Luke 12:54-56
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
Prognostication, or fortune-telling, has been around for millennia. That’s because human beings have an almost insatiable desire to know what’s going to happen to us. This curiosity has kept clairvoyants of all kinds living comfortably for centuries.
Jesus tells the crowds that it’s more important to be able to “interpret the present time”. We can tell whether it’s going to rain or not by looking at the sky and feeling the humidity in the air. In the same way, a person of faith should be able to interpret the events and rhetoric of their time by looking at everything through the lens of the Gospel, and by staying grounded in worship, study & prayer. This takes more effort than simply asking the AI assistant in your phone what the Bible says about things. Our interpretation of the times grows out of relationship – our relationship with Jesus, our relationship with Scripture, and our relationship with the Church. There are no shortcuts in interpreting the times.
Lord Jesus: You continue to make yourself clear to us in Scripture and in relationship. Forgive us for being so slow to hear and respond. AMEN