Third Sunday of Lent – 23rd March 2025
Jesus was a great story teller! He spoke to the people in ways that they were familiar with and understood. He spoke about farming, shepherds, wine, fishing and sowing seeds. Jesus spoke the language of the people of his time. Today, in our gospel is no different.
Bad things unfortunately happen to good people; it’s a fact of life. At the time of Jesus, as some believed in the gospel, those who died at the hands of Pontius Pilate were great sinners. Jesus doesn’t think so! But he does warn those who are self-righteous that they will suffer – unless they change and repent.
To illustrate this, Jesus offers the people and us today a parable; a farmer plants a fig tree in his vineyard. Even after three years of care, watering and maintenance, it produced no fruit whatsoever.
He asked one of his workers to dig it up and throw it away. The worker suggested another solution: ‘Leave it one more year, give me time to dig around it; it may bear fruit next year, if not, then you can cut it down.’ What could this possibly have to do with us today? Let’s be honest; none of us are perfect. We all make mistakes; we say and do things that are wrong, that hurt others and break our friendship with God.