Luke 13 -- replacement theology -- fig and mustard

Some folks tell Jesus about bad things that happened. The vile, violent, Roman governor (who eventually ordered the crucifixion of Jesus) had massacred a batch of pilgrims to Jerusalem. So were the victims of the tantrum bad people, getting what they deserved? Not at all, Jesus said. All of us deserve the worst. "Every day above ground is a bonus," far more than we could ever merit. On the other hand, God's apparent favor can ratchet up the danger of our position. Consider this favored tree:

Luk 13:6 İsa şu benzetmeyi anlattı: "Adamın birinin bağında dikili bir incir ağacı vardı. Adam gelip ağaçta meyve aradı, ama bulamadı.
Luk 13:7 Bağcıya, 'Bak' dedi, 'Ben üç yıldır gelip bu incir ağacında meyve arıyorum, bulamıyorum. Onu kes. Toprağın besinini neden boş yere tüketsin?'
Luk 13:8 "Bağcı, 'Efendim' diye karşılık verdi, 'Ağacı bir yıl daha bırak, bu arada ben çevresini kazıp gübreleyeyim.
Luk 13:9 Gelecek yıl meyve verirse, ne iyi; vermezse, onu kesersin.'"

Let's look at a critical sentence: Adam gelip ağaçta meyve aradı, ama bulamadı.

• Adam -- A man
  
• gelip -- came (the -ip ending is the "me, too" suffix. When you have several verbs in a sentence, just trick out one of them with the full regalia of voice, number, person, capability, credibility, etc. suffixes. For the remaining verbs, the -ip suffix will suffice.)
  
• ağaçta -- to the tree
  
• meyve -- fruit
  
• aradı-- he sought
  
• ama -- but
  
• bulamadı -- he did not find.
  

To whom much is given, much will be required. A vineyard is a capital-intensive project. In those days and in that place, you needed a stone wall around it, to keep out hungry animals. A watchtower, to guard against predatory humans. A winepress, to process the grapes as soon as they were ripe. Now, Mediterranean fig trees don't need a lot of gentle handling. In fact, it's normal to put chunks of concrete and rocks on the ground around the roots, to keep your fig tree from getting too comfortable. This tree was spoiled rotten, in a favored, costly, and protected environment. This tree, of course, represented Israel. A nation on borrowed time, unaware that flaming fingers were already scribing their Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin on the wall of history.

But, there is a "rest of the story."

Luk 13:18 Sonra İsa şunları söyledi: "Tanrı'nın Egemenliği neye benzer, onu neye benzeteyim?
Luk 13:19 Tanrı'nın Egemenliği, bir adamın bahçesine ektiği hardal tanesine benzer. Tane gelişip ağaç olur, kuşlar dallarında barınır."

While Israel struts and preens itself in the glare of the footlights, God launches another project, one with a future. All nations will be invited to know and serve the King, while national Israel will become an envious bystander to the party that's going on without them.