Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down’” (Luke 13:1-9 – NRSV)
Introductory notes
General
Jesus – the Prophet – is on the way to Jerusalem. He takes the opportunity of the reports concerning two tragic events to emphasise the call to metanoia. The parable of the fig tree adds a note of seriousness, even urgency, to the call to metanoia. “Luke has Jesus respond to these reports of death in the city in classic prophetic style: they are turned to warning examples for his listeners. The people who died were not more deserving of death than others. One cannot argue from sudden and violent death to the enormity of sin. Indeed, Jesus himself will suffer a death that appears to be as much a punishment for sin. But the prophet’s point is that death itself, with the judgment of God, is always so close. It can happen when engaged in ritual. It can happen standing under a wall. And when it happens so suddenly, there is no time to repent. Rabbi Eliezer had declared that a person should repent the day before death (Pirke Aboth 2:10). But his disciples said that a person could die any day, therefore all of life should be one of repentance (bT Shab. 153a). The repentance called for by the prophet Jesus, of course, is not simply a turning from sin but an acceptance of the visitation of God in the proclamation of God’s kingdom” (Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991, 213).
This Gospel text is unique to Luke. However, we can see traces of Matthew’s story of the withered fig tree – see Matthew 21:18-22. Probably both have adapted the story of the fig tree found in Mark 11:12-14. Luke softens it however, by giving the fig tree a full year to prove its fruitfulness.
Specific:
the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices: “The two incidents related in 13:1–5 are unique to Luke. None of the accounts concerning Pilate’s penchant for punishing Jews exactly matches this rendition, though they support the picture of him as an administrator who reached quickly for violent solutions (Josephus, Antiquities 18:85–89; Jewish War 2:169–177). The point of Luke’s recital is less the history of Pilate’s reign than of the need to repent” (Luke Timothy Johnson, op cit, 211).
Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners etc: In the Book of Deuteronomy, we find a series of blessings and curses that will come upon the people if they obey/disobey the Lord – chapters 28-30. Thus disaster is understood in popular piety to be a punishment for sin – see for example Job 4:17 and Ezekiel 18:26. We find this belief in John 9:2-3 and Luke 5:20-24. Jesus does not confirm or deny the popular belief. He simply directs the conversation towards the questioners and their need for metanoia. In turn, every one who wants to be a disciple must pay attention to this need for metanoia.
this fig tree: In the tradition, a fig tree often stood as a symbol of Judah or Israel – see Hosea 9:10; Micah 7:1; Jeremiah 8:13n & 24:1–10. This might suggest there is something quite particular and concrete about this exchange. We should therefore be careful when we attempt to draw a universal message.
Thrive!
In today’s Gospel – Luke 13:1-9 – Luke reports Jesus’ response to a matter that concerned his contemporaries as, indeed, it concerns us: How are we to respond to the fact of suffering? Sometimes suffering is inflicted by other human beings, as in the case of “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” Sometimes suffering is inflicted on us by life, as in the case of “those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them.” The common interpretation at that time was to blame the victims: They must have been “sinners” or “offended” in some way. There are occasions in which we bring suffering upon ourselves. But it is certainly not true to say this is always the case.
The reference to “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices,” is not accidental. Jesus the Galilean will stand before Pilate. His blood will be “mingled” with the Passover sacrifices. And the tower of Siloam falling on people and killing them, evokes images of the many who will die as the Romans destroy Jerusalem. Suffering reminds us of the fragility of life, that we are not in control. This is not reason for gloom or despair. Rather, the fact of suffering, the fragility of life and the fact that we are not in control, ought to make us available to Jesus’ message. Jesus uses these moments of tragedy to reiterate two of his major themes.
The first is, “Wake up!” Don’t sleep-walk through life! Be alert to what is actually happening in the world, listen, pay attention. Thus, just before our Gospel text, in 12:15 he tells the people “to watch and be on your guard” and in 12:35, “‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.’” Thus, in the midst of the references to suffering, Jesus sounds a warning to his listeners: “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? …. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?”
The second theme is: “Repent!” The Greek verb is metanoeō and it means literally “change your mind.” For us it is probably best translated as “let your mind and heart be transformed.” It is introduced by John the Baptist – see 3:7–9 and 16–17, it is then repeated a number of times throughout the Gospel and is finally mentioned by Jesus at the end of the Gospel – see 24:48. It is mentioned in today’s Gospel, in the middle of his warning to the listeners that their lives are fragile, that they too are subject to suffering and they do not have control of what happens.
Jesus is not telling us that our relationship with God is a transaction based on reward and punishment. Jesus is in fact saying, “Thrive! And this is how!”