Luke 13:6-9
God Has Rights
People are very concerned over rights today. I suppose they always
have been, but there is a lot more talk about it in our world than
in the worlds before us. That being the case, everyone should be
happy to hear and to learn that God has rights as well.
Luke 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain
man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and
he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard,
Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on
this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why
cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it
alone this year also, till I shall dig about it,
and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then
after that thou shalt cut it down.
It would be difficult to tell without some study, but most believe
that the events we are reading here are much later in the ministry of
Jesus than the chapter numbers would indicate. Knowing that the
gospel of Luke has 24 chapters, we might suppose we are around half
way through Jesus’ 3 1/2 years of ministry. In actuality, most
believe we are in the last year.
In fact when I read this parable, I remember an event that happened
in the last week of Jesus’ life. On the Monday morning of Jesus’
Passion Week, as Jesus was entering into Jerusalem, He came upon a
fig tree and checked to see if there were any figs on it. There were
not, and Jesus cursed the fig tree. The next morning (Tuesday) Jesus
and the disciples passed the same fig tree again, only now it was
dead and withered away. Destroyed. \\#Mark 11:12-21\\
Now, I don’t think Jesus spoke this parable the last week of His
life. It just reminds me of that event. However, it is very likely
that He spoke this parable the last year of His life, and I also
believe that the event and the parable are connected.
Between the parable and the event, I have three thoughts:
I. God Has the Right to Inspect.
A. God has the right to expect anything, and God has the right to
expect all things.
B. In both the parable and the historical event, the Owner, God,
came to inspect.
1. In the parable, the fig tree is personal property.
Luke 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain
man had a fig tree….
a. The fig tree belonged to owner of the vineyard, and of
course the owner has a right to inspect.
(1) He bought or secured the fig tree.
(2) He owned the land on which the tree was planted.
(3) He owned the water that was given to the tree.
(4) He paid the dresser to care for the tree.
(5) Any fertilizer or nutrients given to the tree
were his.
b. By any and all accounts, the owner of the vineyard had
the right to inspect the tree.
c. By the way, the Owner of the tree in the parable is
God the Father.
d. God the Father has the right to inspect anything and
all things because He is the Owner of any and all
things.
(1) If that is an uncomfortable thought for you, you
probably won’t enjoy today’s message.
(2) For you and I are one of the any and all things
that God has the right to inspect.
2. However even in the historical event, God had the right to
inspect the fig tree.
a. I do not know whose fig tree it was that Jesus
inspected.
(1) The Bible does not say.
(2) I suspect it was a wild fig tree, growing on the
roadway.
b. Regardless, Jesus is God, and God has the right to
inspect any and all things because God is the Owner
of any and all things, including that which grows on
the public right away and that which grows in our
fields and gardens.
C. God has the right to inspect any and all things because He is
the Owner of it all.
II. God Has the Right to Expect.
A. Expect what?
B. In the both the parable and the historical event, fruit.
1. God has the right to expect fruit on His trees.
a. In particular, figs—figs on a fig trees.
b. In the parable, the owner came to his fig tree
expecting figs. He didn’t find any, but that is what
he expected.
c. In Mark 11 when Jesus—the Owner of any and all
things—came down the road, He inspected the fig
tree, expecting figs; but He did not find what He
expected.
2. It is that commonality between the parable and the event
that ties them together!
3. But if you know anything about the Bible, you know that
parables are earthly stories with spiritual meanings; and
if you know anything about Jesus, you know He is not the
Kind to curse a tree because He did not get what He
expected.
a. In both of these instances, the fig tree was a picture
of what Jesus had come to inspect, the nation of
Israel; and the figs He was looking for was a picture
of what Jesus really wanted to find, spiritual fruit.
b. Notice some comparisons between the parable Jesus gave
and what Jesus came to do:
(1) \\#6\\ The fig tree had an owner and so did
Israel, God. The fig tree had been planted by
the owner, and God certainly took the nation of
Israel and planted it in the Promised Land.
(2) \\#6\\ The owner of the fig tree came seeking
fruit, and Jesus had come to the earth seeking
spiritual fruit from Israel.
(3) \\#6\\ The owner of the fig tree found no fruit,
and thus far, Jesus had found no spiritual fruit
in Israel. (In fact, if this was the last year
of Jesus’ ministry, the nation of Israel was
getting very close to rejecting Him all together
and crucifying Him to boot!)
(4) \\#7\\ The owner stated that he had been waiting
three years for the fig tree to bear fruit.
(a) If this was Jesus’ last year, He would have
already been ministering in Israel for
three years.
(b) The same number of years.
(5) \\#7-8\\ The owner appeared ready to remove the
fig tree but the vine dresser asked for the
remainder of that year, of that fruit-bearing
season already begun.
(a) The vine dresser would work extra hard with
the tree to see if he could get it to
produce fruit.
(b) If not, he would remove it.
(c) The vine dresser in this parable is Jesus.
i. I believe we are looking into a
council that took place in the Throne
Room of God in eternity past.
ii. The Father and the Son talked before
the Son ever left heaven to decide
when they would cease to work with
Israel and instead reject them.
iii. It was decided that the rejection
would begin when Jesus’, the Vine
Dresser, season was over.
iv. Israel did not know it, but they would
end their own season of mercy by
crucifying Jesus, the Vine Dresser!
v. Israel was in their last season, and
their own actions could condemn them!
4. Notice another right God has.
III. God Has the Right to Reject.
A. In the parable, the man rejected the fig tree. If it did not
bear fruit, he cut it down.
B. In the historical event, Jesus rejected the fig tree. He
cursed it, and the next morning it was withered away.
1. Again, both of these are connected.
2. Both are about Israel.
a. Israel was inspected.
b. God expected fruit, but Israel had none.
c. Israel ended their season of mercy by rejecting and
crucifying the Christ.
d. And God rejected Israel, leaving them alone for 2,000
years.
3. For over 2,000 years, Israel has been a nation rejected,
withered, destroyed.
a. Even in the last few weeks, we have seen Israel bearing
her rejection.
b. Hamas fired rockets at Israel.
(1) Israel blocked most of them.
(2) And Israel fired back.
(3) By God’s grace, Israel was not hurt as badly as
Hamas was.
c. But there is yet to be the political fallout.
(1) As the wicked take more and more rule, America
and other world leaders will talk, protests, and
eventually turn against Israel.
(a) This nation has no idea where its blessings
came from.
i. They don’t know they came from the
Bible.
ii. They don’t know they came from free
enterprise.
iii. They don’t know they came from God.
iv. They don’t know they came because of
our support for Israel.
(b) And as they continue to muck up every other
thing this nation ever did that right, they
will soon quit supporting Israel; and when
they do they may well pull out the last
block holding our nation up!
(2) It is foolish, and it is dangerous; but it is the
on-going judgment against Israel which began
2,000 years ago.
(3) It came because God exercised His right to
inspect His expectation of Israel, and Israel
had no fruit.
IV. So we notice God has rights.
A. God has the right to:
1. inspect,
2. expect.
3. reject.
B. But you say preacher, "I am not Israel or even a Jew. What
has this to do with me?"
1. Plenty!
2. The Bible makes it clear that God has expectation for us
too.
3. We may not be Jews and may not be pictured in the fig
tree, but Jesus told of His expectations for us in other
parables.
4. Like what?
C. \\#Luke 19:12-27\\ God has the right to expect a return on His
investment.
1. This parable is not about the Jews.
a. It is about Christians. They were the nobleman’s
servants.
b. The nobleman is Christ, and He gave to His servants
some hefty weights of something valuable, called
talents.
c. Then He left for a time and returns.
2. When the nobleman returned, He inspected what He had given
to His servants.
a. Like in the parable of fig tree, the nobleman owned
the pound and the servants worked for Him. It was
all His, so He had the right to inspect.
b. And also like in the parable of the fig tree, the
nobleman had the right to expect.
(1) He did not give the pounds to the servants to
sit on.
(2) He gave the servants the pounds to invest.
(3) Now, the nobleman expected a return.
c. And like in the parable of the fig tree, the nobleman
had the right to reject.
(1) There were a total of ten servants to whom the
nobleman gave pounds, but the record of
inspection and judgment stopped after the first
three were judged.
(2) The first two servants had invested the pounds
and increased them. They were rewarded for
their efforts.
(3) The third has taken what the nobleman had given
to him and buried it.
(a) The nobleman was NOT pleased.
(b) He rejected the servant by taking away all
that he had given to him.
(c) There is nothing to suggest this servant was
cast out of the nobleman’s kingdom, but he
entered the kingdom with nothing.
(d) He had done nothing for his Lord, and so His
gave him nothing.
d. What is this parable about?
(1) Like the parable of the fig tree was a warning to
the Jews, this parable is a warning to
Christians.
(a) God has the right to inspect you.
(b) God has the right to expect from you.
(c) God has the right to reject you.
(2) As Israel did not feel God’s many warnings to
them warranted any change in their lives, so many
Christians are choosing to ignore Christ’s
warnings to us.
(3) But mark my words. As Israel has felt the misery
of being the withered fig tree, so Christians
will feel the loss of having no spiritual fruit!
(a) I cannot say how.
(b) I cannot say for how long.
(c) But I can tell you what the Apostle Paul
thought about it.
(d) Trying to urge Christians to produce spiritual
fruit, he wrote:
2Co 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the
Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest
unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in
your consciences.
(4) Believers, we need to understand that God has the
right to:
(a) inspect,
(b) expect,
(c) and reject.
3. Perhaps you think to yourself, "I am none of those. I am
neither Jewish nor a Christian; therefore, I have no
reason to be concerned at all!"
a. Friend, I hate to tell you, but it is needful.
b. You are in the most danger of all.
c. Why?
D. God has the right to expect salvation as a return for His Son.
1. When Jesus came to this earth, He came to bring you
salvation.
a. His Son’s life was the seed.
b. His Son’s blood was the water.
c. His Son’s resurrection was the budding of the sapling.
d. His Son’s church was the blossoming of the bloom.
e. Every believer birthed on it has been the seed to
reproduce.
2. God owns all things and everything, including you.
3. So God has the right to inspect you, to expect salvation
from you, and to reject you.
a. Perhaps you are like the many who think you have been
moral and good so that your judgment will not be too
severe, but you do not understand.
b. The judgment for those who are unsaved is not matched
to their morality, either their perceived or genuine
morality.
c. It was determined and degreed in those enteral council
chambers of the Throne Room before this world ever
began.
d. You will be case, along with all other unbelievers,
into the Lake of Fire to be tormented forever and
ever,
4. Get this now and forever: God has the right to:
a. inspect,
b. expect,
c. and reject.
This is it. I can do nothing else. It is already too late to warn
the Jewish nation for their tree withered 2,000 years ago; but as the
voice of one crying in the wilderness, I can warn you. Christian and
non-Christian alike, I warn you. God has the right, and He will
inspect, expect, and reject you. Decide today how your judgment will
go.
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