Reflective Bible Study

During one of the parables Jesus shares, we learn about a vineyard that has a fig tree that is not producing fruit. In this journal entry, I want to dig in to what the manager of the vineyard promises to do for the coming year, and analyze whether his methods are more likely to result in fruit, or lack of fruit.

In verse 8 we read the manager’s response, “Leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.” The manager asks for more time, and promised to give extra special attention to this fig tree with the hopes that it will bear fruit. This manager seems to promise the fig tree everything it needs to survive, and then some, as a last chance effort to convince it to be fruitful.

We could say that this tree has one “easy” year ahead of it.

But what the manager does not know, that we do, is for plants to be the most “fruitful” they must be “pruned”, and pruning hurts. Pruning involves taking everything away that is not necessary (all the “dead” stuff) and it involves hurting what is left.

The manager would be best suited to cut 60% of the branches off the fig tree, in addition to the digging and fertilizing), because through trials we become fruitful. Trials show others what we are made of, and they bring out our “fruit”.

So what does this say about our lives today?

Are you living a “good” or “easy” life? If so, you may not be as fruitful as God would want you to be.

Have you overcome a major trial or setback? If so, what has it taught you and are you using what you learned from it to help those around you?

Often times, the trials in our past are the seeds God uses to bless those we meet. Our journey to God’s ideal for us might follow a path of overcome trials.

When I look at how Jesus began His ministry – or at least how He steps onto the scene when it was time for Him to begin His ministry, I am amazed at the symbolism we can find in Jesus wanting to be baptized.

While John was baptizing people as a public way of showing those who intentionally chose to repent and turn away from their past life of sin, Jesus had no past life of sin to repent of. Because of this, John is completely justified in my mind for pushing back at Jesus for wanting to be baptized.

However, Jesus had something different in mind to be His symbol. The baptism at the beginning of His ministry was to foreshadow the death and resurrection at the end of His earthly ministry. In these two events that act like bookends to Jesus’ years of ministry, we see Him begin by submitting Himself to humanity, first represented by John in baptism, then later to the mob, the religious leaders, and to the Romans on the weekend He was crucified.

For Jesus, the baptism at the start of His ministry was not only an example for us, Jesus takes the promise resurrection following death and He attaches the example of His life and sacrifice to it in addition to the already present symbolism of dying to our past sins and being resurrected with a fresh start.

This brings us to another one of the big ideas I see in this passage: In His baptism, Jesus humbled Himself below humanity as a way of foreshadowing His sacrifice for humanity on the cross. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a sacrifice for each of us.

Of the gospel writers, only Matthew and Luke really focus in on Jesus’ birth story. John begins his gospel looking at the significance of God coming into the world, and Mark begins with a few verses leading up to John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism, but only Matthew and Luke dive into Jesus’ birth – and Luke devotes more verses and details to this event.

This information makes a phrase from our passage stand out in my mind. In verse 19, we read, “Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Luke opens his gospel by detailing that even though others have compiled the details of Jesus’ story, he would do the same, compiling a record of Jesus’ life from the eyewitness accounts that he had access to. This method makes Luke an interviewer and editor more than simply a writer.

But then why does verse 19 stand out in my mind?

About the only way for Luke to know if Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart would be if he had spent time with her himself. Reading the first 2-3 chapters of Luke while asking who Luke would have learned this information from, we can only really conclude that it was Mary herself – if Luke is being honest that he only included eyewitness reports.

Only Mary would know what was special to her, and only Mary would recall the wonder and perplexity of what was happening in this miraculous, extraordinary birth.

But while this was significant then, what big takeaway is there for us living today?

Firstly, it helps give authenticity to Luke’s gospel. But more important than this, understanding how Luke frames this event gives emotion in addition to simply sharing the facts of what happened in these early chapters of his gospel.

While Luke was an interviewer, He focused on including relatable details in this extraordinary event. He was not simply recording a set of facts that happened like a courtroom secretary. Instead, he wants us to understand not only what happened at that point, but how we can relate with what happened then and how these events are significant to us today.

Luke’s gospel begins to take the record of Jesus’ ministry from being one that focused mainly on God’s mission and fulfilling prophecy towards one that deeply cares for individuals and shows God’s love for each of us personally. Luke helps us see how God focuses not just on everyone as a big group, but every one of us individually.

Today’s passage has several things we can touch on, and it is one of the more ominous passages regarding the judgment that we find in the gospels. However, instead of jumping onto one of the more pronounced themes from this passage, let’s instead look at an idea that is stated, but could easily be missed if one is not paying attention:

“Those who reject me and do not accept my message have one who will judge them. The words I have spoken will be their judge on the last day!” (v. 48)

What stands out to me is the “when” that defines the judgment Jesus is preaching about: the “when” is “the last day”.

What brings this idea out so strongly in my mind is the confusion over when the judgment actually is.

Some people believe the judgment happens immediately when someone has died, and in that instant, the judgment (for them) will take place, and then they will experience the rewards or punishment immediately after.

But look at our verse again, and we see something very clear: The “when” is “the last day”. Judgment does not happen on a person’s last day, but on “the last day”. This foreshadows a day in the future which will end all days. The focus of this passage is Jesus’ words being the judge, and while this can be the case every day of our lives (because we can read Jesus’ teachings and be convicted of sin), the context for the idea here is from Jesus’ perspective and not ours. When it says “the last day”, this is from Jesus’ perspective and not our own.

This brings up a point that I want to emphasize: The less we personally read the scripture, the easier it will be for us to fall away from the truth the Bible teaches.

Are there other passages that seem to place the judgment as coming sooner than the last day? Some may believe so, but to be really certain for ourselves, we must be reading personally, and not take someone else’s word for it.

This brings up another interesting point, and our main idea for this journal entry: “Would you rather be judged by Jesus’ words today, in your life as you read the gospels, or be judged by Jesus’ words on the last day? One judgment leads to life, while the other leads to death.