Luke 13:6-9 - William Styles

Luke 13:6-9, “These three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree and find none; cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?” etc. Often quoted to prove that God spares sinners in long-suffering, while He makes merciful endeavours to bring them to repentance; but that if they repulse these kindly attempts, He will abandon them, and in His wrath punish them with greater severity for not yielding to His power, and consenting to become religious. But the parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree has no reference to this subject at all. It is a parabolic history of the Jewish Nation. The “certain man” is Jehovah. The three years point to the three epochs in their national existence: 1. From Moses to Saul, the first king. 2. From Saul to the Captivity. 3. From the Captivity to John the Baptist. The year of verse 8 refers to the ministry of Jesus: and the cutting down to the dispersion of the Jews, and the termination of their national history.