Sermon LX. On the Two Kinds of Figs, and on the Difference between the Vine and the Fig-tree

"The fig-tree hath put forth her green figs; the vines in flower yield their sweet smell."

"The fig-tree hath put forth her green figs." The sense of these words, my brethren, depends upon what has preceded. The Bridegroom has declared that "the time of pruning is come," inferring this both from the flowers which have appeared in the land, and also from the sound of the turtle's voice. He offers yet another reason now, namely, the putting forth of green figs by the fig-tree. For the signs of the seasons may be observed in the fig-tree as well as in the flowers and the voice of the turtle. It is when the weather is beginning to get warm that "the fig-tree puts forth her green figs." This tree produces no leaves, and its early figs make their appearance at the same time as the foliage on other trees. But just as the leaves flourish and fade, of no other value except in so far as they serve to herald the advent of the fruit which follows them, so is it also with the first-fruits of the fig. They come forth but never ripen, and hence never become fit for food, falling green from the branches to make room for the second crop, which remains till it is matured. The Bridegroom, therefore, as I have said, takes the appearance of these green figs as a sign of the season, and uses it as an argument to persuade His Spouse to proceed with haste to the vineyards, so that, arriving there in good time, she may not lose her labour. Such appears to be the literal connection.

But what is the mystical signification of our text? For surely there is question here not of material fig-trees, but of peoples. It is of human souls God hath care, not of insentient fruit-trees. And truly there is a close analogy between fig-trees and peoples, who are frail in their flesh, little in their intelligence, depressed in their mind, and to complete the comparison — whose first-fruits are green and earthly. For it is not the custom of the peoples to "seek first the kingdom of V God and His justice," but rather, as the Apostle says, to be "solicitous for the things of the world, how they may please their wives." "Such shall have tribulation of the flesh." However, I do not deny that in the end they will bring forth the fruits of faith, if at the last they shall have made a good confession, particularly if they redeem by alms-giving the works of the flesh. Therefore the first-fruits of the peoples deserve the name of fruit as little as do the first-fruits of the fig-tree. But if they afterwards produce "fruits worthy of penance" — for "not first that which is spiritual, but that which is natural," then it shall be said to them, "What fruit had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed?"

Nevertheless, I do not think that what is said here can be interpreted of every people. It seems to me that only one people is referred to. For it is not said, as of several, "The fig-trees have put forth"; but, as of one, "The fig-tree hath put forth her green figs." / And in my opinion the fig-tree mentioned here repre- ( sents the Jewish people. How many lessons and reproaches did not the Saviour address to this people, parabolically, using the image of the fig-tree, as may be read in the Gospel! For example, "A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none." Also, "See the fig-tree and all the trees." And to Nathanael He said, "When thou wert under the fig-tree I saw thee." On another occasion He cursed a fig-tree because He found no fruit on it. And justly is the nation of the Jews compared to a fig-tree, because in spite of the excellence of the patriarchal root from which it sprung, it has never been desirous of attaining to greatness of stature, has never purposed to lift itself from the earth, has never cared to correspond with the nobility of its stock by the loftiness of its branches, the magnificence of its flowers, or the abundance of its fruit. Poorly indeed dost thou answer to thy root, O tree of Israel, little as thou art, and twisted, and gnarled! For thy root is holy. But what of holiness dost thou exhibit in thy branches? "The fig-tree," says the Bridegroom, "hath put forth her green figs." Degenerate fig-tree! It is not from thy noble root thou hast derived these green figs. Whatever is contained in it, is of the Holy Ghost, and so is entirely sweet and spiritual. Whence then hast thou drawn them? And in truth, my brethren, it may well be asked was there anything at all which was not green and gross in that people? Neither their actions, nor their affections, nor their understanding, nor even the rites they observed in the worship of God, were lacking in these characteristics. For their actions were all concerned with war, their affections. were absorbed in the quest for the riches of this world, their understanding could not pierce through the grossness of the letter, their worship consisted in offering the blood of sheep and goats and oxen,¹

But somebody may now object and say to me, "Since the Jewish nation never ceased to put forth such green figs, it seems to follow that for it, at any rate, the time of pruning is always present, for these two seasons are represented as synchronising." There is a mistake here, my brethren. A mother is not said to have brought forth her child whilst she is yet in travail, but only after the infant has been born into the world. Similarly we say that trees have put forth their leaves, not when they are in the period of florescence, but when that process has been completed. In the same sense it is said here, "The fig-tree hath put forth her green figs," not to signify that some have been put forth, but that the whole have been put forth, that the time for putting forth has come to an end. I Do you ask when this happened in the case of the I Jews? It was when they put Christ to death. For it was then that they filled up the measure of their iniquity, as had been predicted of them by the Lord when He said, "Fill ye up the measure of your fathers." Hence, when hanging on the cross, and about to breathe forth His Soul, He uttered the words, "It is consummated." Oh, what a consummation was thus given to its green figs by that fig-tree, cursed by Christ, and condemned thereafter to everlasting sterility! Oh, how much worse were its last fruits than its first! Beginning with figs that were worthless, it came at length to produce pernicious and poisonous ones. O most gross and viperish disposition, to hate the Man Who came to heal our bodies and to save our souls! O truly gross and brutish understanding, not to recognise God even in the works of God!

Perhaps the Jew will complain that I am unduly severe in describing his understanding as brutish. But let him read Isaias and he shall find even something less flattering. "The ox," says that Prophet, speaking in the name of the Lord, "knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known Me, and My people hath not understood." Thou perceivest now, O Jew, that I am not so hard on thee as is thine own Prophet. I have compared thee to the brute beasts in understanding, but he has placed thee beneath them; although Isaias speaks here not in his own person but in the person of Him Who proclaims Himself God both by works and words; so that He could say to the Jews, "If I do not the works of My Father believe Me not; but if I do, though you will not believe Me, believe the works." Yet even thus they were not brought to understanding. The expulsion of demons from the possessed, the obedience of the elements, even the re->/ suscitation of the dead could not penetrate that bestial and more than bestial stupidity of theirs. It was from this blindness, as miserable as it was marvellous, that the fig-tree produced the green fig of a most horrible and heinous crime, when the people laid sacrilegious hands on the Lord of Majesty. Thenceforward it could be said with truth, "The fig-tree hath put forth her green figs." For the legal rites of the Jewish peoples began now to give place to others, according to what is written in Leviticus, "The new coming in, you shall cast away the old," in the same way as the hrst-fruits of the fig-tree fall off, yielding place to the second and /better crop. We may therefore fancy the Bridegroom speaking thus to His Bride, "So long as the fig-tree continued to put forth its green figs, I did not call thee, O My Spouse; for I knew that the good figs could not appear with the bad; but now that it has produced all the evil fruit which had first to be put forth, it is seasonable to summon thee to the vineyards where, as thou knowest, the good and wholesome figs shall come out immediately after the fall of the other kind."

And He adds, "The vines in flower yield their sweet smell," which is an indication of the speedy appearance of the fruit. This odour has power to banish serpents. We are told that when the vine begins to flower every venomous reptile vanishes from the vicinity, unable to endure the scent of the opening blossoms. I wish our novices to attend to this, and to act manfully, remembering what spirit they have received, the very first-fruits whereof can put the demons to flight. But if the fervour of a novice be so efficacious, what potency shall we attribute to the sanctity of the perfect? Let the fruit be judged from the flower; let the quality of the taste be estimated from the quality of the odour. "The vines in flower yield their sweet smell." So indeed it was at the begininng.

The preaching of the new grace was followed by newness of life in them that believed, "having their conversation good among the gentiles." Like the Apostle, they were "the good odour of Christ in every place." A good odour is a good testimony. A good testimony proceeds from a good work, just as a good odour from a flower. And because, in the early days of the infant Church, faithful souls, like so many spiritual vines, appeared to be full of such flowers and odours, "having a good testimony even from them that were without," I think we may reasonably apply to them what is here said, "The vines in flower yield their sweet smell." To what purpose? In order that such as had not yet believed might be attracted by it, and witnessing their good works whence it proceeded, might thus themselves be led to glorify God; and so the sweet smell of the vines would become an "odour of life unto life." Justly, therefore, are they described as giving forth their odours, who seek not their own glory in their own fair fame, but rather the salvation of others. For, after the example of many, they might have made "godliness a source of gain,*' rendering it subservient to greed or ambition. That, however, would not be giving but selling their odour. But now, whilst "all their things are done in charity," as St. Paul recommends, it may be truly said of them that they do not barter but "yield their sweet smell."

But if the soul be the vine, and good works the flower, and fair fame the odour, what is the fruit? It is martyrdom. The fruit of the vine is the blood of the martyr. As the Psalmist sings, "When He shall give sleep to His beloved, behold the inheritance of the Lord are children; the reward, the fruit of the womb." I was nearly saying, "the fruit of the vine." And why should I not speak of the blood of the innocent, the blood of the just, as the purest blood of the grape? Why not regard it as wine unmixed, ruddy, rich, precious, extracted from the vintage of Sorech in the wine-press of suffering? Hence it is written, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Such appears to be the meaning of the words of the Bridegroom, "The vines in flower yield their sweet smell." I mean to say, thus I should interpret them, if they are considered to refer to the seasons of grace.

But if we prefer to understand this passage as applying to the patriarchs and prophets, "for the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel," the sense will be: The patriarchs and prophets inhaled the sweet odour of Christ, Who was preordained to be born and to die in the flesh; yet they did not then give forth the same odour, because they could not exhibit in the flesh Him of Whom they had a fore-scent in the spirit. They did not yield "their sweet smell," nor publish their secret, but waited for the revelation to be made in its proper season. For who, at that time, would have received the Wisdom "hidden in a mystery," and not yet manifested in the body? So the vines did not yet begin to "yield their sweet smell." But they yielded it later on, when, after a long series of passing generations, Christ, sprung from them according to the flesh, was brought forth into the world by a virginal birth. Then, I say, these spiritual vines "jdelded their sweet smell," "when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared," and the earth began to have Him present, Whose fragrance when absent only a few could enjoy. Thus, for instance, the holy Patriarch Isaac scented the sweet odour of Christ when, laying hands on his son Jacob, he blessed him with the words, "Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field which the Lord hath blessed." Nevertheless, whilst speaking thus, he kept to himself his consolation, nor would he share it with any. "But when the fulness of the time was ', come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that He might redeem them who were under the law." Then, indeed, the odour secretly enjoyed by the^ Patriarch, diffused itself abroad, so that the Church, from the ends of the earth perceiving the perfume, exclaimed, ** Thy name is as oil poured out," and even the young maidens began to run to the odour of this ointment. Thus, then, the vine I have instanced yielded at last its sweet smell, as did also the other patriarchal vines at the same time; for in them aU had pre-existed the same odour of life. How could it have been otherwise, since from them all was Christ according to the flesh? What is said, therefore, "The vines yield their sweet smell," may be interpreted to mean either that faithful souls everywhere diffuse a good esteem of themselves, or that the oracles and revelations of the patriarchs were made manifest to the world at the coming of Christ, and their odour "hath gone forth into all the earth," — with reference to which the Apostle says, "And evidently great is the M}^tery of godliness, which was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, appeared unto the angels, hath been preached unto the gentiles, is believed in the world, is taken up in glory."

It would be strange, my brethren, if neither from the fig-tree nor from the vine we could obtain for ourselves any fruit of edification. And so it seems to me that this passage is also susceptible of a moral interpretation. I say, then, that, "by the grace of God which is in us," we have here amongst us both vines and fig-trees. By the fig-trees I mean those religious who are distinguished for their sweetness of disposition. The vines are those who excel in fervour of spirit. Every individual who practises faithfully amongst us the social and domestic virtues, who not only lives in the community "without blame," but with unfailing sweetness puts himself at the service of each of his brethren, for all the offices of charity — every such religious, I say, is most certainly worthy of being compared to the fig-tree. Yet he must first have put forth his green figs. That is to say, he ought to have got rid of the fear of judgment, which "charity casteth out"; and of the afflicting recollection of his sins, which must 3deld to the tranquil] ising influence of a good confession, to the infusion of grace, and to the frequent outpouring of tears; and of all other such imperfections, which, like the green figs, precede the sweet and perfect fruit, but which I will not specify, leaving you to discover them by your own meditation. However, I will make one further remark which occurs to me, and is connected herewith. Do you not suppose that even the endowments of knowledge, prophecy, the gift of tongues, and the like, may be reckoned amongst the green figs? For, like the green figs, they also are destined to fall off and to give place to things better. The Apostle assures us of this when he says "Prophecies shall be made void, tongues shall cease, (and) knowledge shall be destroyed."² Faith, too, shall be excluded by understanding and hope must yield to vision." For what a man seeth, why doth he hope f or? "Only" Charity never falleth away,"and that charity only whereby we love God with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all our strength. Consequently, I would by no means regard this virtue as one of the green figs. I would not even consider it as belonging to the fig-tree at all, but rather to the vine. Now, they that are vines in the mystical sense) exhibit in their conduct more severity than sweetness] borne on by the spirit of ardour, full of zeal for discipline extremely sharp in correcting abuses, and in short, appro^ printing to themselves the words of the Psalmist," Havd I not hated them, O Lord, that hated Thee, and pined away because of Thy enemies? "And this also, ** The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up." As it seems to me, such religious are particularly given up to the love of God; whereas, it is love of their neighbour that characterises the former class whom I have likened to fig-trees. But let us rest here, my brethren, under this vine and this fig-tree, in the shadow of the love of God and man. Both loves I exercise when I love Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, Who art truly my Neighbour, because Thou art truly man and "hast dealt mercifully with me," and nevertheless art also over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen. ri. N

Footnotes

1. Similarly St. Ambrose, "Specta nunc cultos et animos Judaeorum, qui, quasi primi fructus male feracis Synagogae, grossi labentis similitudine corruerunt, ut mansura supra aevum nostri generis poma succederent" {In Lucam, 1, vii. c. xiii.). And St. Anselm, "Ficus protulit grosses suos, id est, legis veteris praecepta, velut fructus inutiles ceciderunt." Cf. A Lapide, In Cant., p. 584. Elsewhere St. Bernard takes the green figs to signify ecclesiastical dignities, which, as having the appearance of good fruit, are sought after by many. — (Translator.) ↩

2. The Saint is here taking Uberties with the text, i Cor. xiii. 8. St. Paul is speaking conditionally. His words are, "Charity never falleth away, whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed, ' ' — (Translator. ) ↩