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Series Introduction
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THE PARABLES OF
JESUS, #039
A Chronological
Study
"To Him who
opened His mouth in parables and
uttered things
hidden since the creation of the world."
Psalm 78:2
"The
Budding Fig Tree"
Matthew 24:32-35; Mark 13:28-33; Luke 21:31-33
INTRODUCTION
Over the
centuries those who are acquainted with the Scriptures have been
reading the signs of the future and often hoping that The Lord’s
“soon” coming would be quite soon. Our text will acquaint us with
Jesus’ words of Matthew 24:33, “But of that day and hour no one
knows.” Times of great country or world-wide crisis – wars, weather
catastrophes, earthquakes, etc., - have all had their moments of
deep concern. It’s been 2000 years now since Jesus said these words
and His “soon” coming has still been delayed.
In this study
we will explore some of the where’s and why’s of this seeming delay
and both the incredible beauty, and the incredible tragedy of this
“soon” event.
Jesus is very
near the time of His Sacrificial death on the Cross and this is the
moment that makes for the incredible beauty and incredible tragedy
that is forecasted to come about in this event. As Jesus speaks of
it, He has just entered the city of Jerusalem on the back of a
donkey colt. There is a crowd surrounding Him and praising His name.
They are expecting Him to proclaim Himself as their Messiah-King and
assemble an army to “make the Romans and their soldiers go away and
let them have their own country to themselves – their Promised
Kingdom, now with a new king.
The larger
Jewish community never really understood that Jesus’ purpose, being
sent by His heavenly Father, was to bring salvation to their souls
from their sin-based lives. They wanted political freedom for their
nation… not spiritual freedom for their eternal lives.
Jesus has just
told His listeners while standing up on the Mount of Olives, looking
down on the city of Jerusalem,
“Do you
see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be
left on another; every one will be thrown down”
[Mt
24:2].
“Tell us, when will this
happen…?” Jesus tells them all about His death and the resulting
discipline from God that would come to Jerusalem and the Jews in
just a few years. The Roman Caesar Nero will crush and destroy
Jerusalem and disperse the Jews all over the middle east – and
further. Israel as a nation and a place will come to an end for
about 1948 years with the end of World War II.
He then told
His listeners that He would return in the future – but,
“don’t believe anyone who says they
are Him.”
His coming will be in an absolutely amazing way “In the sky.” But He
also says, “And then all
the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man
coming”
– for He is coming to gather His “Elect” and take them away – for He
intends on disciplining and punishing the peoples of the earth who
have rebelled against Him.
So, as we look
at this lesson, which is about the signs and times of His “soon”
return to the air, not to the earth, for that is a message for a
time after this – and we’ll delve into that in the next parable, so…
pay attention and make sure that YOU are ready to be received by Him
and His angels when He comes!
THE BUDDING
FIG TREE
Once again we’ll be using our technique of “Linear Text.” Taking the
best sentences from the 3 places in the Gospels where they reside
and creating a single reading for our study.
THE LINEAR
TEXT
[lK 21:29a] Then He told
them,
[Mt 24:32a] “Now
learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already
become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is
near; [Luke 21:31] So
you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that [It /
summer / He / the kingdom of God] is near, right at the door.
[Mt 24:39] Truly
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these
things take place.
35 Heaven
and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
36 “But of
that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor
the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the
Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as
in those days before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the
flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of
Man be.
Just a quick note here to clarify this last sentence, as it is aimed
at the unbelieving Jewish nation and speaks of His 2nd
coming and not the rapture. For the unbelieving nation and world
will be once again swept away at that time. The earlier part of the
paragraph pertains to both His coming in the air and to His 2nd
coming – Be aware of the signs of the times, and be ready for Him
when He comes!
[Lk 13:26]
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with
great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and
gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to
the ends of the heavens.
Mt 24:40 Then
there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will
be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken and one will be left.
[Mk 13:33] “Take heed, keep on
the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
His message is clear. We are to be constantly on alert for Him. We
are to be believers, we are to be active as believers, we are to be
loving our God with all our hearts, souls and minds. We are to be
fellowshipping with Him and with each other as we serve Him and each
other – all the time keeping watch for His return. Don’t allow
yourself to “fall by the wayside” in your faith. Don’t wander off
into mere human desires and activities. Be His in every way you can
imagine. Don’t risk being “the one who is left behind.”
Now lets explore the text.
[lK 21:29a] Then He told
them,
[Mt 24:32a] “Now
learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already
become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is
near;
So, Jesus’ responds to their question about when this is all going
to happen, and He directs their attention to His telling of a
parable about a budding fig tree. We need to know that throughout
Hebrew and Jewish history the image of the Fig Tree has played a
vital part in identifying the Nation of Israel. It is a metaphor
that is used over and over – sometimes as a hidden code to identify
a story with the nation. Jesus immediately identifies this story as
a parable – and again He’s telling those who know Him and His
parables that this is an illustration using metaphoric language to
help His listeners “hear” what He has to say. In other places we’ve
seen Jesus communicate positive ideas to His disciples and at the
same time communicate negative ideas in His enemies, those Jewish
religious leaders who are seeking to have Him killed.
In this parable Jesus is speaking very frankly to His audience, and
that audience has basically two segments. Those who are believing
that Jesus is their Messiah – as the savior of their sins – and
those who are believing that Jesus is a troublemaker from the devil,
calling Himself God, and about to make trouble with the Romans.
While American life as moved away from rural farms for the majority,
we still cultivate plants and come to know how the weather (rain,
dry-spells, heat, cold) all affect the natural world around us. My
family moved from the relatively cold New England area to the
relatively warm central Florida area. While the seasons are very
different to us now, we still know and recognize the effects that
the earth’s seasons express upon where we are. Jesus was speaking to
a people who were in the western middle east along the eastern edge
of the Mediterranean Sea. They were a mostly rural people and well
acquainted with the effects of the season change in the weather. One
tree which thrived in that area was the fig tree. If you had some
you could provide for yourself or even earn part of your living by
marketing the fruit.
You would then know in what season and what time your tree would
blossom and begin to produce figs. So… Jesus is using this metaphor
of the fig tree coming into the season of beginning to bear fruit to
make His listeners understand that Jesus is speaking about something
that – if you are paying attention to the world around you, you
should be able to determine about when that something looked for
would begin to happen. We shouldn’t miss His note that when the fig
tree starts to grow leaves… there is still some time left before the
fruit grows and ripens.
[Luke 21:31] “So you
also, when you see these things happening, recognize that….”
Jesus has, several times, told His disciples and those around Him,
that He is going to be killed, that He will be resurrected, and that
He will leave and return. Some who have heard these messages believe
them, but most don’t. Even the disciples are having a hard time
understanding some of the deep stuff. They won’t have a good
understanding of much of it until after Jesus dies and is
resurrected – then they will think back and then understand most of
His parables and teaching.
Here in this “linear” compounded text we see a list of what they
thought when they wrote down Jesus’ words. He is saying that “YOU
Also” need to be looking at the world events around you and when you
see things that make you think that the things He promised look like
they might happen… “RECOGNIZE THAT.”
Now I’m not saying that because I recognize certain things on my
timeline as things that Jesus mentioned does it mean that what I
deduce is going to be “The Moment” that triggers Jesus’ Return.
History is full of times and events that would have triggered me to
think, “Now’s the time that He spoke of, He’s going to return NOW” I
would have been right to keep myself looking, connecting, and
expecting – because that’s my JOB – Looking, Connecting, and
Expecting.
Think about how believers felt after Jesus’ resurrection and the
beginnings of the new Church movement, when war was imminent with
the Romans and Caesar Nero began to destroy Jerusalem and the
Temple. “He must be coming back Now!” But that was not His time to
return.
Why Not?
Think of the hundreds of millions of human beings who have been won
to Christ since then. Think of the record of believing Christians
who have continued through wars, rumors of wars, pain, suffering,
and the struggle of everyday life on a planet full of sinners whose
hearts are “desperately wicked.” Think again of the hundreds of
millions of brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ who will live, be
saved, and serve Him for eternity!
I
like to think of this time of waiting as a time of watching the
names on “God’s Book of Life” being checked off one-at-a-time. I
don’t want the opportunity for even 1 more man, woman, boy, or girl
to be saved… to be lost because I want to see Him coming on the
clouds today.
[Luke 21:31] So you also,
when you see these things happening, recognize that…. [It / summer /
He / the kingdom of God] is near, right at the door.
[Mt
24:34] Truly
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these
things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away,
but My words will not pass away.
Just earlier Jesus has been describing a long period of time in
those things which will take place before eternity enters into the
immediate future.
There are two important points to consider in this little paragraph.
First, Jesus is talking about the generation of people alive when
these events take place – not the generation of people alive with
Him then. Second, Earth and its heavens will not pass away until all
these things have happened. You, hopefully see in his repeated
sentence, that what Jesus is saying is that His Word, all the things
He prophecies, will come to pass – period. His Word will never pass
away. He’s not specifically saying that when these things are
completed, then Heaven and earth will pass away, but that His Word
will remain true… forever.
Having said that, we also need to remember that Isaiah told us there
is a final judgment coming that will put an end to what we now know
as our physical universe.
All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the
heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like
withered leaves from the vine,
like
shriveled figs from the fig tree.
Isaiah 34:4
But that universe will be replaced with a new heaven and earth.
“See, I
will create
new
heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor
will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in
what I will create,
Isaiah 65:17-18a
“Then I
saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”
[a] for
the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was
no longer any sea”
Revelation 21:1
[Mt 24:36] “But of
that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor
the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the
Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as
in those days before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered the ark…”
Over
the centuries many individuals have searched the scriptures and
become deceived about being able to figure out just when this will
all happen – especially the second coming of our Lord Jesus. Jesus
was speaking to the crowd around Him. His knowledge, as a human in
His time on earth, has been self-voluntarily restricted. He had come
as His Father’s servant and placed Himself completely under His
Father’s will. At that time Jesus was openly admitting (humility)
that He didn’t know when His return was to be – Only His Father
knew. We can expect that after His ascension He did regain His “God
knowledge,” as part of His re-integration with the Trinity.
The
rest of this paragraph has been interpreted many ways over the years
– but it should be clear to us upon reading it… that Jesus was just
saying that
“things will be
going on just as usual.” Noah’s world was then completely full
of unbelievers except for himself and his family – and so is much of
our modern world. The people of Noah’s time and the people of today
won’t have a clue about it right up till “the first drops of rain.”
And then… it’s too late!”
39 and
they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away;
so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
[Lk 13:26]
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with
great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and
gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to
the ends of the heavens.
Mt 24:40 Then
there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will
be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken and one will be left. [Mk 13:33] “Take
heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when
the appointed time will come.
As Jesus comes “in the air” to deliver His royal Priesthood – His believers – and return with them to His Father’s Heaven.
It's Jesus’ desire that we all keep watch on the season. Be smart
and make sure you are ready for the Christ to return and take you
away as a believer – not leave you behind for the disciplining of
Israel and mankind in the Tribulation.
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS
1. Why does Jesus use a budding fig
tree as the core of this parable?
2. What guideline did Jesus put on
the timing of His actual return?
3. What
was the point Jesus was making by including this information?
4.
Who are the primary people to whom this parable is pointed?
5.
What’s the central message of this parable for us today?
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
1. Why does Jesus use a budding fig
tree as the core of this parable?
There are two elements to this answer. First, the Fig tree was a
well-known metaphoric symbol for the Nation of Israel as well as the
Olive tree. Second, the fact that the tree was beginning to bud was
very significant as an illustration of the season of summer arriving
and that the tree was about to deliver both its leaves and a fresh
crop of figs – its crop was coming soon.
2. What guideline did Jesus put on
the timing of His actual return?
Jesus made it quite clear that, while you could eventually tell the
“season” of His return to the earth was estimable, the exact timing
was unknown – by everyone, Himself included at the time, except for
His heavenly Father.
3. What
was the point Jesus was making by including this information?
The
point of the story was that all believers need to remain constant in
their “looking for Him.” According to Jesus, while it is not
possible to lose one’s salvation, it is possible for those who have
never made that commitment to the Christ, but who want to fellowship
and be with believers, would – at some time down the road – lose
their seeming commitment to Him and miss their opportunity to make
the full commitment to love Him with all their heart, soul, and mind
– and thus His return would not bring reward for them, but judgment.
4.
Who are the primary people to whom this parable is pointed?
This parable is situated in the last week before Jesus is to be
sentenced to the Cross. The Holy Spirit has not yet come to indwell
believers and therefore the “Church” has not yet been established.
Jesus is speaking to Jews of the Nation of Israel, and He is telling
them of the promised return of the Messiah and the setting up of the
Abrahamic promised Kingdom in their own land here on earth. So, this
parable is all about Jesus’ return to the earth to establish that
kingdom. The “Rapture of the Church” has already occurred at this
time of Jesus 2nd Coming. Deceased Church Age believers
have been either resurrected to heaven or “Translated” (changed from
their earthly bodies to their heavenly bodies) to heaven for the
first ever full assembly of the Church (The Body and Bride of
Christ) assembling for “The Wedding and Wedding Feast of the Lamb,”
that takes place in heaven during the Tribulation.
5.
What’s the central message of this parable for us today?
Keep watch – stay worldly awake – don’t neglect this task – stay
focused – watch the times and the seasons – for the return of our
Savior in the air… because the Rapture of the Church Age will happen
just before He returns to rescue His Believing Covenanted People at
His 2nd coming to the earth. We are to be ready,
prepared, excited, and expecting this wonderful moment.
Series Introduction
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Jeremiah 18:15
"Don't stumble from the Ancient Path"
2024-02-07 updated