Day 16

The Fig Tree

from the reading plan


Luke 21:5-36


In this study of the Parables of Jesus, we are reading many of the stories Jesus used to teach hearers about how to live as His followers. Each day we’ll read parables in their immediate context, focusing on a different category of parables each week. Then we will work through a series of questions to understand the meaning of the text and take to heart the “secrets of the kingdom.”

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Week 3: Parables about following Jesus

Many of the parables Jesus told have to do with what it means to follow Him in this life. Addressing topics from anxiety and fear, to compassion for our neighbors and commitment to the truth, Jesus uses common scenarios and familiar places to teach His disciples how to live as His people. Each parable in this week’s daily readings speaks to the Christian life in some way. Use the questions below to help you dig deeper into Jesus’ teaching.

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Questions:

1. Today’s reading focuses on what is permanent and what is fading away. What are some things you think of as permanent? Are they?

2. What does the parable of the fig tree have to do with the verse that comes before it in today’s reading?

3. What is the central point of this parable?

4. What is your response to this parable?

Post Comments (2)

2 thoughts on "The Fig Tree"

  1. Kevin says:

    Day 16: 1. Man I feel like not much at all is permanent. Maybe love, but even then does that carry over between here and heaven with those we love? Or are we just going to be so in awe of being with the lord that that won’t matter. Not sure.

    2. Sitting and staring at the fig tree waiting for in to bud is like watching the clock tick. Seems to happen so slow. But when we let it go and let it do its thing, it grows.

    3. The Lord is working in the world slowly but surely. Sometimes really fast! We should trust that.

    4. I think it’s wild all the things that are going to happen when the Lord comes back. I used to think it would be super random, but I don’t think that anymore. I think we will know very well what’s happening when it’s time.

  2. Tim Bowditch says:

    Even heaven and earth will pass away. For Jesus’s audience it was the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and ultimately for us and the whole world, the 2nd coming of Christ. Nothing is permanent, only the words of Christ.

    v19 says “by your endurance, gain your lives.” This is a powerful statement. To endure and withstand the betrayal and hatred of the world and even our own families, we will have true life in Christ, trusting in Him alone.

    The fig points to summer coming, and Christ points to the Kingdom of God.

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