Did you ever need a second chance? Did you ever have to ask someone for a a second chance? While such a request may take a great deal of courage and may be accompanied by some soul-searching and regret over past actions or failures, when it is met by a listening ear and a ready heart with a positive reaction, it is like a tremendous breath of fresh air to your soul!
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the stories Jesus told is the surprise twist that he often wove into the plot. The story about the unfruitful fig tree is like that. Here we hear of a gardener who looks for figs on his tree for three growing seasons without any success. So he decides to do the obvious which is to have the tree cut down. He orders his gardener to make it so. The surprising plot twist is that the gardener protests and asks for second (well, actually fourth) chance for the tree. He promises to cut it down if it doesn't yield figs by the next year. He says he will give it special attention, fertilizing and looking after it. We're not told anything about the outcome - figs or none? So we wonder what the point of the story is. It is beginning to appear that Luke's purpose in his selection of stories is to present a caricature of God that Jesus presented through his life and teaching that is distinct from the common image of the religious leaders of the day. We might say that there was no "second chance" in their vocabulary or practice.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the stories Jesus told is the surprise twist that he often wove into the plot. The story about the unfruitful fig tree is like that. Here we hear of a gardener who looks for figs on his tree for three growing seasons without any success. So he decides to do the obvious which is to have the tree cut down. He orders his gardener to make it so. The surprising plot twist is that the gardener protests and asks for second (well, actually fourth) chance for the tree. He promises to cut it down if it doesn't yield figs by the next year. He says he will give it special attention, fertilizing and looking after it. We're not told anything about the outcome - figs or none? So we wonder what the point of the story is. It is beginning to appear that Luke's purpose in his selection of stories is to present a caricature of God that Jesus presented through his life and teaching that is distinct from the common image of the religious leaders of the day. We might say that there was no "second chance" in their vocabulary or practice.
Parables don't seem to need worrying down to the meaning of each detail - they tend to be simple stories with one point. The point of this story is that if you need a second chance then the best person to ask for it is God!
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