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17 - Spare It This Year Also - Christ's Object Lessons · Wisdom of the Ages Library

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  Chapter seventeen, spare it this year. Also, Christ, in his teaching,
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  linked with the warning of judgment the invitation of mercy. The son of
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  Man is not come, he said, to destroy men's lives, but to
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  save them. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world,
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  but that the world through him might be saved. His mission of mercy,
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  in its relation to God's justice and judgment, is illustrated in the parable
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  of the barren fig tree. Christ had been warning the people of the coming
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  of the Kingdom of God, and he had sharply rebuked their ignorance and indifference.
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  The signs in the sky, which foretold the weather, they were quick
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  to read. But the signs of the times, which so clearly pointed to
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  his mission, were not discerned. But men were as ready then as men
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  are now to conclude that they themselves are the favorites of Heaven, and that
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  the message of reproof is meant for another. The hearers told Jesus of an
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  event which had just caused great excitement. Some of the measures of pontious pilot.
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  The governor of Judea had given offense to the people. There had been
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  a popular tumult in Jerusalem, and Pilot had attempted to quell this by violence.
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  On one occasion, his soldiers had even invaded the precincts of the temple
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  and had cut down some Galilean pilgrims in the very act of slaying their sacrifices.
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  The Jews regarded calamity as a judgment on account of the sufferer's sin,
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  and those who told of this act of violence did so with secret satisfaction.
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  In their view, their own good fortune proved them to be much better and
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  therefore more favored by God than were these Galileans. They expected to hear from
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  Jesus words of condemnation for these men, who they doubted not richly deserved their
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  punishment. The disciples of Christ did not venture to express their ideas until they
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  had heard the opinion of their master. He had given them pointed lessons in
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  reference to judging other men's characters and measuring retribution according to their finite judgment.
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  Yet they looked for Christ to denounce these men as sinners above others. Great
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  was their surprise at his answer. Turning to the multitude, the Savior said,
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  suppose ye, that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they
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  suffered such things. I tell you nay, But except ye repent, ye
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  shall all likewise perish. These startling calamities were designed to lead them to humble
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  their hearts and to repent of their sins. The storm of vengeance was gathering,
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  which was soon to burst upon all who had not found a refuge in
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  Christ. As Jesus talked with the disciples and the multitude, he looked forward
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  with prophetic glance and saw Jerusalem besieged with armies. He heard the tramp of
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  the aliens marching against the Chosen City, and saw the thousands upon thousands perishing
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  in the siege. Many of the Jews were like those Galileans, slain in
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  the temple courts in the very act of offering sacrifice. The calamities that had
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  fallen upon individuals were warnings from God to a nation equally guilty. Except ye
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  repent, said Jesus, ye shall all likewise perish. For a little time,
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  the day of probation lingered for them. There was still time for them
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  to know the things that belonged to their peace. A certain man, he
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  continued, had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and
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  sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of
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  his vineyard, Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree,
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  and fine none cut it down. Why cumbereth at the ground Christ's ears
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  could not misunderstand the application of his words. David had sung of Israel as
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  the vine brought out of Egypt. Isaiah had written, the vineyard of the
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  Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his
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  pleasant plant. The generation to whom the Savior had come were represented by the
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  fig tree in the Lord's vineyard, within the circle of his special care and
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  blessing. God's purpose towards his people, and the glorious possibility before them had
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  been set forth in the beautiful words, that they might be called trees of
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  righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. The
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  dying Jacob, under the spirit of inspiration, had said of his best loved
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  son, Joseph, is a fruitful bow, even a fruitful bow by a
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  well whose branches run over the wall. And he said, the God of
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  thy Father shall help thee, the Almighty shall bless thee with blessings of heaven
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  above blessings of the deep that lieth under. So God had planted Israel as
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  a goodly vine by the wells of life. He had made it his vineyard
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  in a very fruitful hill. He had fenced it and gathered out the stones
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  thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine. And he looked that it
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  should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. The people of
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  Christ's day made a greater show of piety than did the Jews of earlier ages,
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  but they were even more destitute of the sweet graces of the spirit of
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  God. The precious fruits of character that made the life of Joseph so fright,
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  grant, and beautiful were not manifest in the Jewish nation. God and
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  his son had been seeking fruit and had found none. Israel was a cumberer
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  of the ground. Its very existence was a curse, for it filled the
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  place in the vineyard that a fruitful tree might fill. It robbed the world
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  of the blessings that God had designed to give. The Israelites have misrepresented God
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  among the nations. They were not merely useless, but a decided hindrance to
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  a great degree their religion was misleading and wrought ruin instead of salvation. In
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  the parable, the dresser of the vineyard does not question the sentence of the
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  tree. If it remained fruitless, should be cut down. But he knows
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  and shares the owner's interest in that barren tree. Nothing could give him greater
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  joy than to see its growth and fruitfulness. He responds to the desire of
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  the owner, saying, let it alone this year also till I shall dig
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  about it and dung it, and if it bear fruit well. The gardener
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  does not refuse to minister to so unpromising a plant. He stands ready to
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  give it still greater care. He will make its surroundings most favorable, and
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  will lavish upon it every attention. The owner and the dresser of the vineyard
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  are one in their interest in the fig tree. So the father and the
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  son were one in their love for the chosen people. Christ was saying to
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  his hearers that increased opportunities would be given them. Every means that the love
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  of God could devise would be put in operation, that they might become trees
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  of righteousness, bringing forth fruit for the blessing of the world. Jesus did
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  not in the parable tell the result of the gardener's work. At that point,
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  his story was cut short. Its conclusion rested with the generation that heard
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  his words to them, the solemn warning was given. If not then after
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  that, thou shalt cut it down upon them. It depended whether the irrevocable
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  words should be spoken. The day of wrath was near in the calamities that
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  had already befallen Israel. The owner of the vineyard was mercifully forewarning them of
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  the destruction of the unfruitful tree. The warning sounds down along the line to
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  us in this generation, Are you, o careless heart, a fruitless tree
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  in the Lord's vineyard? Shall the words of doom ere long be spoken of
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  you? How long have you received his gifts? How long is he watched
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  and waited for a return of love planted in his vineyard under the watchful care
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  of the gardener. What privileges are yours? How often has the tender gospel
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  message thrilled your heart? You have taken the name of Christ. You are
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  outwardly a member of the Church, which is His body, and yet you
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  are conscious of no living connection with the great Heart of Love. The tide
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  of his life does not flow through you. The sweet graces of his character.
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  The fruits of the spirit are not seen in your life. The barren
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  tree receives the rain and the sunshine in the gardener's care. It draws nourishment
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  from the soil, but its unproductive boughs only darken the ground, so that
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  fruit bearing plants cannot flourish its shadow. So God's gifts lavished on you convey
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  no blessing to the world. You are robbing others of privileges that but for
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  you, might be theirs. You realize, though it may be but dimly,
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  that you are a cumberer of the ground. Yet in his great mercy,
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  God has not cut you down. He does not look coldly upon you.
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  He does not turn away with indifference or leave you to destruction. Looking
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  upon you, he cries, as he cried so many centuries ago, concerning
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  Israel. How shall I give thee up Ephrium? How shall I deliver thee
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  Israel? I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger. I will not
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  return to destroy Ephrium. For I am God and not man. The pitying
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  Savior is saying, concerning you, spare it this year also till I shall
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  dig about it and dress it with what unwearied love did Christ minister to Israel
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  during the period of added probation upon the cross, he prayed, Father,
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  forgive them, for they know not what they do. After his ascension,
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  the Gospel was preached first at Jerusalem. There the Holy Spirit was poured out.
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  There, the first Gospel church revealed the power of the risen Savior.
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  There Stephen, his face as it had been the face of an angel,
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  bore his testimony and laid down his life. All that Heaven itself could give
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  was bestowed. What could have been done more to my vineyard. Christ said
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  that I have not done in it. So his care and labor for you
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  are not lessened, but increased. Still, he says, I the Lord
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  you keep it. I will water at every moment, lest any hurt it.
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  I will keep it night and day if it bear fruit well, and
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  if not, then after that the heart that does not respond to define agencies
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  becomes hardened, until it is no longer susceptible to the influence of the Holy
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  Spirit. Then it is that the word is spoken, cut it down.
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  Why cumbereth it the ground to day? He invites you, oh Israel,
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  return unto the Lord, thy God. I will heal their backsliding. I
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  will love them freely. I will be as the dew unto Israel. He
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  shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. These
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  that dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall revive as the corn,
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  and grow as the vine. From me as thy fruit found end of Chapter seventeen.