Luke 12:54-59

Luke 12:54-59. REPROACH OF THE PEOPLE, for blindness and want of prudence with respect to the signs of the times. The connection with what precedes is close: the discord, as already begun, arises from the fact that the mass of the people do not discern the time. The very turning to the people, after the address to the disciples, is a token of this division. The form differs from that of Matthew, and such thoughts might well be repeated. The weather signs of Luke 12:54-55 still hold good in Palestine, the west wind coming from the sea, and the south wind from the hot desert. Other signs are probably alluded to in Luke 12:56: of the earth. The thought is that of Matthew 16:2-3, but the signs are different, as well as the hearers: there the Pharisees and Sadducees, here the crowd gathered about Him. But they were under the influence of these leaders. This was the answer to the question: how is it that ye know not how to discern, put to the test and judge, this time. The signs were plain enough. The duty of such discernment as well as the danger of failure appears from the history of the Jewish people during that century. But the duty and danger remain; the latter a sad proof of the power of sin over the mind as well as the heart.