Jesus and the Unfruitful Trees

Luke 13:6-9 NASB2020, “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”

I realized as I read this passage in my devotional time this week, that I am the unfruitful fig tree (or at least I was). All of us in the line of our first parents Adam and Eve have been plucked out of the life giving water and food that is the Lord. Scripture is clear that sin is death precisely because it severs us from God. God is life. There is no true life outside of God and so if you aren’t plugged into Him, you are at best a tree that can no longer bear fruit. What is the future of such a tree? As the parable illustrates, an infertile tree gets cut down and tossed aside.

People were created by God for a specific purpose and that purpose is to glorify Him. Regardless of what many may think and say, there is no true and lasting joy or happiness apart from a life dedicated to our original design. If we aren’t bringing glory to God with our lives, we will never be truly happy or complete. Whatever happiness we may claim outside of God is at best a facsimile of the real thing, but it can never be the real thing. Jesus calls us to turn our backs on sin and run to Him because He knows this. He knows the purpose for which He created us and He knows that we can never have abundant life so long as we are tethered to sin. The thing that we think gives us life apart from God is just a nice tasting poison that kills our soul over time.

Most people live their lives ike the fig tree that sits in the garden bearing no fruit and waiting for the day within which it is destined to be cut down and tossed aside. The point of this parable is plain. We are the tree, all of us. We are severed from God through sin and thus we aren’t properly watered by His Spirit nor are we properly fed by His word in our natural state. Because of this, we are not capable of producing genuine good works. We may have the appearance of good deeds, but they are an illusion. Our motives, our loves, everything about us is stunted and twisted by our malnourished state and we often don’t even realize that this is true. We are essentially dead with regards to our original intent and compared to the God who made us in His image. Like the unfruitful tree, unless something changes we are waiting to be cut down and tossed aside because we aren’t accomplishing the purpose for which we were planted. That’s the bad news, but thankfully the bad news isn’t all of the news.

You see, our Father in heaven is wholly just and so He must deal with sin according to justice and truth. All evil must go punished or else God isn’t just. We humans rarely realize just how evil and rotten we actually are. Though God is perfectly just, He is also perfect mercy and He loves us. Think about it. He didn’t just create humans as He created the other creatures in this world. He created us in His image and likeness. When I look at my children I see myself. They have my image. There is something about that familiarity that stirs in me a deeper love and affection for them compared to most other people in the world (save my wife, parents, etc). God has that for us. In His perfect justice He must cut us down if we don’t bear fruit because a lack of fruit is proof that we are participants with sin (in a sense we have cut ourselves down already due to our own wicked actions which severed us from God). Yet in His perfect mercy and out of His love for us the Father has put a gardener within His garden. That gardener is His precious Son Jesus. Jesus works from within our broken system to save as many out of it as He can.

Christ lived a perfectly fruitful life in our place. He did everything we were supposed to do but couldn’t because we have cut ourselves off from our life source through sin. Jesus never sinned. He always stayed connected to His Father who is our source of life. Now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Christ goes throughout our world which is the Father’s garden and tends to countless unfruitful trees. He fertilizes and waters them by grace allowing those who will turn their backs on sin and come to Him to be restored and become fruitful as they were intended to be. This is the beauty and power of the gospel of Jesus, the good news for us all.

So as I said at the beginning, I was once an unfruitful tree but by the faith I have in Jesus because of His grace extended towards me, I have been made alive in Him. My life has begun to produce fruit which looks like my Father’s fruit (though I’m still very much a work in progress). Every tree that is made good in Christ produces fruit like His (Matthew 7:17-20). Even if now I only produce a little fruit, one day my branches will be full in Jesus. I look forward to the day when I stand in God’s presence, fully restored and fruitful according to the image of my Father as revealed in Christ. If there is any good in me, I know it is because God has been gracious to me. He fertilized and watered an unfruitful tree and made me fruitful again in Him. Nothing I have is of my own merit, but of Christ’s.

Some of you reading this have had the same experience that I have. Be happy Christian! You are extraordinarily blessed and favored by the Christ who has watered and fed you, making you alive again in God. Others may still be stuck in the unfruitful old life in Adam. Yet here you are reading this. I have every confidence that if you have clicked on this and began reading, the true gardener Jesus has fresh plans for you, oh unfruitful tree. Has He began to stir your soul? Are you ready to stop sinning (which is participating with anything contrary to the character and commands of God) and leave your unfruitful life behind for a new fruit bearing life in Jesus? That unction is a sign that He is fertilizing and watering you by His grace. His Holy Spirit is near to you. What must you do? The Bible says you are to repent which means to turn your back on sin and to turn your life over to Christ Jesus, trusting Him alone as your Lord and Savior. Cry out to Him in your own words. Renounce your sin and receive Christ and you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

If you have questions or want someone to help you along on your journey with Christ, I would be happy to help you. You will find my office phone number below. Shoot me a text or call. May the grace and peace of Christ be with you.

In His steps,

Pastor Nick Tarter

405-394-4688