Jesus tells the Parable of the Fig Tree (Luke 13:9) after speaking of two tragic events that had taken place in Jerusalem. He tells this parable as he is on his way to Jerusalem - where he too will experience great suffering and death, and will rise again from death to life. Jesus embodies the gospel truth that sin and suffering and death are not the end of the story, and “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well” (St. Julian of Norwich).