At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. 2 He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? 3 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! 4 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? 5 By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” 6 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, 7 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?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9 it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.
Jesus was very firm in warning sinners to repent before it was too late. Some people in the crowd told Jesus that Pilate had sacrificed some of the Jews in the temple, and Jesus told the crowd that it was not because they were greater sinners than everyone else. He warned them that if they did not repent, they would also perish as did those Galileans. Sometimes it is an act of God that causes tragedy (v. 4). He wanted the disciples to understand that it could happen to anyone at any time so they should repent and always be prepared to stand in judgment before God. They do not know when they will be called so they need to repent before a greater disaster overtakes them.
Luke omitted that Jesus cursed the unfruitful fig tree (Mk. 11:20-25) and gave a more compassionate presentation of the same incident. The two evangelists were making different points to different audiences. In the OT (Isaiah 6; Hosea 9) fruitless vines were used to represent poor Israelite leadership. The Israelites were God’s chosen people and God expected them to keep the covenants He made with them and to obey the Mosaic Law. The Israelites were unfaithful to God in both OT and NT times. Through God’s mercy and compassion, they will be given more time to respond to Jesus, the Divine Gardener, if not they will receive God’s just final punishment.
Almighty God, we pray that you will look upon us with compassion and grant us the grace to persevere, in spite of our failings, so that we may be found worthy of eternal life. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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