It May Bear Fruit in the Future

Awhile back , the angel asked me to write on the Gospels on Sundays. With Love and gratitude, here is the Gospel of Luke 13:1-9; with a loving and also an angel guided message behind it.

 

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans

whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

Jesus said to them in reply,

“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way

they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?

By no means!

But I tell you, if you do not repent,

you will all perish as they did!

Or those eighteen people who were killed

when the tower at Siloam fell on them—

do you think they were more guilty

than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?

By no means!

But I tell you, if you do not repent,

you will all perish as they did!”

 

And he told them this parable:

“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,

and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,

he said to the gardener,

‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree

but have found none.

So cut it down.

Why should it exhaust the soil?’

He said to him in reply,

‘Sir, leave it for this year also,

and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;

it may bear fruit in the future.

If not you can cut it down.’”

 

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In the past, people believed that if someone suffered and ill fate, that the cause was that they had sinned, or that God was punishing them.

 

Here, Jesus is asserting two truths: those who suffer have  not necessarily sinned, but those who sin, will eventually reap what they have sown. In the first century, it was common to believe that misfortune was a sign of God’s disfavor. Jesus disputes this false notion.

 

If we want to be right with God, now is the time and the hour to do so. Twice Jesus sets the condition, ” If you do not repent.” God never tires of forgiving, but as Pope Francis reminds us, we tire of asking for forgiveness. When we fail to repent, then the consequences of our free choices fall upon us. Jesus even uses a parable to illustrate the point. In the parable, God is both the landowner and the gardener who asks for more time. The owner does not want the tree to exhaust the soil  to yet another year.  “if it does not produce” , says the gardener, “you can cut it down.” Stern as it is, even that is the final caution of Divine Love that wants no one lost and nothing, not even a fruitless tree, cast into the fire. [see reference]

 

Every tree needs regular pruning for growth and bea. Like the gardener in the parable, we too should take care to prune away what no longer serves us; remaining focused on love for God and one another , repenting if needed for spiritual growth and favor with God- asking God for foriveness  through prayer, and through Christ his Son – who will always greet us with Mercy.

 

Reference: Workbook for Lectors and Gospel Readers and Proclaimers of the Word 2016