Two Advents

Fig tree coming into leaf (Image: Pixabay)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Mark 13:24-37

TO CHEW ON: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree; When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So also , when you see these things happening, know that it (Son of Man’s coming - Mark 13:26) is near—at the door.” Mark 13:28,29.

Today is the first day of Advent. I’m participating with others on my friend’s Advent blog again this year. In the next 24 days, as we count down to Christmas, we’ll be noting milestones in Jesus’ story—a Jesse Tree Advent Calendar. (Jesse Tree because Jesse was the father of David, from whose kingly line Jesus came - 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Isaiah 11:1-10).

Today’s icon is “leaves.” So what a lovely surprise to find leaves in our Bible Society reading—the leaves of a budding fig tree, those leaves signalling that Jesus’ second coming is near.

Again (as we’ve seen in other accounts of His second coming predictions) Jesus’ emphasizes several things to us expectant ones here on earth.

- No one knows the exact time of that coming, only the Father.
A little aside: This reminds me of the ancient Jewish wedding custom where the groom’s father made the final decision of when all was ready and the groom could go fetch his bride. This wedding custom in connection with Jesus’ return, recalls the gorgeous wedding symbolism around that event (Revelation 19:7-10)

- The big word is WATCH.

• Watch and pray - Mark 13:33.

• Watch and work - Mark 13:34.

• Watch all the time (so you’re not caught napping) - Mark 13:35,36.

- Finally, even the parable snippet Jesus uses fits with Christmas. That “man” who went far away is like Jesus who traveled a great distance for us by first leaving heaven for earth at His first coming, then leaving earth for heaven at His ascension.

As we watch the leaves unfold in looking back at Jesus’ story, let’s also remember to look ahead and watch for the leaves on our end-of-time fig tree, signalling Jesus’ soon second coming.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for making that long journey and more, for bridging the gap between our sinful selves and Father God for me when You came and showed us the Father, then paid the sacrifice my sins deserved by dying for us. Help me to faithfully WATCH for Your second coming. Amen.

MORE: Toward Christmas

If you’d like to follow the unfolding of Jesus’ Jesse’ Tree story with us, my friend Laurel’s Advent Calendar blog is HERE.


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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Are you fruitful—or just using up the ground?

A fruitful fig (St. Michael's Church - Chemainus B.C.)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 13:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Then he said to the keeper... 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until i dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit well, and if not, after that you can cut it down.'" Luke 13: 7-9.

In this short parable (Luke 13:6-9) Jesus tells of a certain man who is weary of waiting for figs from his unproductive tree and wants his gardener to cut it down. The gardener, plant lover that he is, asks for one more chance to bring it to productivity.

A little about fig trees:

• The ficus carica is indigenous to Asia Minor and can grow about 35 feet, flourishing even in stony soil.

• They were customarily planted with vines (thus the saying 'to sit under one's own vine and fig tree').

• Bringing fig trees to the fruit-bearing stage meant years of patient labour and so their destruction was a national calamity (Psalm 105:33) while their productivity was symbolic of peace and divine favour.

• A healthy fig tree bore fruit for 10 months of the year, yielding three successive kinds of figs: - the late or autumn figs (Jeremiah 8:13); the green or winter figs (Revelation 6:13); the first ripe figs (Jeremiah 24:2) -  "Fig Tree" article in The New Bible Dictionary, p. 422.

What is the significance of Jesus' fig parable? Eerdman's Handbook of the Bible connects it with the earlier part of our reading:

"Roman troops had slaughtered some Galilean pilgrims in the temple at Passover. People assumed that the victims of the two disasters must have been especially wicked, but that was not true. The whole nation is ripe for judgment and will meet an equally horrible fate if present opportunities for a change of heart are let slip" Eerdman's Handbook of the Bible, p. 523.

The master's I-won't-stand-for-this-forever attitude toward fruitlessness should be a warning to us too. The gardener promised his master to give the fig tree one more chance by digging around it and fertilizing it. Here are some Bible suggestions on how we can dig around and fertilize our lives to increase our fruitfulness:
 
1. Be spiritually receptive - Matthew 13:23.
 
2. Die to ourselves - John 12:24.
 
3. Stay in contact with living water - Psalm 1:3.
 
4. Abide/live in Christ - John 15:5; Romans 6:22.
 
5. Welcome pruning - John 15:2; Hebrews 12:11.

PRAYER: Dear God help me to take to heart the lesson of this unproductive fig tree. I want my life to  be fruitful, even to old age (Psalm 92:14). Amen.

MORE: What fruit is our Gardener looking for?

1. Spiritual fruit comes in many varieties - Galatians 5:22-23

2. It is the product of heavenly wisdom - James 3:17.

3. It is without defect - Ephesians 5:9; Philippians 1:11.

4. It is grown in good soil - Matthew 13:8.

5. It is ever-bearing, and even into old age - Ezekiel 47:12; Psalm 92:13-14.