In another more dramatic parable, a gardener pleads with the orchard owner to give an unyielding fig tree one more year to produce fruit before it is cut down.

So scholars suggest that the fig tree serves as a parable. Jesus has inspected the temple and does not like what he sees. When he leaves Bethany early the next morning before breakfast, he is hungry.

In Luke 13, Jesus tells a parable about a barren fig tree. The tree is planted in a vineyard, which sounds weird, but fig trees were often used as trellises in vineyards. The owner is unhappy because ...