What Jesus was issuing here in Luke 13:1-5 was indeed a warning offered in love. After all...it is not God’s will for ‘any to perish, but for all to come to repentance’. (2 Pet. 3:9; Acts 17:30) And we are told it is the ‘kindness and goodness of God that leads us to repentance.” (Rom. 2:4). I don’t know who needs to hear this, but we who claim to be mouthpieces for God’s kingdom and the gospel would do well...to share these truths in a ‘spirit of love’ instead of wildly flailing the ‘sword of God’s word’ around which results in ‘cutting off people’s ears’ so they are unable to even hear the genuine gospel today. Remember Peter’s incident in the garden? (John 18:10-11)
I closed out yesterday’s message with a hint at reading ahead for today’s lesson found in Luke 13:6-9. Keep in mind, we touched on this question as to what we are actually ‘repenting’ of, or from. There is no denying that the gospel Jesus came preaching was a message of repentance, and that message has not ever changed...despite what you may hear, or not hear in many churches today. (Matt. 4:17; Mark 4:15; Acts 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9)
So right after the exchange we read in Luke 13:1-5, that included this ‘loving warning’ to repent, Jesus then shares a parable about a man who had planted a fig tree in his vineyard. (6). We are told this man came looking for fruit on it, and found none. And this was not some ‘one day’ occurrence where he just happened to come by and found no fruit. We read that he had been coming back repeatedly for THREE YEARS... and still found no fruit. (7)
So what was his instructions to the keeper of the vineyard? He told him to ‘cut it down’. It was useless to him and was taking up needed space and nutrients from the ground, presumably.
Would you please take a moment and turn back to Matt. 3 where John the Baptist was warning the religious order of the day ...that God’s ‘wrath’ was coming (7), and Paul would later confirm...was already here. (Rom. 1:18). And do you ever pause to reflect what is being said in John 3:36?
So what kind of ‘fruit’ did John exhort his audience there would be beneficial to produce? I believe he said ‘fruits of repentance’. {8} Then, read verse 10 as he pronounces: “Even now...the ax is laid to the root of the trees...and every tree which does not bear good fruit...will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
I’m not going to spend time with this today, but if you want some ‘extra credit’ study to dive off into, you might read Isa. 14:3-17; Ps. 74:4-7, Jer. 6:6; 46:22-23. Satan (‘king of Babylon) and his demons are the ‘ax wielders’ who do all the ‘tree cutting’ as they carry out God’s wrath against ‘fruitless trees’. (Matt. 7:19; 13:39-43). When Jesus taught on the importance of ‘abiding in Him’ in order to produce any lasting fruit, there in John 15:1-8, who do you think He is referring to there in verse 7 when He mentions how ‘they’ will gather up those withered, fruitless branches? Who or what...are... ‘they’?
So back to our parable in Luke 13:6-9. An appeal is made for one more attempt to cultivate and nurture this tree with the hopes this final warning will bear fruit. And we see mercy extended...with a warning: “Ok...I’ll give it one more year...but if there is no fruit...it will be cut down”. (9). Can I just tell you that we are the ‘trees of the field’ that Isaiah speaks of (55:12; Mark 8:24). And we are either going to bear the fruit of God’s divine nature...or Satan’s nature; but we CANNOT... bear both. (Matt. 7:17-20; 12:33-34)
Let me close out with saying this as clearly and plainly as I can: When a person repents of a ‘sin’, they turn from it, find cleansing, forgiveness and freedom... thanks to the shed blood of Jesus...and then they ‘go and sin no more’. If they continue falling in this area of sin, then they have not truly repented of it. And that...becomes problematic. (John 5:14; Luke 13:3,5; Isa. 5:1-7)
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