The call to repentance is a consistent theme of the synoptic Gospels. Mark, Matthew, and Luke all include at the beginning of their gospel accounts the preaching of John the Baptizer. He called Israel to renewed fidelity to their covenant with the mysterious God of their ancestors. Those who heard the call would receive a baptism of water to symbolize the search for pardon and rededication to the covenant.
Jesus announces again the call to repentance in his ministry with a sense of urgency, “But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” The string of events that Jesus mentions—the slaughter ordered by Pontius Pilate and the tower collapse—illustrate the fragility of life. In a global pandemic, we have an abundance of examples that human living is delicate. These images seem clear what they are meant to convey, but the fig tree does not.
The barren fig tree saved through the gardener’s intervention could relate to the path of discipleship. A disciple that continues to struggle in following Christ, feeling and finding the barrenness of the fig tree, see in the tree a symbol of comfort. Like the gardener, God continues to work with the tree with the promise the tree might one day bear fruit. God does not lose hope in us. The tree could also be a clarion call for disciples to heed Christ’s call with a sense of urgency. The call to repentance has rung out from John and now Jesus. What is left for us to do but turn towards Christ and seek mercy and forgiveness?
The image of the fig tree is not clear to its intended meaning, and maybe the ambiguity is intentional. An image may hold multiple meanings at once, and these two meanings complement one another. We believe that God’s love is unconditional such that there is no way to exhaust our number of chances with God. Those who have delayed taking up an invitation from God often wonder at the fear that paralyzed them before. Let us pray that God ease the fears in our hearts so that we do not regret answering God’s call sooner.