The Unproductive Biotech Company is based on Luke 13: 6-9
Retelling the Unfruitful Fig Tree
- Jesus used a fig tree in a vineyard, so he was probably thinking about individuals. Not Israel as a whole.
- A fig tree is supposed to produce figs! The parable is about people not doing what they’re ‘meant’ to do.
- The fig tree might just need a bit of help (loosening the soil, adding fertiliser).
So we’ve got a parable about people, who’re not doing what they – by nature – should be doing. What they may need is a bit of help and encouragement to turn their life around.
I chose to reset this parable to a small biotech start-up. Its original setting was a rich man and his vineyard, so the modern setting became a venture capitalist and her science park.
On the whole, I’d say the really important point is to remember when retelling is that the ‘unfruitful’ person in this parable needs help!
Repentant Sinners?
It’s not uncommon for preaching on this parable to concentrate on the extra year the tree gets to shape up. The theme becomes ‘God is merciful, but his mercy is not infinite.’ That’s in keeping with the ‘repent or die’ theme in Luke 13: 1-5. However, when retelling the parable, one of the important parts to keep is that the gardener thought the fig tree needed help. The parable isn’t just about an extra year – the gardener is also going to be working on any problems that might stop the tree fruiting. If this is a parable about God’s mercy, then God is sending some practical help.
Is it the Fig Tree’s Fault?
Jesus may be using this parable as a reply to “those present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” It may be continuing the warning to his audience – if we don’t change our way of life (produce figs), we’ll perish (be chopped down). But one of the interesting points in to consider in Luke 13: 1-5 is Jesus’ repeated statement that the people who died were no worse than anyone else. It wasn’t their fault they died. Is it the fig tree’s fault that it’s not producing fruit? After all, it’s a fig tree. It’s not doing this on purpose.
Why a Fig Tree?
Vineyards, for both Jesus and the prophets, often represented the whole of Israel. So, when Jesus uses a fig tree, he probably means individuals within Israel. The fig tree’s also described as ‘using up the soil’, so he’s talking about people who should be doing worthwhile things. However, they’re just using other people’s resources.
An Absentee Landlord?
One of the common assumptions made about this parable is that the owner is an absentee landlord. He’s looking for fruit during his infrequent visits. That assumption comes from what we know of first century Galilee – rich, absentee landlords owned most of the estates big enough to support a vineyard.
It’s an interpretation, not a certainty. In retelling the question is, do we keep that interpretation, or go for ‘the landlord lives on the estate.’ But one implication is that the accusing landlord simply doesn’t know the fig tree as well as the gardener does. The absentee landlord does not represent a wrathful God – all he knows about this tree is that it hasn’t yet fruited.
In an ‘absentee landlord’ interpretation, the gardener doesn’t represent Jesus either. He’s simply someone who knows the tree well; has known it all its life, in fact.
One retelling I’ve seen was a poorly-performing student in a martial-arts dojo. In that example of retelling, the ‘landlord’ could be a visiting examiner and the ‘gardener’ the instructor. An instructor who’s known the student since he first started training.
But the important thing, I think, is that the wrathful landlord is only seeing what the tree hasn’t done. The merciful gardener knows that tree from the roots up. Just like God does.
Previous Parable: The Rich Idiot (Luke 12: 16-20)
Next Parable: Forcing Old and New Together (Mark 2: 21-22)
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