Luke 12:56
You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders)! You know how to analyze and intelligently interpret the appearance of the earth and sky [to forecast the weather], but why do you not intelligently interpret this present time? (Amplified Version)
Reflection:
When I lived in Ohio, I became pretty good at determining when it was going to snow. It would smell, somehow, like it was going to snow. The first snow of the season was always fun, and the family would look forward to it. But, by April one came to dread the sense that a snowstorm was coming. The damp cold was always the worst. Ugh! I would feel it in my joints… especially the knees. Like creaky old hinges straining to open the gate, my knees ached at the approaching cold weather and snow. The approach of Spring was easy to divine as well… the lilies would pop up and the birds awoke the morn. After the blistering cold, those mornings were pure delight.
In Jesus’ day there were no weather forecasters. People would learn how to determine the weather. They would look at the sky and use their senses and intuition to determine how the day might go. The feeling in the joints, coupled with the absence of birds… and, of course, the presence of clouds in the sky… all these might help to determine what the weather may bring. People would be practiced at this discipline. And yet, Jesus tells them that they are well versed in that ability but are unable to look around them and see the spiritual condition of the world. I tend to think about that quite a bit. Do I look at the world around me and “see” anything concerning? Are my spiritual senses attuned to the condition of the world? Or do I live blissfully in ignorance at the “lostness” of the world? Do I notice the wickedness around me and concern over lost souls? This really is the point Jesus is making, is it not?
Prayer
May we, oh Lord, notice the suffering, greed, and lost condition of the world around us and may it lead us to be witnesses of all that is good in you!
