Patristic A.D. 604
“(ubi. sup.) But with great fear and trembling should we hear the word which follows, Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground. For every one according to his measure, in whatsoever station of life he is, except he shew forth the fruits of good works, like an unfruitful tree, cumbereth the ground; for wherever he is himself placed, he there denies to another the opportunity of working.”
Catena Aurea: Gospel of Luke, as excerpted in the Catena Aurea on Luke 13:6-9
PD · J. H. Newman (Oxford, 1843) ↗