Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Food and Religion
The Parable of the Bad Homesteader

The Parable of the Bad Homesteader

Last updated on: March 26, 2025 at 9:10 pm by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

The Parable of the Bad Homesteader 2025-03-26T21:10:11-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew:

And he told them this parable:
“There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,
and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener,
‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree
but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply,
‘Sir, leave it for this year also,
and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”

I call this one “the parable of the bad homesteader.”

The interpretation I heard of this parable from Matthew growing up was the mean one: the master of the house is God the Father, and you are the fig tree. God the Father in His righteousness wants to cut you down, because you aren’t producing fruit on schedule. You’re not productive enough. You’re taking too long to get your act together. But Jesus, codependent scapegoat brother that he is, is here to help. He’s pleading with the Father to give you more time. He’s going to throw some manure on you to make you feel horrible, so that you’ll start bearing fruit. But this is your last chance.

Looking at the story now, I see it in a totally different light.

It takes a fig tree three to five years before it bears fruit. I just looked that up because I wasn’t sure; figs don’t grow well in this climate. Three years isn’t an alarmingly long time to wait for your figs. It’s just the beginning of when figs can be expected, if you’ve just transplanted a sapling. But the person who planted that tree doesn’t seem to be a very good farmer. He’s been looking for figs every year from the beginning.

The gardener asks for a little more time, promising to fertilize it, which is also strange.

Why didn’t he fertilize it earlier? Again, I had to look this up, but generally you’re supposed to plant a fruit tree in good rich soil, water it well, and then apply the fertilizer the following spring. Waiting three years to cultivate your soil is silly. No good gardener would do that, today or in ancient times.

“Why should it exhaust the soil?” Because you made a mistake. You haven’t fed it. You’ve got to feed soil; that’s how gardening works.

It’s a miracle these two haven’t starved to death.

The owner and the gardener remind me of those people who decide they’re going to try homesteading on a whim because it’s a fad. Not the wonderful people who try gardening or raising chickens for the first time because it looks like fun, and ask for advice and learn from their mistakes and eventually get good at it. And I’m certainly not talking about homesteaders who have always farmed and gardened for food because they love it or because it runs in the family. Both of those kinds of people are wonderful people. I’m talking about the wealthy type that doesn’t know what they’re doing, and lack the humility and the patience to learn. They plant the vegetable patch with fussy heirlooms and get that three thousand dollar chicken coop from a catalog. They throw the trees in the ground with no real care. Next thing you know the place is a squalid mess, the trees are dried out sticks, and the chickens are running feral into the road. That type of homesteader. That type would cut down a fig tree in a fit of temper, because it hadn’t quite borne fruit in three years ,because they forgot to fertilize it in the first place. A good farmer wouldn’t.

And I think that God the Father must be a good farmer.

Here’s how I look at the parable now: I am the bad homesteader. I am also that poor tree who hasn’t borne any figs just yet, because I haven’t been properly nourished. I am having a fit because my life looks nothing like the way it ought, and I’m taking my frustration out on myself again. But along comes Jesus, the servant, with a bucket of good healthy compost.

He doesn’t stop to laugh at me for expecting fruit so soon, and he doesn’t waste any time mocking me for not knowing what I’m doing. He just gets to work, feeding me. so I may bear fruit in the future.

God the Father doesn’t want to murder you for being unproductive.

God is love.

Be patient. You will bear fruit in the future.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary, and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to “The Little Portion” on paypal or Mary Pezzulo on venmo

Food and Religion

Home and Religion

Previous Post

March 26, 2025

The Only God Worth My Time

Next Post

March 28, 2025 What We Do to Immigrants Matters, for Everyone

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Ephrathah" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Lord’s House Chosen Land Fruitful Holy Place