Education Does not Guarantee Wisdom

 "Cut it down." Lk 13:9

Jesus often uses images from nature to help his disciples understand his message. This is no accident. Because most of his disciples were illiterate, he could not urge them to read the Torah more carefully, but being illiterate did not mean they were unintelligent. Rather, they came from a class of people who had no access to education. In fact, they may have been brilliant in ways we could never imagine, but because they were illiterate, the Rabbis ignored them but Jesus did not. Rather, Jesus used stories, songs, and images from their everyday lives to help his followers grasp the content and power of the good news.

How wrong some on the Rabbis were who judged the first disciples harshly. No wonder Jesus talked about cutting down the fig tree that was not bearing fruit. Too many in the Jewish community of his day were locked into a narrow interpretation of the Torah (the law and prophets) and were unable to learn from the wisdom Jesus embodied and proclaimed. Even sadder, they dismissed Jesus' disciples as poor fisherman who knew nothing about the law or the prophets. At the very least, the Jews who refused to look beyond their own artificial boundaries needed to be pruned in order to let go of branches that were unproductive and were sucking the life out of the fig tree.

Today, ask yourself about your own prejudices. 

Do you not listen to others because you have judged them for their lack of education?