The parable is about second chances, just as the gardener gave the fig tree a second chance, God also gives us a second chance to join His Kingdom. This is the excessive nature of God's mercy, and it is an important theme in the Gospel of Luke. Since the fig tree is symbolic to humans, the fig tree can be given an extra year to demonstrate its ability to produce fruit, but if it fails to do so, it will be cut down. Some scholars have speculated that there is a hidden meaning, that the Kingdom of God has not yet come, and at this time it is recruiting those who trust in the Lord and in