Spiritual Meteorology
Introduction: The Coming Storm
We live in an age of experts. We have men who can predict the weather with astonishing accuracy, men who can analyze economic trends, and men who can chart the course of distant galaxies. Our world is filled with a cacophony of data, predictions, and forecasts. We know the percentage chance of rain tomorrow, but we are utterly blind to the thunderheads of divine judgment gathering on our own historical horizon. We are expert meteorologists of the trivial and illiterate children when it comes to the momentous.
This is not a new problem. This was precisely the problem that Jesus confronted in the crowds of first-century Judea. They were shrewd observers of the natural world. They were practical men who knew how to run their farms and their businesses based on observable data. They could look at a cloud and know rain was coming. They could feel the wind and know a hot day was on its way. But when the Son of God Himself stood in their midst, when the central event of all human history was unfolding before their very eyes, they were completely oblivious. They could interpret the sky, but they could not interpret their times.
Jesus calls this what it is: hypocrisy. It is a culpable blindness, a willful ignorance. It is the sin of looking everywhere except where God is pointing. And this passage is a severe warning to us, because we are just as susceptible to it. We can be deeply concerned about the next election, the stock market, or the climate, while remaining blissfully unaware of the covenantal realities that truly govern the world. We are called to be students of the times, to understand what Israel ought to do. Jesus here is not giving us an abstract lesson in discernment; He is giving a terrifyingly urgent command to read the signs, because a storm of epic proportions was about to break upon that generation.
The Text
And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not examine this present time? And why do you not even judge for yourselves what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the last lepton.”
(Luke 12:54-59 LSB)
Natural Discernment, Spiritual Blindness (vv. 54-56)
Jesus begins with an observation about their everyday competence.
"And He was also saying to the crowds, 'When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it happens. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to examine the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not examine this present time?'" (Luke 12:54-56)
In Palestine, the weather patterns were predictable. The Mediterranean Sea was to the west, so clouds rising from the west brought moisture and rain. The deserts were to the south, so a south wind brought oppressive heat. These were not difficult calculations. This was basic, common-sense observation. See the sign, predict the outcome. And Jesus affirms their skill: "and so it happens." They were good at this. They lived in God's world, and they had learned some of its basic operational rules.
But then comes the pivot, and it is sharp as a razor. "You hypocrites!" Why such a harsh word? Because their skill in one area highlighted their failure in another, far more important area. A hypocrite is an actor, someone who pretends. They were acting like discerning men, but their discernment was selective. They applied their minds to the weather, which affects the crops, but not to the spiritual state of their nation, which affects their eternal souls and their temporal existence.
The phrase "this present time" is crucial. Jesus is not talking about some abstract spiritual mood. He is talking about the specific historical moment they were in. The Messiah had come. The kingdom of God was breaking into the world. The old covenant order was about to be shaken to its foundations. The prophets had all pointed to this very hour. John the Baptist had announced it. Jesus' own miracles were screaming it. The signs were everywhere, far clearer than any cloud in the west. But they refused to see it. Theirs was not a failure of intellect, but a failure of will. They did not want to see it, because seeing it would require them to repent and bow the knee to their King.
This is a permanent temptation for God's people. We can become experts in theology, in apologetics, in church history, but fail to "examine this present time." We can analyze the cultural decay around us with great precision, but fail to see what God is doing in the midst of it. God is always working. History is not a random series of events; it is a story He is telling. And we are commanded to be men of Issachar, who "understood the times and knew what Israel should do" (1 Chron. 12:32). To be able to predict the rain but not recognize the reign of Christ is the height of hypocrisy.
The Demand for Right Judgment (v. 57)
Jesus then presses the point from the corporate to the personal. The failure is not just a national blindness, but an individual abdication of responsibility.
"And why do you not even judge for yourselves what is right?" (Luke 12:57)
This is a staggering question. The crowds were content to let their religious leaders do their thinking for them. They outsourced their judgment to the Pharisees and scribes, the very men who were leading them over a cliff. Jesus confronts this passivity head-on. He is saying, "Use the minds God gave you. Look at the evidence. Look at me. Look at my works. Read your Scriptures. And make a judgment."
This cuts against the grain of our effeminate age, which believes that the most virtuous thing a person can do is to suspend all judgment. We are told not to judge, to be tolerant, to accept everything. But Jesus commands us to judge. Not in a self-righteous, condemnatory spirit, but in a spirit of righteous discernment. We are to weigh, evaluate, and come to a right conclusion based on God's revealed standard.
You have a moral faculty. You have a conscience. You have the Scriptures. You are responsible before God to use them. You cannot plead ignorance on the last day by saying, "Well, my pastor told me," or "The experts said," or "Everyone else was doing it." God will ask, "Why did you not judge for yourself what is right?" This is a call to robust, worldview Christianity. It is a call to take responsibility for your own spiritual and intellectual life and to apply God's truth to every situation, starting with the most obvious one in front of you: the claims of Jesus Christ.
A Parable of Urgent Reconciliation (vv. 58-59)
To illustrate the terrible urgency of this need for judgment, Jesus tells a short, sharp parable drawn from their legal system.
"For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the last lepton." (Luke 12:58-59)
The scenario is simple and terrifyingly practical. You have an adversary. He has a legitimate case against you. You are on the way to court. Once you get there, the legal process is inexorable. The magistrate will hear the case, the judge will render the verdict, the officer will execute the sentence, and you will end up in prison. There will be no escape until the debt is paid in full, down to the "last lepton," the smallest copper coin.
Jesus' point is this: there is a brief window of opportunity before the formal judgment begins. On the way to the courthouse, you still have agency. You can "make an effort to settle." You can reconcile. You can admit your fault, pay what you owe, and avoid the catastrophic consequences of formal judgment. But once you arrive at court, it is too late. The system takes over.
Now, who is the opponent? In the immediate context, the opponent is God Himself. The nation of Israel had broken covenant with Him. They had a massive, unpayable debt of sin. Jesus, the Son of God, was their final opportunity to "settle." He was on the road with them, walking through Galilee and Judea on the way to the ultimate courthouse, which was Jerusalem. He was offering terms of peace: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." If they would agree with their adversary, if they would repent and believe in Him, their debt would be cancelled.
But if they refused to settle, if they persisted in their rebellion and dragged the case all the way to Jerusalem, then the formal judgment would be rendered. And it was. They rejected and crucified their King. And the inexorable process began. The judgment was handed down, and in A.D. 70, the officers, the Roman legions, came and threw that entire generation into the prison of fire and sword. They paid the last lepton in the destruction of their city and temple.
Conclusion: Settle While You May
This passage is not a museum piece. The principle it teaches is permanent. You and I are also on the way to court. Our adversary is the holy law of God, which we have broken countless times. Every lie, every lustful thought, every proud word, has been entered into the docket. The case against us is airtight. And we are on the road, walking every day, toward the magistrate.
The good news of the gospel is that God, in His mercy, has met us on the road. In the person of Jesus Christ, He has come to offer us terms of settlement. The terms are this: He will pay the debt for you. He will take your unpayable liability upon Himself and nail it to His cross. He will satisfy the justice of the judge on your behalf. All you must do is agree with your adversary. You must drop your case, plead guilty, and throw yourself on the mercy of the one you have offended. You must repent of your sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.
This is the most urgent business of your life. You do not know how much road is left before you get to the courthouse. The time to settle is now. Do not be like the hypocritical crowds, who could see the rain coming but could not see their own ruin. Examine this present time. Judge for yourself what is right. The right thing to do, the only sane thing to do, is to be reconciled to God through His Son. Settle with Him now, on His gracious terms, before the gavel falls. For if you are dragged before the judge with your debt still outstanding, you will find that the justice of God is absolute, and you will not get out until you have paid the last lepton. And that is a debt you cannot possibly pay.