Lesson For The Week (Sep. 21)

The Parable of the Untruthful Fig Tree
不結實的無花果樹的比喻

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Introduction導引
How do you feel about very lazy people? Very productive people? On a scale of 1-10 (1=lazy & 10=productive), how would you rate yourself?

你對非常懶惰的人看法如何？對很有生產力的人看法又是如何？從1-10的等級中(1代表懶惰，而10代表有生產力)，你會把自己界定在哪個等級？

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Vocabulary字彙 (沒按照順序)
sacrifice (v) 犧牲
manure (n) 肥料
prove (v) 顯示；證明
bear/bore (v) 結出
fig tree (n) 無花果樹
reject (v) 拒絕；否認
gardener (n) 管園的園丁
produce (v) 出產；結(果實)
soil (n) 土地

Selected reading 選讀經文:

Luke 13:1-9 路加福音13:1-9

(Good News 版)

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1 At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. 2 Jesus answered them, "Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did. 4 What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on them? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? 5 No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did."

6 Then Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He went looking for figs on it but found none. 7 So he said to his gardener, "Look, for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it go on using up the soil?' 8 But the gardener answered, "Leave it alone, sir, just one more year; I will dig around it and put in some fertilizer. 9 Then if the tree bears figs next year, so much the better; if not, then you can have it cut down.' "0

Questions for Discussion 問題討論
1. What news is brought to Jesus? What did these people really want to know? (Luke 13:1-2)

耶穌聽到了什麼消息？ 這些人真正想要知道的是什麼？ (路13:1-2)

2. What idea is Jesus rejecting about these reports? (Luke 13:1-5)

關於這些報告，耶穌要駁斥的是哪種觀念？ (路13:1-5)

3. What does Jesus tell them will happen if they don’t turn from their sins? (Luke 13:5)

耶穌告訴他們若是不願意從他們的罪中回轉的話，將會發生什麼事？(路13:5)

4. How many years had the fid tree been unfruitful? What did the man want to do to it? What did the gardener suggest? (Luke 13:6-9)

這棵無花果樹有多少年未結果子了？這主人打算對這棵樹做什麼事？園丁有何建議？ (路13:6-9)

5. What would happen if the tree finally bore fruit? What if it didn’t? (Luke 13: 9)

這樹到最後若真的結果子，會有什麼結果？若是它不結果子的話，又會如何？(路13:9)

6. Who do you think the tree represents in this parable? The owner? The gardener?

你想在這個比喻中樹代表誰？主人代表誰？管園的又是代表誰？

7. Why did Jesus need to tell this parable?

耶穌為何要說這個比喻？

8. What will happen to those who do not produce fruit? Those who do?

那些不結果子的人將會有什麼下場？那些會結果子的人又會有什麼結局？

A time to reflect 回應
1. How would you compare yourself to the fig tree in the parable? What would you do if you were given another year to change?

你會如何將自己和這比喻中的無花果比較？若是你還有一年的時間可以改變，你會怎麼做？
2. What fruit do you hope to be producing in your life?

你希望在你的生命中結出什麼樣的果子？ 0

Past Lessons:
http://www.ortv.com/english/ebs_c/ebs_e.htm