Manure

Luke 13:1-9
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2013%3A1-9&version=NRSVUE
 
The word that drew my attention in this passage is “manure” (v.8). Not because I find the word funny, but because I immediately wondered if that was the word used in the original text. Did Jesus actually use the word “manure” (or its equivalent in his language) when telling this parable?
 
The Greek words used for “manure” is ballō koprion. Ballo is defined with these words: “to throw, pour; to put, set,” and koprion is defined as “fertilizer or manure.”[1] Many of the current translations use a verb form of “fertilizer” instead of the noun form. My curiosity sent me to the King James Version, which rarely happens, to see how it was translated there, and it reads: “I shall dig about it, and dung it.” I confess that did make me chuckle a bit.
 
So, I suppose Jesus did use the words that could closely translate to what we know as manure. Manure is a powerful, natural fertilizer that enriches soil with essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which promotes healthy plant growth. It improves soil structure, enhances moisture retention, and encourages beneficial microbial activity — all vital for turning poor, barren ground into fertile, productive earth. Though it’s messy and odorous, its transformative effects offer the best chance for new life to struggling plants and gives them the strength to grow and bear fruit.
 
What I found most interesting was the action form of “putting” manure around the fig tree to help it grow. Jesus expressed the importance of the gardener’s actions, not that manure was simply there. It was the gardener who put, threw, poured, or set manure around the tree to nourish it.
 
The gardener also pleas for the fruitless fig tree to be given time to grow after the appropriate attention is given to it. The gardener promises to do the work – to dedicate the time and attention it needs to be nourished. There isn’t a guarantee that it will grow since the gardener can’t force the tree to bear fruit, but the gardener is the one who provides the best opportunity for it to bear fruit.
 
The gardener in this metaphor can be understood as God, who provides the resources, the love and care for us to be nourished in an appropriate environment conducive for growth. God is the one who dedicates time and attention to nourish us, and also doesn’t want to just cut us down. God doesn’t give up on the fruitless tree and even offers mercy to save it from the brush pile. What often nourishes us seems a lot like manure.
 
Sometimes what seems unpleasant or undesirable is exactly what’s needed to nourish and revive our spiritual roots. The manure represents the messy, uncomfortable, yet necessary parts of growth: repentance, discipline, and even suffering. Just as the fig tree receives extra care and nourishment instead of immediate judgment, we, too, are given time and divine intervention to transform our barrenness into fruitfulness.
 
Reflection Questions:
Have you ever felt covered in manure, but later learned it was needed for you to grow into the next stage of life?
 
Does repentance and discipline seem off-putting like manure to you? What area of your life do you need to repent and receive God’s mercy?
 
What does repentance mean to you?
 
Pray: Forgiving God, we’re sorry for the times we try to grow in inappropriate areas that cause us to be stagnant and barren. Forgive us and nourish us with your healing grace. Dig around us and pour your nourishing grace upon us. Amen.
 
Act: Commit to one act of repentance this week.  
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 
[1] NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek, Zondervan, 2019.