logical reason I haven't heard it.

The point I'm making is that I agree these parables are about Israel and the future relationship with God. Many call this the "replacement theory", which I don't agree with. I just like to call it the "plan from the beginning".

Replacement Theory makes it seem like it means that the Jews are "replaced", when that couldn't be further from the truth. I know a TON of Jewish Christians. They are no more "cut off" than anyone else. What I do not agree with is this idea that God has some other way for the Jews in the future. That the current earthly "Israel" that reject and hate Jesus and His people, are still "God's chosen" in the same way. They were "chosen to bring forth the Messiah. Guess what? They did. Now He is the ONLY way and no one comes to the Father but through Him. Just like these parables are saying, the tree didn't produce fruit so was cut down and a new tree was planted. The branches of that tree can be grafted in, but I don't say that in boasting and self righteous arrogance, because my branch can be pruned off still as well. The end of the AGE that Jesus spoke of was the end of the Mosaic sacrificial system. Now "a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God".

Would you show to us a parallel in the Bible where sinners in general are portrayed as an olive tree? This was unexpected, and is a point of curiosity to me.

Thanks

MM

No, I don't feel like that research on my part is needed. When interpreting parables, I try to understand them in the context they were given. In this case, Jesus was addressing a common misunderstanding that people who suffer calamity are being punished by God for their misdeeds and those who do not suffer calamity are less deserving of punishment. His punchline, repeated twice in the back-story, "unless you repent you will all likewise perish" must find it's way into the parable. Saying it is found in the kingdom of God being ripped away from Israel for not receiving their promised Savior does not fit the context, in my opinion.

I'm sure there are some out there who have loads of commentaries sitting on their home library shelves within which they can look this up and get some unacquainted scholar's opinion. Some of those commentaries can weight upwards of ten pounds, and still be ten pounds of worthless paper that fails much of the time to measure up to the standard of scriptural truth.

So upon your own personal study in the broadness of your knowledge of scripture, to what events in scripture can this possibly have alluded to dare we think outside the box of religious paradigms?

Luke 13:6-9
6 He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]:
9 And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down.

MM

Oh, Jimbone, I completely agree with you in that replacement theology is not of God. I'm sure Satan likes for people to believe that Israel has been permanently replaced by the Church. Some of the other parallels you stated are of interest, but I don't see how the timelines in the parable fit the narratives you brought up. Could you elaborate as to how the three years and the one year fit into that?

Thanks

MM