And He spoke this parable: A certain one had planted a fig tree in his vineyard. And he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vinedresser, Behold, three years I come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down, and why does it waste the ground? And the vinedresser said to him, Sir, leave it also this year until I shall dig around it and throw manure; and see if it indeed makes fruit. But if not, in the future you may cut it down. ~ Luke 13:6-9, LITV

Before Jesus told this parable, he had just discussed the guilt of those that recently died in Jerusalem in police actions and accidents. His audience may have desired that Jesus would side with their concerns. Jesus did not specifically condemn those that had died and He didn't comment on the tragedies themselves. His statement that they repent or perish is a bold confrontation of the spiritual condition of his audience. As Jews, they would not appreciate Jesus pointing this out, especially if they were looking for sympathy. Jesus is more concerned with eternal life and told his audience "that if you do not repent, you will all perish likewise." The end result of any that fail to turn aside from unrepentant sin or evil will end up in the same death as those that die by accident or any other way. To avoid a gut reaction and to focus on the truth, Jesus quickly told a parable to continue his point and emphasize the importance of his true concern.

The Holy Spirit is the disciple's counselor and the dresser of Christian souls. He seeks to bring out the best and most beneficial purpose of God's Will through each disciple. Even when a disciple does not bear fruit because of imperfection and backsliding in some way, He seeks to fertilize the roots to create good spiritual health and fruitage, bringing or restoring the disciple to fruit-bearing health. Fertilizing the roots is not always pleasant and may involve trial in the form of chastisement because of disobedience and hard-heartedness. The fertilizing is designed to save the disciple of Christ from destruction. However, in the long term, when the disciple bears no fruit, the disciple must be dug up and separated from God's soil of Truth. If there was no intervention, the result would be the judgment and final destruction at the second death spoken of Revelation 21:8.

History shows that the judging hand of God fell upon the Jewish nation in the form of its destruction in 70 A.D. when Israel was scattered and the temple destroyed by Roman General Titus. The Jewish nation had not repented of the sins of legalism, self-righteousness, and ethnic pride. These sins had combined to bring about the murder of Jesus. The Jews reaped what they sowed. They sowed death and reaped death. As disciples, each one of us needs to be certain of good spiritual health and the good fruitage this brings in each disciple within God's spiritual body. As disciples, we are to bear the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Gal. 5:22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Even more important, Jesus also gave his disciples the commission to preach to all the nations in Matthew 28:19. This fruitage is very important and often personally neglected by many that consider themselves faithful Christians. Any disciple that lacks spiritual fruit will be fertilized and be given the opportunity to bear fruit before judgment is passed and the final destruction by fire is brought about. The results are permanent and final.      ~ John and Ruth Greene

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