What is the main theme of this passage? What can we learn from it about God? What can we learn from it about ourselves? What can we learn from it about the gospel?
What does it mean to bear fruit as a Christian? What are some examples of spiritual fruit that we can be seeking to exhibit in our lives?
How does the vineyard owner respond when his fig tree is not bearing fruit? How does God respond when His people are not bearing fruit in their lives?
This parables seems to teach 2 spiritual realities that are in tension with one another. One the one hand, God is patient, and slow to anger. On the other hand, God is just, and His judgment is real, and inevitable. How do these two spiritual realities interact with one another? What are the implications that they carry for our lives, as Christians?
Apparently, there are some fruitless trees that the vineyard owner will cut down and destroy, and there are others that he will continue to invest in to cultivate toward fruitfulness. How does God deal with people who are not bearing spiritual fruit in their lives? How can we position ourselves to receive God’s patience and mercy, instead of His judgment?
What is the difference bearing fruit and producing fruit? Why do you think that Jesus uses the language of bearing fruit (13:9)? What are the dangers of trying to produce spiritual fruit in our lives on our own? How can we, instead, be seeking to bear spiritual fruit through the power of the Holy Spirit?