Jesus asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other
Galileans, because they suffered this? No, I tell you. But unless you change your ways, you
will all perish, as they did. And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the
tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you: no.
But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.” And Jesus continued,
“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found
none. Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for
figs on this tree, and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it continue to deplete the
soil?’ The gardener replied, ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add
some fertilizer; perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it doesn’t, you can cut it down.’”

Reflect

“Change for the better.” God always calls us to conversion. He continually provides the
occasion for us to turn away from sin. Today’s Gospel tells of two things: Jesus’ call to
change ways and the parable of the barren fig tree. Jesus said that the Galileans and
the Jerusalemites who died tragically were not worse sinners than those who were then
listening to Jesus. Here, their respective manners of death become secondary. The point
here is that God does not want anybody to die in sin. Hence, he always gives us the
chance to repent. As we can learn from the parable of the barren fig tree, the Lord does
not want us to immediately be cut off and lose the chance of bearing fruit. The Lord hopes
that we “may make fruit” (cf. v. 9). The Greek verb used here is poieō, “to do” or “to make.”
This implies that while the Lord provides the occasion for us to bear fruit, we are
also called to do our part. God never gets tired of giving us the opportunity to repent
because he keeps on hoping that, one day, we shall change for the better. One day,
we shall bear fruit as Jesus’ followers.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2024