Luke 13:6 - Meaning and Application

This parable is meant to drive home the warning just before it: “Except you repent, you will all likewise perish.” In other words, if people do not turn from sin and change, they will be ruined, just as a fruitless tree is cut down if it keeps bearing no fruit.

First, the parable points especially to the Jewish nation and people. God chose them for himself, brought them near to him, and gave them greater light and privilege than other nations. In return, he expected obedience and faithfulness, which would have been fruit for his glory. But they failed him. They did not do their duty, and instead of honoring their profession, they brought reproach on it. Because of this, he could justly have rejected them, taken away their privileges, and cut them off. Yet, because Christ interceded for them, as Moses had done long before, God gave them more time and more mercy. He, as it were, gave them another year by sending his apostles among them to call them to repentance and to offer forgiveness in Christ’s name if they would turn. Some were moved to repent and did bring forth fruit, and with them all was well. But the nation as a whole remained stubborn and unfruitful, and ruin came on them without remedy. About forty years later they were cut down and cast into the fire, as John the Baptist had warned them (Mat 3:10). This parable expands on that warning.

Yet the parable also reaches farther. It is meant to awaken all who enjoy the means of grace and the privileges of the visible church, so they will make sure their inner life and outward conduct match their profession. That is the fruit God requires. The fig tree had many advantages. It was planted in a vineyard, in better soil, and with more care than ordinary fig trees, which usually grew by the roadside, not in vineyards, because vineyards are for vines (Mat 21:19). This tree belonged to a certain man, who owned it and spent money and effort on it. The church of God is his vineyard, set apart from the common world and fenced in (Isa 5:1, Isa 5:2). By our baptism, we are planted in this vineyard as fig trees. We have a place and a name in the visible church, and that is a great privilege and mercy. God has not dealt so with other nations.

The owner expected fruit from the tree, and he had every reason to expect it. He did not send someone else, but came himself, showing his desire to find fruit. Christ came into this world and came to his own, the Jews, seeking fruit. God in heaven requires and expects fruit from those who have a place in his vineyard. He watches those who hear the gospel to see whether they live in a way that fits it. He looks for proof that the means of grace are doing them good. Leaves will not do, meaning empty words like “Lord, Lord.” Blossoms will not do either, meaning a good start or fair promise. There must be fruit. Our thoughts, words, and actions must match the gospel, light, and love.

The owner was disappointed. He found none, not even one fig. It is sad to think how many enjoy the gospel’s privileges and still do nothing at all to honor God or answer the purpose for which he gave them those privileges. That is a grief to the Spirit of grace. He complains of this to the dresser of the vineyard: “I came seeking fruit, but was disappointed. I looked for grapes, but found wild grapes.” He is grieved by such a people.

The disappointment is made worse by two things. First, he had waited a long time. He was not asking for much, only fruit, and he was not impatient. He came three years, year after year. Applied to the Jews, this can point to one season before the captivity, another after it, and another in the preaching of John the Baptist and Christ himself. It may also refer to the three years of Christ’s public ministry, which were nearly over. More generally, it teaches that God’s patience is long with many who hear the gospel but bear no fruit from it. That patience is often badly abused, and this brings greater judgment in the end. How many times has God come to some of us, as it were year after year, seeking fruit and found none, or almost none, or worse than none?

Second, the tree did not merely fail to bear fruit, it also did harm. It cumbered the ground, meaning it took up the place of a fruitful tree and was a burden to the soil. People who do no good often do harm through their bad example. They discourage the godly, and they strengthen the ungodly in evil. The damage is greater still if the tree is large, spreading, or old, because then it fills more space while producing nothing.

The sentence passed on it is, “Cut it down.” This is spoken to the dresser of the vineyard, to Christ, to whom all judgment is given, and to ministers, who declare his judgment in his name. No better outcome should be expected for barren trees than that they be cut down. As an unfruitful vineyard is broken down and left open to all (Isa 5:5, Isa 5:6), so unfruitful trees in the vineyard are thrown out and wither (Joh 15:6). God cuts them down by judgments, especially spiritual judgments, such as those that came on the unbelieving Jews (Isa 6:9, Isa 6:10). He also cuts them down by death and casts them into hell, and that is just, because why should such a tree keep taking up ground for no purpose?

Then comes the dresser’s plea for mercy. Christ is the great Intercessor, and he always lives to make intercession. Ministers also act as intercessors. Those who work in the vineyard should pray for it, because those we preach to should also be those we pray for. He asks for a reprieve: “Lord, let it alone this year also.” He does not ask, “Never cut it down,” but, “Not now.” He is asking that the tree not be removed yet, that the dresser not be taken away, that the dew not be withheld, and that the tree not be uprooted. It is a mercy when a barren tree is given more time. Some people do not yet have grace to repent, but it is still mercy that they are given space to repent, as the old world was given 120 years to make peace with God. We owe it to Christ, the great Intercessor, that barren trees are not cut down at once. If he had not stepped in, the whole world would have been cut down for Adam’s sin. But he said, “Lord, let it alone,” and he is the one who holds all things together.

We are encouraged to pray for a merciful delay for barren fig trees, that is, for people who have shown no spiritual fruit. We may ask, “Lord, leave them alone a little longer. Give them more time, bear with them, and wait to show your grace.” In that way, we stand in the gap and try to turn away wrath.

These delays of mercy are only for a time. “Let it alone this year also” means a short time, but long enough to test the tree fully. When God has shown patience for a long while, we may hope he will wait a little longer, but we cannot expect him to wait forever. Such delays may come because others pray for us, but not full pardon. For that, there must be our own faith, repentance, and prayer, or else there is no forgiveness.

The dresser then promises to do all he can to improve the tree if the delay is granted: “Till I shall dig about it, and dung it.” Our prayers must always be backed by effort. He seems to say, “Lord, maybe I have failed in what was my part, but let it alone this year, and I will do more than before to help it bear fruit.” In all our prayers, we should ask for God’s grace and also humbly resolve to do our duty. Otherwise, we mock God and show that we do not truly value the mercy we ask for.

This also teaches that when we pray for grace for ourselves or others, we must follow our prayers with careful use of the means of grace, the ways God has given to help people grow. The dresser of the vineyard promises to do his part, and in this he teaches ministers their duty. He will dig around the tree and manure it. Unfruitful Christians must be shaken awake by the warnings of the law, which break up hard soil, and then encouraged by the promises of the gospel, which warm and nourish, like fertilizer to a tree. Both must be tried, one preparing the way for the other, and both are needed.

He leaves the matter on this hopeful ground: “Let us try it one more year, and if it bears fruit, well” (Luke 13:9). It is possible, and even hopeful, that it may still become fruitful. In that hope, the owner will be patient, and the dresser will work hard. If the tree succeeds, both will be glad that it was not cut down.

The word well is not in the original, but the thought is so full of joy that it fits perfectly. If it bears fruit, there will be good reason for rejoicing, because they will have what they wanted. Unfruitful religious people, if after a long time they repent, change their ways, and bear fruit, will find that all is well. God will be pleased, because he will be honored. Ministers will be strengthened, and such repentant people will be their joy now and their crown later.

Even more, there will be joy in heaven over it. The ground will no longer be burdened, but improved. The vineyard will be more beautiful, and the good trees in it will be helped as well. For the tree itself, it will be good. It will not only be spared from being cut down, but it will receive God’s blessing (Hebrews 6:7). It will be pruned and will bear more fruit, because the Father is the gardener (John 15:2). And in the end, it will be moved from the vineyard on earth to the paradise above.

But if it does not bear fruit, then after that it will be cut down. Though God is long-suffering, he will not bear with unfruitful people forever. His patience has an end, and if it is abused, it gives way to wrath that will have no end. Barren trees will surely be cut down at last and thrown into the fire.

The longer God waits, and the more he has invested in them, the greater their ruin will be. To be cut down after all that patience, after all those hopes and all that concern, will be very sad and will make the judgment heavier. Yet cutting down is not something God enjoys doing. Notice that the owner said to the dresser, “Cut it down, because it is taking up the ground.” But the dresser replied, in effect, “If it must be done at last, you do it. Let my hand not be on it.”

Those who now pray for barren trees and labor over them may, if the trees stay fruitless, finally be willing to see them cut down. They will have nothing more to say in their defense. Even their best friends will agree with, and even praise, the righteous judgment of God when it is revealed (Revelation 15:3, Revelation 15:4).