The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree (Broken Clock)

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’ ” -Luke 13:6-9

A few years ago Deanna and I purchased two small dwarf trees—a meyer lemon tree and a lime tree. We had been getting more and more into cooking, and were imagining the convenience of being able to pick lemons and limes straight off of the trees to use in whatever recipes we needed them for. At the same time we were ignoring the harsh reality that we lived on the third floor of an apartment building with the only outdoor space being a covered porch. We got the dwarf trees, put them in two nice looking pots, and set them in a space that would hopefully get enough light. As you might be able to imagine, both trees ended up dying and we only ever got one tiny inedible lemon. Did we receive bad trees that would never properly bear fruit, or did the trees die because of our inability to provide the things they needed to survive (along with maybe a little bit of overwatering)? How many of you can resonate to some extent with this story?

The parable of the barren fig tree reminds me a little bit of my experience with the lemon and lime trees, and more than just it being a tree that hasn’t borne any fruit. Similar to how I had no idea how to properly care for a lemon or a lime tree, the vineyard owner doesn’t seem to know (or care) how to get the tree to bear fruit. The vineyard owner just wants the results of the harvest. This is implied in the fact that it was already exceedingly odd that a fig tree was planted in the vineyard anyway. Fig trees commonly grew in ancient Israel, so much so that no-one would need to specially plant one in their vineyard, taking up the space that could be better served for other plants. Fig trees also grow deep roots and large branches, meaning it would have taken up a lot of space in the vineyard. 

Additionally, the vineyard owner seems to have been unaware of the law of the first fruits, found in Leviticus 19:23-25. This law states that no fruit shall be eaten from a tree over the first three years, and the fourth year of fruit is to be offered to God. The laborer in the vineyard may have been disposing of the fruit in secret to prevent the vineyard owner from violating this law. For all the vineyard owner knew, the tree could have been fruiting all three years without him knowing, so that the laborer could confidently say that the tree would fruit in the fourth year (even if that fruit needed to be offered to God).

In the two most common interpretations of this parable, either Christians must bear fruit or risk being condemned by God, or Jesus will intercede on our behalf offering us grace despite our lack of fruit. Both of these interpretations place God in the shoes of the vineyard owner, and imply in some way that faith without works is dead. And while both of the common interpretations teach us something valuable, is that all there is to this parable? Does the vineyard owner always have to be the “God” figure, especially when in the context of the story, the vineyard owner seems to be mostly absent? Maybe, for instance, it teaches us not to judge our neighbors when they might be bearing plenty of fruit we don’t see without being fully present in their lives.

In order to retell this parable, I chose to use a grandfather clock in place of the fig tree. One reason for this is that a lot of people who own a grandfather clock have no idea how to fix it when it doesn’t work correctly, and get frustrated when they can’t get it to work. They may even do what I do when I can’t get a clock to work, and just set it to 5 PM. Oftentimes the way to “fix” a clock that won’t keep the time correctly is as simple as turning a knob on the bottom of the pendulum. In other words, the clock was never actually broken—it just appeared to be broken to the one who doesn’t know much about clocks. God could be represented as the owner of the clock who expects the clock to keep time correctly (the clock's way of bearing fruit). Likewise, the housekeeper could be a representation of Jesus, interceding on behalf of the clock, doing everything possible to help the clock “bear fruit.” However, like the parable of the barren fig tree, the clock’s owner doesn’t have to be the God figure at all. 

What questions is this parable inviting you to ask? Do you identify with the tree (or clock) that may or may not be able to bear fruit? Do you identify with the owner who either can’t keep a tree alive or can’t fix a clock? Either way, I believe it is important for us to be open to hearing this and other parables in new ways, to ask new questions, and to reflect on new things.