A Discourse on the Withered Fig Tree and the Parable of the Grapes

“Conversation on the Withered Fig Tree and the Parable of the Grapes” is devoted to the theological understanding of the Gospel events and their spiritual and moral significance. St. John of Damascus begins his sermon with a reflection on the Incarnation of God the Word, His immeasurable love and atoning sacrifice for fallen humanity, emphasizing the saving power of His humility and suffering. The author allegorically interprets the withered fig tree as an image of human nature, which, like a tree without fruit, was mired in the sinful “leaves” of worldly cares and did not bring God the fruits of virtue. The parable of the evil vinedressers is seen as a denunciation of the Jewish people, who rejected the prophets and Christ Himself, which led to the transfer of the “vineyard” (the Kingdom of God) to new “workers” - pagan Christians. At the end of the sermon, Rev. John calls on all the faithful not to limit themselves to just the name of a Christian, but to show their faith in deeds. He lists in detail the “deeds of the devil” that should be renounced, and the virtues that should be strived for: purity, humility, love, mercy. Particular emphasis is placed on the need to cleanse the heart from pride and vanity in order to make it a worthy abode for Christ, the beloved Bridegroom of the soul. * Title of the work in Greek: τῆς ἁγίας Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἀναστάσεως, ἤτοι Μανσούρ, λόγος εἰς τὴν ξηρανθεῖσαν συκῆν, κα εἰς τὴν παραβολὴν τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος. * Title of the essay in Latin: In ficum are factam et in parabolam vineae. What prompts me to utter a word is the Word, Consubstantial with God and the Father, Who, without leaving the bosom of the Father, was ineffably conceived in the womb of the Virgin, and became for me what I am. The Word, according to its Divinity, alien to any passion, clothed itself in flesh servile to me. He who sat on the chariots of cherubim sat “on the foal of a donkey” (John 12:15). The King of Glory, glorified by the seraphim with the Father and the Spirit, listened to the innocent babblings of a child’s tongue. God, immaterial and invisible, took on a visible and tangible body, appeared in the form of a slave, and voluntarily underwent suffering in order to grant me dispassion. For when the creation of the hands of God - man, created by God in His image and likeness, through the deception of the cunning serpent, became a transgressor of the Divine commandment, and thereby subjected himself to corruption and death: then the merciful God in His essence, regretting the man who had suffered such humiliation, repeatedly and in various ways called him to conversion and repentance, admonishing him, now as an ungrateful servant, now as an unreasonable one. son, and using all means so that man, having cast off the heavy yoke, turns to his Creator. But once having enslaved himself to sin and arbitrarily surrendered himself to earthly desires, man was unable to turn to God on his own. So, the all-good Lord, knowing how weak human nature is, takes it upon himself. Seeing that man did not obey His word, nor the commandments, nor the saving commands, God seemed to say: “I must teach the ignorant by my very deed; I must become a man and perform virtues in order to attract people to them. I must be visible in order to heal the weak, I must seek out the lost sheep and bring it to the primitive abode of paradise. But how will I seek it without being seen? How will I guide him who does not see My steps? For this purpose, He became a man, so that through His deeds and sufferings, through experience, He could teach the ignorant how to practice virtue; so that we, seeing Him descend from the bosom of the Father to earth for our salvation, may joyfully ascend to Him from the earth; and finally, in order to show the abundant riches of His love for people. For “no one can show greater... love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Can someone who does not have a soul show such love? So our Lord takes on a body for this purpose in order to appear on earth and live with people; for this purpose he accepts his soul in order to lay it down for his friends. I say: for friends, but not those who love Him, but whom He loves. For although we hated Him and turned away from Him, serving others; but He remains immutable in His love for us. For this love, He comes to those who hate Him, hurries after those fleeing from Him, and, having preceded them, does not rebuke them with severity, does not punish them with a scourge, but heals them, like a skilled doctor, not looking at all the slander, spitting and strangling that he suffers from people frenzied by their minds. For healing, He used His Divinity - the most effective and omnipotent medicine, which He combined with human nature. It showed the weak flesh to be the strongest of the most invisible forces! For just as iron, heated by fire, becomes inviolable, so the clay of our nature, united with the fire of the Divine, became inaccessible to the devil. And since, as doctors say, the opposite is cured by the opposite, then the Lord destroys the opposite with the opposite: luxury and pleasures - with sorrows and exploits, pride - with humility. For He, being glorified in His Divinity, not only humbled Himself by becoming a man, but also humbled Himself before men themselves. Truly, who was so humiliated? He had no place to lay his head; He had neither two garments nor another robe. “Although He was reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, he did not threaten” (1 Pet. 2:23); he was led to the slaughter like an innocent lamb, and yet he did not persist, did not contradict; when they strangled Him, He willingly turned His cheek to the one striking Him, and did not turn His face away from the shameful spitting; when they called Him a Samaritan and having a demon in Him, He endured these and similar insults patiently, so that we would follow His footsteps. And He did all this according to the good will of the Father, and being His Only Begotten and Consubstantial Son, thereby proved His Father’s love for us. For God the Father so loved us that He gave us His only begotten Son for our redemption. Oh, incomprehensible love! God made His only begotten Son, reigning with Him, the Redeemer of rebellious slaves, obstinate enemies, serving the enemy of God, whom they revered as God! Oh, the depth of the riches of God's goodness! But the Only Begotten Son of God did not resist this determination, did not reject the will of His Father, having in Himself the will and desire of the Father. For the nature of the Father and the nature of the Son are one nature; and therefore the Son of God obeys the will of the Father as if it were his own, and having become a man, he remains obedient to his Father even to the point of death, death on the cross, in order to heal my disobedience! Hastening to drink the cup of death for the salvation of the whole world, our Redeemer soon goes into suffering, goes with a thirst for human salvation and does not gain fruit. This barrenness is depicted to us by the fig tree (Matthew 21:19). Who is this who desires to taste food in the early hours of the morning? King, Lord, Teacher. Was He really hungry so early and desired food at the wrong time? Why did He teach his disciples to fast and overcome passions? What does it mean? – Your Lord, as he taught orally in parables, sometimes depicted parables in his very actions. So He, hungry, came to the fig tree. The fig tree symbolizes the human race. The fruit of the fig tree is sweet, but its leaves are rough, useless and fit only for burning. Such is human nature: having been determined by God to grow the sweetest fruits of virtue, it, instead of these fruits, began to grow only coarse leaves. For what could be more rude than worldly cares? – Adam and Eve were once naked and were not ashamed; were naked when they lived a simple and innocent life: they knew neither the arts nor the worries of life, and did not seek means to cover their bodily nakedness. But being naked in body, they were covered by the grace of God; not having material clothing, they put on the clothing of immortality, as they approached God, through the fulfillment of His will. As soon as they appeared disobedient, then, having lost the grace that clothed them, they were deprived of the sight and contemplation of God, and they recognized their nakedness. Then they desired the pleasures of life, and were condemned to a meager and wretched life; They sewed together fig leaves and made girdles from them; They sought out many different thoughts and found a rough life, full of worries and sorrows. “By the sweat of your brow,” said God, “take away your bread. Cursed is the earth because of your deeds; ...thorns and thistles will grow for you, and you will return to the ground” (Gen. 3, 17–19). Since you have an earthly mind, your turn will be to the earth; You have become like foolish animals, having remained short in honor (Psalm. 48, 13); being the god of the earth, you did not know beneficial virtue, but preferred earthly pleasures to it and loved the dumb life. You are earth, and you go back to earth - so you, like dumb animals, will inherit death! From that time on, man began to clothe himself in leather vestments! Having previously lived in the paradise of sweetness, in the royal dwelling, and occupying, in his body, the middle between life and corruption, he after that began to have a corruptible and mortal body, subject to disease. Truly, the leaves of the fig tree are rough, our nature, and its actions sinful! To this fig tree, that is, to human nature, the hungry Savior came, looking for the sweetest fruit on it, a virtue most pleasing to God, through which our salvation is accomplished. But apart from leaves, apart from bitter sin and the disasters that arise from it, He found nothing on her. For this reason, He said to her: “Let there be no more fruit from you” (Matthew 21:19). “Salvation does not come from men, virtue does not come from human strength. I will arrange salvation; By granting resurrection through My suffering, I at the same time grant liberation from the sorrows of life.” Which he actually did. Then, in order to express the parable more clearly, our Savior visits the house of His Father, and having come to the church, he finds here evil workers - the Bishops sitting on the seat of Moses - wolves dressed in sheep's clothing - those very people who, like a barren fig tree, did not have sweet fruit in themselves, but were only covered with leaves. Look how rude their words are: “By what authority are you doing this? and who gave You this power? (Matthew 21, 23). Do you see the barrenness of unbelieving souls? Instead of saying: Good Teacher, who raised the four-day-old dead man Lazarus, who taught the lame to walk quickly, who restored the sense of sight to the blind, who healed the paralytic, who heals every disease and every ailment, who drives away demons, who shows the way to salvation! Instead, they say: by what authority did you do this? “O ungrateful ones! - He will tell you - if you flocked to John without faith, and if you confessed your sins to him, and were baptized by him out of fear, remaining unbelievers; then will you believe Me when I tell you? O wicked and unfaithful generation! You are evil workers, devouring the grapes of the Lord of hosts! Which of the Prophets did you not kill? For My Father sent My servants the Prophets to you to demand the fruits of their grapes. I brought My grapes from Egypt by the hand of Moses, and having scattered the nations, I planted them in the rich land, divided them into plots, and their shoots, according to the word of the Prophet, spread throughout the earth, even reaching to the sea and to the rivers of other nations; and you destroyed his fence, that is, you took away from him the protection that the Law provided him, and my grapes, deprived of the fence, began to be plundered and eaten by wild boars! And when My servants the Prophets began to demand fruit from the true, fruitful grapes, beautifully planted by Me: then you sawed some, imprisoned others, stoned others. Here I myself have come - Son and Heir! Be ashamed of the right of the son, respect the dignity of the nature of the Father, for I am in the Father and the Father in Me” (John 14:10). Out of pity for My grapes I came down to earth; and despite this, I rest in the bosom of My Father. Give Me the fruits of My wealth! But you, wicked workers, are preparing to complete the work of your fathers. They killed the Prophets, and you will kill God and surpass them in wickedness! I am the Heir; I am the cornerstone which, although rejected by you, will crush you. I will unite two different creatures, the heavenly with the earthly. I will erect a United Church of Angels and men. You, being enemies of My Father, through Me will be reconciled to Him. I will proclaim peace, and I will make My blood a covenant of this peace, which will be shed for the salvation of the world.” But the Lord did not enlighten the stubborn with his parable. For they closed their eyes so as not to see, and stopped their ears so as not to hear. For this reason, the light of the Gospel did not shine for them. Oh, the insane blindness of the Jews! They condemn themselves, not understanding their words, and pronounce judgment on themselves. For when the Lord asked them, “What will the lord of the grapes do with that worker?” they involuntarily uttered the truth: the wicked will be destroyed by evil (for in all fairness those who arbitrarily commit evil deeds deserve cruel punishment) “and the grapes will be given over to another worker, who will reward him with the fruit in their own season” (Matthew 21:40-41). Thus, the priests and Pharisees truly prophesied without knowing it. For the grapes, the people of the Lord, were indeed given to other workers, who at the proper time brought forth abundant fruit for the Lord. “Their message went out into all the earth, and their words into the ends of the world. How red are the feet of those who bring peace, those who bring good news” (Rom. 10, 15, 18)! They, like sheep found among wolves, turned the wolves themselves into sheep, i.e. The Greeks, who were once far from God, were made sheep of Christ, and the Lord acquired “chosen people zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:14). So, brethren, I appeal to all of you who bear the name of the faithful and who are worthy to be called the people of Christ! Let us not disgrace our name and not darken our faith by deeds of iniquity. The mere name of believers is not enough for us: no, we must show our faith by works. Scripture says that one father had two sons, and to the first of them the father said: go and work in the vineyard. The son made a promise, but did not fulfill it. The father said the same thing to his other son. But this one, refusing in words, fulfilled his father’s will in deeds; therefore the former deserved censure, and the latter praise (Matthew 21:28-31). Likewise, we must remember that renunciation and that combination to which we committed ourselves in Baptism. Let us reject the devil, his angels and all ministry in order to remain faithful to our commitment. The works of the devil are: adultery, fornication, envy, enmity, quarrels, hypocrisy, slander, ridicule, anger, resentment, condemnation, slander, sorcery. Signs of unbelief: unmercifulness, hatred, carnal love, lust of the flesh, stinginess, luxury, drunkenness. Serving the devil: arrogance, vanity, pride, arrogance, pride, attachment to body adornments. Having rejected all this, let us cleave to Christ and zeal for the virtues - purity, chastity, poverty, patience, peace, love, compassion, mercy, generosity towards the poor, decorum in behavior, dress and behavior, justice, humility, and especially, the humiliation of Christ, so that, having become participants in Christ in suffering, we could also participate in to His glory, and to offer a living, immaculate sacrifice to God and the Father in the Church of the firstborn, in the dwelling of those who rejoice! Finally, I turn to you, beloved bride of Christ! Love in a worthy way the One who loved you to the end. Open the church of your heart, so that Christ with the Father and the Spirit may dwell in you. Remove everything earthly from him in order to make the way for Christ. Reject vain glory, which is the mother of unbelief, according to the word of Christ “as much as you can believe, accept glory from one another” (John 5:44). Banish from the land of your heart all dreams of yourself. All the highly intelligent are unclean before God “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Remove from yourself all self-indulgence and self-satisfaction in order to submit to the law of the One God: and He will guide you into the refuge of His will. Do not bring another bridegroom into the palace of your heart: for Christ, your Bridegroom, is jealous for you. He is all sweetness and desire. Open your heart to him alone. yours, and cry to Him: my heart is wounded, love for You has inflamed me, and has completely changed me, Lord, I am overcome by love for You; come into Your palace, I will kiss Your footprints. For I am not worthy to say to You, “Give me the kiss of Your lips!” (Song 1, 1). Live and walk in me, according to Your false promise and make me a church of the Most Holy Spirit! Command my heart, Lord! and rule over him. It is your inheritance, and create an abode with me together with the Father and the Spirit, spread Your dominion in me - the actions of Your All-Holy Spirit! For You are my God, and I will glorify You with Your beginningless Father, and with Your good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: