This is found in Luke 13:6-9:

“He also spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.

“Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years, I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’

“But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it, and fertilize it: And if it bears fruit, well: but if not, after that you can cut it down.'”

I feel compelled to share some of my experiences and ideas related to this parable.

First of all, on the surface, this parable is talking about a barren fig tree. I am not sure how long it takes a fig tree to bear fruit but from the parable it sounds as though a fig tree should bear fruit in its first year. Here, the owner of the vineyard had come seeking fruit for three years and had not found any. Maybe if the tree was able to bear fruit on its second or third year, it would have been different but the owner sounds very frustrated and he wants to cut it down immediately.

I find that I need personal applications to things that are in the Bible. I need to see what something says and I need to relate it to myself. I do not know if I am different to you on this, but this is how I am.

Now, I am 43 years of age. For 16 years, I thought I was one of the last two prophets that were called to come and judge the world. I thought I was a reincarnation of Elijah, the prophet. I suffered from a mental illness called schizoaffective disorder, which is a combination of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Part of the bipolar disorder is a situation called visions of grandeur. That is why I thought I was the last prophet here to judge the world, as mentioned in Revelation 11. I thought that I needed to learn how to do my job, which is to judge the world. So I spent years and years – twelve or thirteen years – reading the prophets, trying to work out every unfulfilled prophecy in the world, because I thought I had to fulfill all those prophecies. I was very judgmental.

People used to preach that we are saved by grace. All our sins, past, present and future, are forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ and through the New Covenant. We are neither under the acts of the law nor the judgments of the law and I would agree with none of this.

For the past four years at least, I have been writing Christian articles on the internet. In these four years, I have been operating a prophetic website, doing personal prophecies for people, and only in the past eight weeks have I come to the revelation that I have been wrong in my understanding of the New Covenant grace found in the cross. For Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.”

There are many articles that I have done good work in. Yet there are many articles that I had to take off the internet, because they were entirely false. They were entirely wrong.

So, I look at this parable. As a Christian, called to be a teacher of the Word of God, I look at my life and I see that I am fruitful. I am called to preach in churches and doors have been opened.

For so much of my life I had been bound in sin and lived a good-for-nothing existence. I had been living with various addictions. I had problems with sexual addiction. When I look at my earlier life, it looks as though it had been wasted. Then I look at this parable and see that if I did not have the mercy of Jesus, I would have been long gone. I would have been cast off, cut off and thrown into hell.

It makes me wonder about the owner of the vineyard. Do you remember in another parable of the vineyard (see Chapter 21), that the owner of the vineyard sent servants and the men there killed the servants. So, the owner sent his son and they killed the son, thinking that they would have rights to the vineyard after they had killed him. I am starting to think now that the owner of this vineyard is God the Father. The law – that Old Testament covenant law – was the fact that the tree should be bearing fruit within three years or it should be cut down.

I am thinking that the actual gardener who said “No, give it one more year. Let me give it some fertiliser,” was Jesus himself saying, “No let me give these people some grace. Let me give them understanding. Let me give them the power of the Holy Spirit. Let me dig up their life and teach them some new things and give them the ability to overcome and let me see if they bear fruit after that.”

See? The message of the New Covenant is that you are forgiven. There is no judgment against you. There is nothing held in your account. The hand of God is not against you. All of your lawless deeds, God remembers no more when you have repented.

This is a message that says: Yes, the reason why Matthew has survived all these years in an unfruitful life is because he is living in the New Covenant as a New Covenant believer. Under the old covenant, as an adulterer and fornicator, I would have been killed. Under the New Covenant I am still alive. Under the old covenant, I would never be accepted as a priest, or a preacher or a minister of the Gospel. Under the New Covenant, I am forgiven, washed clean, set free, and given the ability to preach the Gospel.

Yes, this is a tremendously encouraging parable. I hope that you can capture its meaning. I hope that you can get into the teachings of grace and the finished work of the cross. May you understand the grace of God and let it fertilise your lives for you to bear good fruit in the coming season. I hope these chapters on the parables may one day be able to bless your life.

Author Bio: If you have enjoyed my article you can read a soon to be published book called “The parables of Jesus made simple” for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be available in early 2011 For prophetic counsel, Christian life coaching, Dream interpretation, Christian chat and great Kingdom Teaching come and see us at http://www.kingdomassignments.com.au

Category: Religion
Keywords: parable of Jesus Christ