Parable of the fig tree without fruit
The parable of the fig tree without fruit told by Jesus of Nazareth is about a vineyard owner who does not tear a fig tree that does not produce fruit, but gives it some time. The parable is only handed down in the Gospel according to Luke and thus belongs to the Lukan special property . It is not to be confused with the parable of the fig tree and the curse of the fig tree .
text
The parable is as follows:
“ 6 And he told them this parable: A man had a fig tree in his vineyard; and when he came and looked to see if it bore any fruit, he found none. 7 Then he said to his vine-grower, I've come three years now and see if this fig tree bears fruit and can't find anything. Knock him down! What else should he take his strength from the ground?
8 The grower replied, Lord, let him stand this year; I want to dig up and fertilize the soil around it. 9 Perhaps it will still bear fruit after all; if not, then let him blow. "
The parable is preceded by a warning to repent, which culminates in the verse immediately before the story of the parable: “You will all perish the same way if you are not converted” ( Lk 13,5 EU ).
Interpretative approaches
The story of the parables describes a triple constellation: the vineyard owner who expects fruit, the vine gardener who wants to look after the tree for another year, and the fig tree who does not produce the expected fruit. It is not mentioned in the parable whether the tree brought the desired fruit and was therefore not cut down.
Allegorical interpretation
In an allegorical approach, the vineyard owner stands for God . The vine gardener and the fig tree are inconsistently interpreted as Israel.
Further theological interpretations
The theologian Joachim Jeremias sees the following key message in the parable: God's mercy continued until the penal decision already made was repealed; the winemaker wants (through fertilization) “to do the impossible, to try the last possible”.
Liturgical use
The pericope Luke 13: 1-9 EU is read according to the Catholic reading order on the third Lent Sunday of the reading year C and on the Saturday of the 29th week of the year .
In the evangelical pericope order , Luke 13: 1-9 is the gospel of the day of penance and prayer and the sermon text of series I for this day.
See also
literature
- Julius Alexander Detrich: And he taught them in parables. Parables of Jesus rediscovered - a sermon volume. Books on Demand, 2001. Google Books
Web links
- Sr. Margareta Gruber: Judgment Consequences or Chance of Grace? (PDF; 31 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Timothy Maurice Pianzin: Parables of Jesus: In the Light of Its Historical, Geographical & Socio-Cultural Setting. Tate Publishing, 2008, ISBN 1-60247-923-2 , p. 236.
- ↑ Joachim Jeremias: The parables of Jesus. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998. p. 170