經文：路加福音13:6-9
6於是用比喻說：「一個人有一棵無花果樹栽在葡萄園裏。他來到樹前找果子，卻找不着。
7就對管園的說：『看哪，我這三年來到這無花果樹前找果子，竟找不着。把它砍了吧，何必白佔地土呢！』
8管園的說：『主啊，今年且留着，等我周圍掘開土，加上糞；
9以後若結果子便罷，不然再把它砍了。』」
「果子」是種植無花果樹自然、應然的結果與期待，若「不結果子」，則是違背自己生命的本質，對主人無用，且浪費資源（白佔地土）。這象徵了人既受造於神，卻無法活出神內建的本質與期待（結果），結局就是「砍了吧！」
園丁有沒有否定主人的論述？沒有，他只是為這棵無花果樹求情，願意再給無花果樹一個機會（今年且留著），一個可以滿足主人期待的機會（結果）。
但園丁並不是口惠而已，他要為這棵樹鬆土施肥（掘開土、加上糞），給它需要的一切，幫助它生長，好結果子。
園丁的鬆土施肥象徵主耶穌的救恩。若聽任無花果樹在原始條件下生長，這求來的「一年」機會，對這棵樹其實沒有任何意義。主耶穌主動的救恩（園丁的鬆土施肥）讓條件改變了，而這個改變，正是上帝慈愛憐憫的具體作為與展現。
“Fruit” is the natural and expected outcome of cultivating a fig tree. If it “does not bear fruit,” it violates the very essence of its life, is useless to its owner, and wastes resources (occupying the land in vain). This symbolizes the reality that although human beings are created by God, they fail to live out the inherent nature and purpose God has built into them (to bear fruit). The result, therefore, is: “Cut it down!”
Did the gardener refute the owner’s reasoning? No. He simply interceded for the fig tree, asking that it be given another chance (“leave it for this year”), a chance to meet the owner’s expectation (to bear fruit).
Moreover, the gardener was not offering empty words. He committed himself to loosening the soil and applying fertilizer (digging around it and adding manure), providing everything the tree needed to grow and to bear fruit.
The gardener’s loosening of the soil and fertilizing symbolize the salvation of the Lord Jesus. If the fig tree were left to grow under its original conditions, the additional “one year” that was requested would, in fact, be meaningless to the tree. The proactive salvation of the Lord Jesus (the gardener’s loosening and fertilizing) changes the conditions, and this change is precisely the concrete expression and manifestation of God’s loving mercy.
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