Friday in the 29th Week of Ordinary Time, October 25, 2024

Luke 12, 54-59

Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?  Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

“When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does.”  Now the Lord proposes a very ordinary example of how we predict the weather.  All his hearers could relate to this, not just the erudite, but even slaves.  The weather pattern was stable and predictable.  A cloud rising in the west, from the Mediterranean Sea, meant rain.  Similarly, “when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.”  That is, the air mass coming up from the desert.  Awareness of the signs of the weather was very necessary for a people dependent on locally grown grown crops and locally raised sheep, goats, and cattle.  And these were not the only signs the people knew to look for.  The key for us in understanding Jesus here is that people of all kinds were on the look-out for changes in the wind direction or the clouds.  In many cases, their survival depended on this.

“You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”  The Lord launches out against those who do not look for the signs of the end of the world, when their eternal souls would be at risk.  We must look at this word “hypocrite”.  It does not mean in the Gospels what we think it means.  It comes from a Greek word that translates a Hebrew word that means “the faithless”, or, “the godless”.  If we reread this passage we can see that the modern meaning of “hypocrite” does not make sense in it.  It makes quite a lot of sense if we understand it as describing people who could keep an eye out for the signs of the present time but do not.  They are conscious of their lives and property, but not of their souls, though they should be.  We should note that in his accusation, the Lord implies that it is easier to understand the signs of the present times than of the weather, which ought to give us all pause.  What are these signs of the present time, that we should watch for them?  The Lord, in Matthew 24, gives signs for the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans and for the coming of the judgment.  We are to especially watch for false prophets and a fierce, world-wide persecution.  We might also consider a breakdown in society not only of law and order but of the belief that there is such a thing as right and wrong, as is the case today.

“Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”  This begins a new saying which is not a continuation of the above, but is related to it.  “If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way.”  That is, if you have sinned against someone and you fear the final judgment, ask for forgiveness now.  “Otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison.”  Our real “opponent” is not the person we sinned against but our own pride, sloth, and intransigence.  We cannot rightly hope to enter heaven while dressed in these rags.  “You will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”  That is, until the fine has been paid, restitution made, or the debt made good, whatever the case may be.  The fact that a person might be released at some point, after a period of suffering in prison, refers to purgatory.  While we think of purgatory as a particularly Catholic doctrine, we can see its roots in Jewish apocryphal books written around the time of Jesus.  The phrase “If you are to go with your opponent” may be translated literally thus: “While you are going with your opponent.”  The distinction is important because we must know that we are currently going with our opponent to the magistrate — that is, that we are at the moment free but also aware that every step we take brings us closer to that judgment.  This, then, is the instant we must shed everything that holds us back from confessing our sins and seeking absolution and forgiveness.