3rd SUNDAY OF LENT (C)

For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?

LK 13: 1-9

Today’s Gospel consists of two parts:
- About the Galileans who were killed by Pilate and the 18 people on whom the Tower of Siloam fell
- The parable of the fig tree
Both parts carry the same message: the urgency of conversion

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

Since the Galileans were offering sacrifices, it must have happened in Jerusalem. Only in the Temple of Jerusalem were sacrifices allowed.

Pilate has been known to resort to violent interventions in Jerusalem, so the news that was told to Jesus was probably true.

What provoked this bloodshed? Pilate saw the need for the construction of an aqueduct that was to bring additional water supply to Jerusalem. There was no problem here. The problem arose when he proposed to finance the construction with money from the Temple. The Jews objected to this. When people began to gather to protest, Pilate saw the possibility of an ensuing riot. He ordered his soldiers to disguise themselves and mingle with the crowds at a given signal would disperse the crowds with truncheons. But the soldiers used too much force and people were killed in the process. Galileans were probably among those who died.

Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them….

William Barclay has an interesting story about these 18 people. He says that the aqueduct project began and these people were working on the project. When the accident happened, people attributed their death to God’s punishment. They got themselves involved in a project that was financed with Temple money.

But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!

Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. And the Jewish people disappeared as a nation. Perhaps Jesus had the destruction of Jerusalem in mind when he spoke these words.

‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’

The fig tree was common in Palestine. It was a common source of food. It usually took three years for it to bear fruit. If it bore no fruit then it was cut down and another was planted in its place.

Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

God gives us all the chance we need. But should we squander that chance, then we shall be cut off from the Kingdom. It is not God who shall shut us out. It is we by our refusal to repent and be converted who will shut ourselves out.