BY ERIC BATES
HE GREATEST STRESS I EVER FACED in my career as a student was
standing in a line on the polished gym floor with my classmates. Opposite the
line were my two most athletically gifted peers chosen by Coach to select the
kickball teams. The wait was agonizing as each team captain analyzed each of
the remaining classmates for their speed, agility, and ability to wallop the
kickball into the bleachers.
As each name was called and one more student left the line
to join the crowd behind a captain, I found myself remaining--one of the nonchosen.
It felt like catching a line drive kickball right in the gut. It was us versus
them.
One autumn as I returned to school--and to that very gym--I
realized an incredible transition had taken place. I was no longer a kicker
of singles in the game of kickball. Over a short summer break I had become a
homerun slammer. The dreaded wait in line wasn't as long anymore, as I found
my name one of the first chosen each game.
It's funny; my kickball ability was not the only thing transformed.
Those gut-wrenching feelings at being left unwanted were replaced by feelings
of superiority and cockiness toward those "geeks" standing in the
line I used to be in. My pain was replaced by reveling in being one of "the
chosen." The us versus them mentality still existed, but the "us's"
and the "them's" had changed places.
I'm sure I'm not the only one with a similar experience. Sure,
it may not have been kickball, but all of us know what it is like to be either
one of the chosen or one of the "unchosen."
A Different Paradigm
The Jewish people of Jesus' day knew what it felt like to be God's chosen people,
to be the "elect" of God, to be the "us" group of the world.
They were set aside by God as His people, His nation. Imagine their surprise
to hear Jesus' parable the day He told them that the "us's" were about
to become the "them's."
Jesus had just been preaching to a large crowd about impending
judgment and the nation's inability to notice the signs that judgment was near.1
Right in the middle of this sermon Christ's attention was called to an odd question.
"Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, 'Do you
think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because
they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will
all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do
you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell
you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."2
As Jesus told the crowd of the judgment coming, the people
were still thinking "us" versus "them." Those in the crowd
couldn't help thinking that the judgment Jesus preached about was for "them"--the
other people, not us. After all, Galilee was not the pride of Israel. It was
full of "mixed" people, Jews and Gentiles. To some in the crowd, when
Jesus spoke of coming judgment, they heard judgment for the others, not themselves.
That is when Jesus decided to shatter their world and introduce
a new paradigm. One of the most effective ways Jesus subverted the conventional
values was to "parable a parable."
"Then he told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree, planted
in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.
So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, "For three years now
I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut
it down! Why should it use up the soil?" "Sir," the man replied,
"leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize
it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down."'"3
A simple story of a fig tree in crisis. But why was that fig
tree in a vineyard? Didn't it look a little out of place surrounded by all of
those grapes? It was not uncommon in Jesus' day for fig trees to be planted
in vineyards. Fig trees work perfectly in those rocky bare patches of ground
that are good for nothing else. Besides, there isn't anything better to hold
up a trellis than a sturdy old fig tree. In some vineyards the grapevines were
allowed to wind themselves up fig trees. It had even been said that the choicest
wines come from grapes that grow at the top of fig trees.
So it wasn't uncommon for fig trees to be in a vineyard, but why did Jesus choose
a fig tree for this parable rather than a regular grapevine? The vine theme
worked well for Him
another time, remember? "I am the vine; you are the branches."4
The fig tree was never in a vineyard by its own free will.
It was always and only there because the owner of the vineyard wanted it there.
Although fig trees grow wild in Palestine, a fig tree will not grow wild in
a vineyard unless the owner intentionally puts it there.
Jesus wanted Israel to hear that the fig tree represented them,
and that they were there in the vineyard of the kingdom of God because God Himself
had chosen them to be there. They were there because of God's election. They
were there because they were God's chosen people. God wanted them in His kingdom,
and He wanted them there for a purpose. At the foot of Sinai God gave explicit
instructions to Israel as to what their responsibility would be as God's chosen
people.5
God's purpose for Israel was to make them a nation of priests,
a holy nation. Israel was to expand their borders until the nation encompassed
the entire earth. They were to be a light on a hill and the salt of the earth,
enlarging God's kingdom, but they fell short and lost their focus. They developed
the "us" against "them" mind-set, instead of making "them"
a part of "us."
If No Fruit, Uproot
In Jesus' day a fig tree was planted as a sapling in a pot and kept there for
two to three years. At the end of that time it was transplanted. But the fruit
from the fig tree during the first three years after transplanting was thrown
away, and the fruit from the fourth year was given as an offering (Lev. 19:23,
24). Three years was ample time for the tree to bear fruit. If nothing else,
the owner of the tree could determine if the tree was capable of bearing fruit.
During this time while the owner waited for fruit, the vinedresser would care
for the tree, making sure it received enough water, was pruned carefully, and
fed with fertilizer. Apparently, none of these techniques helped this particular
fig tree to bear fruit.
Israel had been given every opportunity to bear fruit. The
nation had been given enough time. But time seemed to make them build higher
walls to separate the "them" from the "us." In a last-ditch
effort, some might call it grace, the owner allowed the tree one last chance,
another year to bear its fruit under tender loving care. But if grace is rejected,
judgment must come. If no fruit, uproot.
In another last-ditch effort, some might call it grace, God
gave the nation of Israel one last chance as God's chosen people in His kingdom.
That grace ended for the nation as a whole one year after Jesus' crucifixion
with the stoning of Stephen. The nation of Israel chose to leave "us"
and become "them."