The
Parables of Christ no. 19
The
Barren Fig Tree
Rev. Brian Kocourek
This Evening we will
continue in our study of the parables, and we will study the parable found in Luke 13:6-10 which deals with The Barren Fig Tree. Before we read, I would like
to note that most everyone that has ever preached concerning this parable have
focused on the fact that the Tree had no fruit. And so they turn their thoughts
on the scene where Jesus actually curses the fig tree and they say it is
because it had no fruit. And so many a sermon has
emphasized fruit as though it is the essential thing, and without it you can be
cursed. I do not believe that for one minute. It is true that I do believe we
are to bear fruit, but I do not believe for one minute that the tree was cursed
because it did not bear fruit, or because it lacked fruit, and we will see why
I say this in a few minutes. But first let’s read the parable in Luke chapter
13.
LUKE
13:6 ¶
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? (Now, we do not use this word cumbereth
in our regular vocabulary, so we need to know what that means, and it simply
means to under employ, or to underutilize the ground. In other words he says,
this tree is just taking up precious soil, and giving back nothing in return.) 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.10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
Now, I want you to notice the response of the husbandman of the
vineyard. He in essence is saying, Lord there might be a reason why this tree
is not producing fruit. Let’s first do all we can to fertilize it, and create
the right environment around it, and then let’s see if it will produce or not.
Now, that is a very wise thing that was said here for many times we expect
people in the church to produce when they have not even been taught the basic
principles of Christianity.
Now, there
are three points that make up this parable.
Number
1 – The Fig Tree Itself.
Number
2 – The fact that the Fig tree has no Fruit.
Number 3 –
Judgment is awaiting the results of the Fig Trees ability to produce fruit.
To begin with, let’s examine point Number 1 – the Fig Tree Here we must ask
ourselves what is the significance of the tree?
HIS
UNFAILING WORDS OF PROMISE 64-0120 31But here's what Jesus was speaking to my
most humble opinion, was that He said, that this generation, in other words,
the generation that saw the fig tree putting forth his buds. See, He said here,
"And when the fig tree is begin, is tender and putteth
forth its branches, you say summer is nigh. Likewise (See?), when you see all
these things, know the time..." When you see all these three questions
fulfilled, the time is at the door. That generation that sees the fig tree...
And the fig tree is always
A little later on in the Book of Luke we find Jesus
telling another parable about the fig tree. LUKE
Now, notice that Jesus is talking in a parable and he
tells the people that when the fig tree which we know is Israel because the
country is identified with its fig trees, that when this Fig Tree, Israel is
beginning to put forth its bud, then we know that the summer or the end is
nearing.
MATTHEW
24:31 And he shall send his angels with
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even
at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Remember, last week how we examined the parable of the
eleventh hour people, and found that World war one was stopped on the eleventh
Month at the eleventh hour because the Jews were not yet in their homeland.
They were not yet positionally placed. Now, in this parable we are also dealing with
Again we see in the Book of Mark this same parable
being told.
MARK
13:28 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When
her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall
see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. 30
Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these
things be done.
Now, this brings us to the second point witch is the
fruit, because Jesus is not just speaking of the Fig Tree, but He is speaking
of the Fig tree that has no fruit. And we see an episode in his life that is
exactly what this parable is all about.
MATTHEW
Now, the question is, “why did Jesus curse this
particular fig tree?” You might say, “well, it is because it had no fruit on it”,
and yet we find this same parable told in several other places in Scripture and
the indication is, that it was not yet the season for the fruit to be on the
tree. So we must ask the question, why did Jesus Curse
this Tree.
MARK
(Now it does not say that he was specifically looking
for figs here. But he was looking for something to eat. ) and when he came to it, he found nothing but
leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
(Now the author of this book made special mention that it was not in
the season for figs to be on the tree. Then what was it that Jesus was looking
for in that Tree? That is our question, for certainly it was not figs. And the
second thing we must ask, is that if it was out of
season for figs, then why did Jesus Curse that tree to begin with.) 14 And Jesus
answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his
disciples heard it.
Therefore without knowing what it was that Jesus was
looking for in that tree to eat, we will not understand why he cursed it. Now,
let’s read on in this story picking up at verse 19.
MARK
11:19 And when even was come, he went
out of the city. 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (Now we are getting closer to finding out why Jesus
cursed this tree. It had to do with its roots. The curse dried it up from the
roots.) 21 And
Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which
thou cursedst is withered away. 22 And Jesus
answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you,
That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast
into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them.
Now, Jesus is not telling them that they can go around
and just start speaking and those things are supposed to happen. What He is
teaching them is about how to approach Faith. Remember, Jesus did nothing
unless the Father showed Him first. And that is always the key in our having
Faith, and manifesting our faith to others. It’s not what you want, but what
God has shown you, that’s what you want. Faith is a
Revelation. Not an action.
Has God made the promise or has He not made the
promise? Now, why did Jesus curse the tree? Because he did not find that
certain something in that tree that bore evidence that the tree was even
capable of bringing forth fruit. Look, Jesus was not just some simple man that
went around showing off the power of the Father. There was a specific thing he
was looking for in that tree and when he did not find it, He knew that the Tree
was already cursed,
and thus He could pronounce what God had already done.
“Around 1881,
Edersheim was writing about Jesus thrusting his hand
into the branches of a fig tree and withdrawing it without fruit. Putting a curse upon the tree. It occurred to Dr. Edersheim that Jesus was tried and crucified in the spring,
and that the fig tree did not bear fruit until the early days of summer. Edersheim was certain he had caught the Messiah in a poorly
devised example. He put his pen away, packed his bags and took a steamer from
Now, what I want to bring to your attention here is
that it was not figs, that Jesus was looking for, but fruit or evidence that this
fig tree was capable of bringing forth fruit. In the Book of Jeremiah we are
given a story that is an allegory which represents
JEREMIAH
24:1 ¶ The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after
that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away
captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from
Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are
first ripe: and the other basket had
very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I
said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be
eaten, they are so evil. 4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like
these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of
Judah, whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For
I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this
land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and
not pluck them up. 7 And I will give
them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole
heart. 8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil;
surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his
princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that
dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will
deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt,
to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt
and a curse, in all places whither I
shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the
pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off
the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Now, this
brings us to the fruit itself. In the book of JAMES
In other words, we are to bear what we are ordained to
bear. Every seed must bring forth after its own kind or nature. Therefore, by
our nature we bear what we bear, and we can not bear anything other than what
we were made to bring forth. Therefore we must look at the fruit to know the significance
of this parable. And we must understand that God doesn’t go around cursing as a
whim. He gave very strong reasons for being cursed, and that is in Deuteronomy
chapter 28, the Book of the Two Laws. Now it is not as though God has two laws,
but the Two laws are the law of blessing and the law
of cursing. And we find that it all boils down to what we do with the Voice of
God. If we hearken to it, we are blessed, and that blessing will come up upon
us, and before we are fully aware of what is happening, it will take over our
situation.
DEUTERONOMY
28:1 ¶ And it shall come
to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God,
to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that
the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And
all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt
hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God 3 Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the
city, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. 4 Blessed
[shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of
thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks
of thy sheep. 5 Blessed [shall
be] thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. 7 The LORD shall cause thine
enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall
come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8
The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all
that thou settest thine
hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee. 9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people
unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments
of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall
see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of
thee. 11 And the LORD shall make thee
plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle,
and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD
shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy
land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine
hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And
the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above
only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments
of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do
[them]: 14 And thou shalt not go aside
from any of the words which I command thee this day, [to] the right hand, or
[to] the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Now, I want you to notice that for every blessing God
has promised and every thing or circumstance that we are to be blessed in, God has also set to be cursed in those things. It all
depends on what you do and your attitude towards the voice of God.
DEUTERONOMY
28:15 ¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I
command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake
thee: 16 Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be]
in the field. 17 Cursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store.
18 Cursed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of
thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of
thy sheep. 19 Cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest
in, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out.
20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that
thou settest thine hand
unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because
of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 The LORD
shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have
consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest
to possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite thee with a
consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an
extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and
they shall pursue thee until thou perish. 23 And thy heaven that [is] over thy
head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee [shall be] iron. 24 The
LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come
down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 25 The LORD
shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies:
thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and
shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 And thy carcass shall
be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man
shall fray [them] away. 27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of
33
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a
nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt
be only oppressed and crushed alway: 34 So that thou
shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt
see. 35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore
botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy
head. 36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over
thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there
shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations
whither the LORD shall lead thee. 38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the
field, and shalt gather [but] little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39
Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress [them], but shalt neither drink [of] the
wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worms shall eat them. 40 Thou shalt have
olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint [thyself] with
the oil; for thine olive shall cast [his fruit]. 41 Thou
shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall
go into captivity.42All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust
consume. 43 The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very
high; and thou shalt come down very low. 44 He shall lend to thee, and thou
shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. 45
¶ Moreover all these curses shall come
upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed;
because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded
thee: 46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy
seed for ever. 47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with
gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things]; 48 Therefore shalt thou
serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against
thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]:
and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49
The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth,
[as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue
thou shalt not understand; 50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not
regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51
And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land,
until thou be destroyed: which [also] shall not leave thee [either] corn, wine,
or oil, [or] the increase of thy kine, or flocks of
thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52
And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced
walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout
all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy
land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters,
which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine
enemies shall distress thee: 54 [So that] the man [that is] tender among you,
and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the
wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he
shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine
enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you,
which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for
delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her
bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And toward her young one
that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall
bear: for she shall eat them for want of all [things] secretly in the siege and
straitness, wherewith thine
enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words
of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest
fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the LORD
will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, [even] great
plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of
61
Also every sickness, and every plague, which [is] not written in the book of
this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62 And
ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for
multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice
of the LORD thy God. 63 And it shall come to pass, [that] as the LORD rejoiced
over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you
to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye
shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest
to possess it. 64 And the LORD shall
scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the
other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy
fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. 65
And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole
of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart,
and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt
before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance
of thy life: 67In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart
wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine
eyes which thou shalt see. 68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again
with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee,
Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies
for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy [you]. 29:1¶ These [are] the words of the covenant,
which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of
Notice it is
not then your fruit that brings on a curse, and it is not what you do, or your
fruits that brings forth a blessing, but the attitude you take towards the
Covenant of God and His word.
ROMANS
In other words, what if God allows
the darkness of night in order to show forth the brightness and splendor of the
day. What if he allows bad people
in order to show forth those that are good? What if God allows storms and rain
in order to bring forth freshness after the rain. You
know how good the air smells after the rain and lightning? Well, God doesn’t do
anything for no reason. . He is very exact in what He does, and has a purpose
for everything under the sun.
ECCLESIASTES
3:1 ¶ To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every
purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to
plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted; 3 A time to kill, and a
time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep,
and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to
gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to
cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a
time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a
time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
And God has a purpose behind everything. Then what is
the purpose of the tree being cursed? Because that tree could
not be cursed unless it was first cursed in heaven. And that is the key
top our prayer and our faith. Acknowledging what God has already done. Jesus
knew that tree was already cursed and could not bring forth fruit, even before
the season and thus then could speak those words of curse to it, because it had
already come under a curse, and the fact that it did not have in it the
essentials to be able to produce the desired fruit is why it could be cursed.
The curse is not because of what it does or does not do. The curse is done in
heaven and then just spoken on earth. Our words declare what God has already
pronounced.
2) The Fruit
1 The fruit
shows that there is life in the tree, Therefore
without any fruit there is no representation of life there to begin with. Then
all you have is a form. And Jesus warned us that the people in the
end time would have a form of Godliness but they would deny the Power there of,
and the power is the Manifestation of the word. Romans
2 The fruit
is an indication that the tree is producing something for someone, and is good for something. No fruit,
shows it is of no use to others, but just taking up space, and getting in the
way. That is why Jesus said, ; why cumbereth it
the ground? or why let it take up good
ground when it is not utilizing what the ground has to offer. And I wonder
sometimes if he doesn’t think that today when we have people in
3 The fruit
represents the teaching for the season. This is very Important
because when he reached in to see what fruit it had, there was not teaching
there at all. And without any teaching, which is doctrine, the tree is fit for
just one thing, and that is for fire wood. In other words a church or people without doctrine is fit only for destruction and the
fire of the tribulation period.