And he answered him, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.”

~Luke 13:8-9 ESV

Our prayers for people will bring the grace of a reprieve of their sentence, but never a guaranteed pardon. Salvation never happens without repentance. Only God can grant spiritual reprieves and pardons.

Jesus uses the parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9 ESV) to teach us about repentance. Context is important. When the Bible uses figurative language, as in verses 6-9, we should read around it (Luke 13:1-5 ESV) to understand its literal meaning.

The theme of the whole chapter is repentance to avoid perishing. In the parable, after three years, the owner of the vineyard looked for fruit on the fig tree and found none. The owner told the vineyard’s vinedresser to cut down the tree. The vinedresser, however, asked him to wait. He would fertilize and work the soil. Fertilizing the soil can be analogous to prayer and working to our witness to the lost.

The vinedresser does not ask for a pardon, but for a reprieve of one year. God’s patience is incredible, but it won’t last forever. Judgment day will arrive for all the unrepentant.

I have been praying for family and friends who have not surrendered to Christ and accepted His free grace. Some I’ve prayed for over forty years. Sometimes, when I think about this, I feel sad. But God has given them a reprieve—forty more years on this earth to repent. So, if God gives them one more year of reprieve, I will continue to ask for their pardon.

After one year, if the vinedresser saw no fruit, he would cut down the tree. Through our prayers and witness, God will do whatever it takes to bring others to repentance. But one thing He will not do is usurp our free will to say no. At the end, the vinedresser will do what he has to do. As believers, when our loved ones die seemingly without hope, though painful, we must accept the righteous judgment of God.

Pray daily for God to give reprieves to the unbelieving. Then pray they will seek His pardon. 

Father, I thank You for the pardon available through Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2025: Reprieves and Pardons: Ken Barnes: All Rights Reserved.