A fig tree in the vineyard
Alan Cresswell
Admin, 8th Day Host
in Kerygmania
The parable of the fig tree, Luke 13:6-9 provides a counterpoint to other parables where unfruitful vines are cut down and burnt, showing the compassion of the gardener with another chance (and, I often wonder whether if there was still no fruit next year if the response would still be "just one more year").
But, reading this again recently I was struck by something I hadn't previously noted. The fig tree in question is inside a vineyard, somewhere that it appears it shouldn't be. Does anyone know whether it was common for figs to be grown in vineyards? Or is it significant that the owner of the vineyard has tolerated a fig tree among the vines for years, with only an expectation of fruit? Is this saying something about those in our communities and churches who don't really fit?
But, reading this again recently I was struck by something I hadn't previously noted. The fig tree in question is inside a vineyard, somewhere that it appears it shouldn't be. Does anyone know whether it was common for figs to be grown in vineyards? Or is it significant that the owner of the vineyard has tolerated a fig tree among the vines for years, with only an expectation of fruit? Is this saying something about those in our communities and churches who don't really fit?
Comments
We also have rosebushes planted at the ends of rows of trained vines because they draw away aphids from young vines and give early warning of mildew or black rot before vine foliage is affected.
I'm thinking about people who join a faith community but can't feel embedded or put down roots, don't flourish. What kind of nurturing might be needed?
My wife just pointed out figs are mentioned in the story of the Garden of Eden. Of course, fig leaves contain a toxin that will cause a rash on human skin. Part of an inside joke in that story, but I digress.
Might make for an interesting preaching point
Interesting thought @questioning
It would also potentially mean the owner (and gardener) were outside their specialty (althiugh ive also heard it's clear Paul and Jesus were in manufacturing)
I presume the owner is (parallel to) the Father and the gardener the Son.
It seems relatively rare for a parable where the Son is going (even this slightly) against the Fathers will*
I don't expect a parable to maintain hundred percent trinitarian correspondence. So I'm not going to read much into it.
You of course have a son against his father's plans in the prodigal son.
It can have the sort of trinitarian reading that you suggest. It can also be a conversation about individual people and the ways in which those of us who have to live/work with them can write them off as too difficult to work with or as a waste of oxygen. What if the difficulty is not with the person we want to write off, but with the quality of the living or working arrangements (the soil or oxygen) that we've been providing them?
I'm sure that others who ponder the parable can come up with a bunch of other interpretations. Maybe especially for this one where the parable is simply told - without even the common introduction: "The kingdom of God is like..."
There is a text in Leviticus , a proscription on touching first fruit for three years, but I'm not sure that it is relevant here. We don't know how old the tree is but presumably it should have been fruiting by now. The gardener wants to give the tree more time, just one more year. Time is running short and I wonder if that is the point of the allegory or parable: that the gardener, who understands what the fig needs, will intervene to help the tree produce fruit by digging in soil enrichment (manure) or, as @BroJames suggested, by trimming the roots to spur more growth. The parable for me is about twinned mercy and a warning that time is running out, related to the urgency of Jesus' teachings as his own three-year ministry was coming to an end. I've always read this parable in tandem with the cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21) when Jesus wants to pick a ripe fig out of season: the dead fig tree stands for the destruction of the Temple but again a warning that those with faith are able to and should bear fruit all year round.
@jay_emm because fig trees are so prolific (especially when grown beside a river) and have such extensive powerful root systems, they are not grown in orchards or groves as are olives or almonds or pomegranates. When I moved into the country cottage where I stay, the first thing I had to do was to take out a young fig tree growing behind the garage wall because the roots grow under the basement and crack walls and floors.
I'd say that the warning aspect is there: repent or perish. But not the saving grace of the gardener offering to help. That's where the parable opens up the question of those who take a long time to repent or bear fruit, if ever.
And I appreciated the comment of @questioning about multivalent readings of parables.
And I agree with the suggestion of @Alan Cresswell about 'one more year' and another 'one more year'.
In fact I had been thinking about this parable before this thread was started as I recently had a plum tree planted in the grass in front of our house and it hasn't really done anything for a couple of years and Mrs Vole said she'd like a magnolia tree instead and decided to cut back the grass round the base and dig in some quality compost/manure -and see what another year brings!
Also Zechariah 3,
So I suspect that the fig tree in the vineyard was either a really common pairing and then got turned into a symbol, or the other way around (with people referencing it through their plantings).
Oddly enough, one of the references deals specifically with a fruitless tree: Jeremiah 8
This kind of makes me wonder a bit about the acted-out parable when Jesus goes looking for fruit on that roadside tree.