‘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?’

As we have discussed, God uses imagery so we might clearly understand His intent for us, the picture He envisions for us. We will continue this study of God’s imagery throughout the Great Lent. 

May God’s imagery help us to achieve the vision He has for us and help us to arrive at Easter no longer ash, but light.

In last week’s reflection we concluded by praying that our Lenten disciplines strengthen us for the work we must do in the chaos, bringing light to overcome darkness.

This week God’s set of images call us to the charge of overcoming barrenness.

Jesus begins by issuing a set of very stark warnings, and the warning slightly hidden in the parable of the fig tree.

These kinds of warnings concerning consequences are the subject of vast theological and philosophical dances. We might regularly hear pastors saying – Well, Jesus didn’t really mean that, He was actually saying…

People tend to shy away from the idea of consequences, from the idea that they have to lie in the bed they made, that we can set aside God’s justice and take His mercy for granted. It is the very reason the word sin and the concept of hell are rarely if ever brought up – especially in churches.

In Jesus’ parable, the owner of the fig grove is God. He arrives expecting results and when He finds the tree that produces nothing, He orders it cut down – literally cut off from life.

The picture of barrenness is a stark one. Today’s image of the barren fig tree is not the only occasion for Jesus addressing a tree’s failure to produce. In Mark, Chapter 11 we see Jesus cursing a fig tree for failing to bear fruit even though it was out-of-season.

God expects us to bear fruit and to do so both in and out of season, to always be at the top of our game, in the action.

The other message we receive today is the assurance of help in the process. The owner, God, has waited for fruit for three years. He agrees to wait yet another year. The gardener, Jesus, will provide the tree with His grace by tending it, cultivating it, and fertilizing it. But there too we must take care not to take that grace and time for granted. Jesus’ tending, cultivation, and fertilization must be taken into ourselves so we may reach the result He wants.

The image of barrenness and death is juxtaposed with God’s image of life and fruitfulness. Which image we reflect is up to us.