At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ²He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. ⁴Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

⁶Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ ⁸He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

-This is a text easily misused.  It seems that Jesus is saying  two different things.  People do not suffer because  they are worse sinners than you but also that if you don’t repent or change then you will suffer as they did.  No matter how much i wish he were not connecting sin and suffering it is hard to untangle the two from this passage.  They did not die because they were worse-you are not off the hook and cannot claim superiority because you have not dies as they have.  However, they are still sinners like you.  

-At the very least the passage is an invitation to the listeners to stop looking for opportunities to claim superiority over others.  It is  an invitation to see in the sudden and tragic deaths of others the quality of life lived by you.  A close examination of which will lead you towards repentance. 

-Maybe the text is an invitation to see that what the real issue is is that now is the time to be renewed by a empowering relationship with God.  Like the fig in the parable do not wait because like those killed bythe tower or maddness of Pilate you might not have time.  Thus, unless you repent you will die as they did-that is not experiencing the newness of life offered through belief in the good news.