Parables of Jesus Part 6: The Fig Tree

This free Bible lesson, The Parable of The Fig Tree, will teach preschool and elementary students about the lesson Jesus taught when He was living on Earth as a human and the greatest teacher of all time.

This lesson is part of a summer series titled "Jesus Makes a Splash: Lessons from the Parables of Jesus".

This lesson comes from the Seeds of Truth Elementary Bible Curriculum that is free to anyone looking for ideas to "plant seeds" into the hearts of children as they are learning about Jesus. Find more details HERE.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Seeds of Truth podcast, where seeds of biblical truth are planted into the hearts and minds of listeners so they can grow into a relationship with Jesus. I'm your host, Miss Dana. Thank you for joining me today. Let's get started. Hello, friends, and welcome back. Today is part six of our series about parables of Jesus. A parable is a short and simple story that uses everyday situations or ideas to teach a big lesson. Today we are going to talk about the parable of the fig tree, is sometimes known as the parable of the barren fig tree. And it is recorded in the book of Luke. So the word barren, when something is barren, that means that it is lifeless or it is not producing life. So this parable is about a barren fig tree. So a barren fig tree is a fig tree that is not producing any fruit. So do you remember what the word repent means? Repentance means confessing your sins and turning away from them as you follow more closely to God. When a person repents, it means that they realize that they are a sinner, they turn away from their sin, and they start living how God wants them to live. Before we read the parable of the fig tree, I want you to understand something about the Jewish culture at that time. So the Bible tells us about the laws and commandments that were given to Moses by God. Moses told the people about how to live in the new land that God was giving to them. These words in the book of Leviticus were spoken to the Israelites by Moses, but the commandments were coming from God. So this is in the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verses 23 through 25. And it says, When you enter the land, suppose you plant a fruit tree, then do not eat its fruit for the first three years. In the fourth year all the fruit will be holy. Offer it as a way of showing praise to me. But in the fifth year you can eat the fruit, then you will gather more and more fruit. I am the Lord your God. God was telling the Israelites that when they plant a tree, they are not supposed to eat fruit from it for three years. All of the fruit was to be given to God as an offering of praise in the fourth year. And after that, in the fifth year, the people could eat fruit from the tree. Then the tree would continue to produce more and more fruit. So with that in mind, I'm going to read the parable in Luke chapter 13, verses 6 through 9. And I want you again to think about the symbols that are being given here. So who is the man who owns the vineyard a symbol of? Who is the man who took care of the vineyard a symbol of? Who is the tree a symbol of? What is the fruit a symbol of? And what is the message that Jesus is teaching through this parable? So after I read it, if you would like to pause and reread and discuss and think on your own, you may do that, and then you can come back and listen to the rest of the episode. So the parable says, Then Jesus told a story. A man had a fig tree, he said. It was growing in his vineyard. When he went to look for fruit on it, he didn't find any. So he went to the man who took care of the vineyard. He said, For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree, but I 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. I'll dig around it and feed it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down. So remember, some of the people didn't understand, and sometimes Jesus would explain the meaning of the parables, but this time he didn't. So we have to study, we can pray and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and figure out what Jesus was teaching. So in this parable, Jesus teaches us to repent or turn away from sin and live for God. Jesus spoke this parable as a response to some questions that he was being asked by the people about sinners who were being judged. So this was right before this parable in Luke chapter 13, verses 1 through 5. So our God exists as three persons in one called the Trinity. He is one God, but he exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Son is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit is who Jesus has promised to send to live inside of believers. So there is only one God. Each person of the Trinity is fully God. Each person of the Trinity is equal to the other two, and the three persons work together as one. Bearing fruit means to repent and turn from sin and start living for Jesus. It means to start living the way God wants you to live, to start doing things for God and serving him. And it also means to tell other people about the good news that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. Jesus took away the sin of people who believe in him. God will not wait forever for people to turn to Jesus. Now is the time that he wants you to turn from sin and follow Jesus. People who believe in Jesus are not judged and punished for sin because Jesus took away their sin. But if a person does not repent from sin and turn to Jesus, he or she will be judged and punished by God in the future. This parable teaches that God is patient and he wants his people to repent and turn from sin to follow Jesus. That's what it means when the vineyard worker, symbolized by Jesus, requests more time with the tree. Jesus wants to spend time with sinners and for them to repent and turn to him. Peter wrote about this in one of his letters in the New Testament. 2 Peter 3:9 says, The Lord is not slow to keep his promise. He is not slow in the same way in the way some people understand it. Instead, he is patient with you. He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed. Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins. Judgment will come to people who do not accept Jesus as their Savior. The punishment and payment for sin is death and separation from God forever. But the people who believe in Jesus and trust in Jesus will live forever with him. It is time to turn from sin, repent, and believe in and trust Jesus. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you for your word, the Bible. Thank you for the parables that Jesus used to teach big lessons. Thank you that you are patient with people and that you want everyone to turn from sin and follow Jesus. If there is anyone who has not made the decision to trust Jesus and follow him, please give them the understanding and the courage to take that step. If there are anyone who is confused, please give them the courage to ask for help. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' sweet name. Amen. I hope that you enjoyed this lesson about the barren fig tree. Next time we're going to be learning about the parable of the persistent friend. Until then, God bless. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Seeds of Truth Podcast. For more free Bible resources, visit Seeds of Truth Ministries.