Prognosticators, Pretenders, and Prisoners

Introduction

I know it probably doesn’t seem like it, but meteorology is not an easy field of study. We joke about the weatherman or woman and how good it must be to be wrong half the time and yet still earn a living. The truth is that most of the weathermen and women aren’t even meteorologists. The meteorologists are, many times, the people behind the people.

But there’s a lot more to meteorology than saying it looks like rain or it’s winter time so bundle up. In order to be a meteorologist, one needs a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology, which means taking classes in meteorology, atmospheric physics, statistics, calculus, and climatology. I have to be honest, there’s not one of those that I’d ever be interested in taking. There are a lot of calculations that need to be done; there’s a lot of math and the problem is that conditions are in a constant flux.

So we joke about the weatherperson, but we know it’s got to be a hard job. And we rely on them more than we think. The number 1 part of the news that people watch is the weather. There is an entire channel devoted to the weather! We have an app, some of us might have multiple apps on our phones, so we can know the weather. We base our picnics and yard work and other plans based on what our apps tell us the weather will be like.

But if we were honest, sometimes it just easy to know the weather. Stick your head out the door and look. If we want to know what the weather is like right now and probably in the next hour or so, we just need to look. So a meteorologist is good for knowing the future (and sometimes present if there’s a tornado), but generally speaking, if we want to know what’s going on in the present, we just need to look.

As we open up Luke this morning, Jesus opens up the eyes of the crowd by revealing to them three truths about themselves and the present reality that if they don’t take to heart will have eternal consequences.

The first truth is that those in the crowd thought themselves to be prognosticators.

The second truth is that, in reality, they were just a bunch of pretenders.

And the third truth was that if they didn’t come to grips with reality, they’d all be prisoners.

Three truths about the crowd and the present reality:

Prognosticators

Pretenders

Prisoners

Luke 12:54–59 ESV

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 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? “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

They Thought They were Prognosticators

The first truth that Jesus exposed to the crowd was that they thought themselves to be prognosticators. Prognosticators are not prophetic. They are analyzers of information and then predict the near future. There’s no divine revelation that comes to them. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to prognosticate. We do this all the time without thinking about it. We do it at home when we announce when dinner will be done. We know this takes so long to cook, and that takes so long to cook, but then there is a break that has to happen to help so and so with that thing. And in a split second we can announce that dinner will be done around 6:00. We do this with politics. We look at the polls and we listen to the pundits and we hear our friends and see what’s on social media and we can make an announcement as to whom we think will win the election. We do it without realizing that we’re even doing it.

This is what those in the crowd would do.

Luke 12:54–55 ESV

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens.

If we were to go back about 2800 years or so, we’d encounter a prophet by the name of Elijah. Next to Moses, he was the greatest prophet Israel had ever known. He not only prophesied, but he was able to do signs and wonders. He multiplied the widow’s oil, he brought down fire from heaven, he split the Jordan river in two, and even raised a boy from the dead. And from what we read in James, Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and in 1 Kings 17, God answered that prayer. It didn’t rain for three and a half years.

After the great battle with the prophets of Baal, we read

1 Kings 18:41 ESV

And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.”

Really? It hadn’t rained in 3 and a half years! There wasn’t any rain at all. No meteorologist would have predicted rain. But Elijah said it was coming. And so he prayed for rain. And he sent his servant to look for rain clouds. He told him to look toward the sea. In other words, “look west, young man.” And six times he sent him and each time he came back with a negative report. No clouds. But the seventh time he sent him, he returned.

1 Kings 18:44 ESV

And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’ ”

That takes some doing. Elijah predicted rain without a rain cloud in the sky. He predicted it and then he prayed for it. And it came. That’s not what those in the crowd were doing. They weren’t predicting rain when no rain was evident. The predicted rain because there was a rain cloud.

While Treye and I were out camping, Katie let us know that a cold front was coming and that there would be rain on Friday. It was good to know, but in reality, we could feel it coming before it ever got to us. The wind began to blow harder. It was a cool wind that started blowing harder as the hour went on. The temperature was certainly dropping and it felt like and smelled like it was going to rain. So if we were paying attention, we would be able to see the reality of rain and cold was presenting itself.

The same idea comes with the south wind. Jesus said, you feel a south wind coming and you say it’s going to be scorching hot! Do you know what is south of Israel? What is south of Judea? The Arabian desert! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that if wind is coming in from the desert that it’s going to be a pretty hot wind. The most you have to know is your directions: North, South, East, and West.

If you’re like me, North is anywhere I’m looking. GPS tells me to go East out of a parking lot and I have no idea where it’s telling me to go! Tell me to turn right or left, but don’t tell me to turn East or West!

It doesn’t take a lot of hard work to see a rain cloud and predict the rain or to feel a south wind and predict it will be hot. But it boosts the ego ever so slightly.

People like to be prognosticators on things that don’t mean much in the end. The rain will pass and so will the heat. The elections will pass, the winner of the election will pass, the nation will eventually pass. Football games will pass, the World Series just passed. All these things are temporary, and we get worked up about them. We prognosticate who will win and who will lose. But they all shall soon pass.

And you will say, “Chris, this affects my life here and now! It affects the world my children grow up in!” And that is true. I’m not saying that we should not care what happens in this world. I’m not saying temporal matters don’t matter at all. I’m saying eternal matters matter more than temporal matters.

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 ESV

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

In Reality, They were Pretenders

And this takes us to the next truth Jesus revealed. While the people in the crowd thought they were prognosticators, they were, in reality, pretenders.

Luke 12:56 ESV

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?

Jesus called the people hypocrites because they pretended to be prognosticators, but only on the simple and unimportant matters of reality. When it came to weightier matters, like the kingdom of God, they were oblivious.

And understand, Jesus was not asking anyone to be the precursor to Jack van Impe, and I’m not asking anyone to take his place.

Back in the day, Karl Barth stated that pastors should preach with a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. What he meant was that pastors should show that the Bible is relevant to the present world. I agree. I’m not great at that, but I think it’s wise so long as the Bible takes center stage and the newspaper is relegated to second-tier status. Al Mohler’s The Briefing is an example of having a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

Jack van Impe got it turned around. He would read the paper and search the Bible for prophecies that fit it. Beloved, that is not what we are called to do.

In this case, Jesus was calling out the crowd for their simple prognostications while missing something that was so important and so obvious. Jesus, the one standing before them and the one teaching them, the one everyone seemed to flock to, was the Messiah that was promised back in Genesis 3 and throughout the Old Testament. He was the Savior who would restore and redeem, and they were missing it!

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He’s been busying himself with the kingdom work. You may remember what he said about himself in Nazareth.

Luke 4:16–21 ESV

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The people of Nazareth missed it. But that doesn’t really mean that anyone else got it. Without question, many people saw him as a rabbi, a healer, a prophet, a great man, but very few ever understood him to be Messiah, inaugurating the kingdom of God.

As one commentator wrote, “They were unable to see the true character of the times because they did not want to see it.” If they understood who Jesus was and what he demanded, their world would be turned upside down. Their world would no longer be about going to synagogue and listening to rabbis, but about going to the world and preaching the good news of the kingdom. Their world would no longer be about eating and drinking and clothes, but about seeking first the kingdom of God. Their world would no longer be about keeping their lamps in their cellars, but about shining it so others can see the truth. It would no longer be about us four and no more, but about caring for the hurting, the dying, the poor, the malign and marginalized; it would be about loving neighbor as we love ourselves.

They seemed like people who could understand the times: wind and clouds that were here today and gone tomorrow. But they were pretenders who refused to look at what Jesus, their own Messiah was calling them to be and to do.

Brothers and sisters, are we any different? I hope we are. But I’m thinking that there many Christians who are better at understanding the stock market than understanding the plight of the poor. There are many who open their eyes to the political landscape of the nation but close them to the pain of many living on their blocks. More conversations will be had about the weather today than about the widows or widowers who need our love.

And it is easy to say, “Chris, you’re missing the point. Jesus was talking about himself. They were missing who Jesus was.” That’s true. They missed that Jesus was King. Christians today accept that Jesus is King, but we pretend as if he is a King without a Kingdom. We pray, “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And we quote the Great Commission that we are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching everything that Christ has commanded us, and we miss the link. We pray that God’s kingdom comes and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven and then we quote our marching orders that tells us how that kingdom comes and will is done. Only by faith in Christ and the obedience of faith to what Christ has commanded will this world begin to look like what we’ve prayed for.

Christians prognosticate about the coming kingdom, but pretend as if it wasn’t already inaugurated. We pretend that we have a King who has no kingdom.

They Would be Prisoners

And this leads us to third truth that Jesus revealed to the crowds. First, they thought they were prognosticators, but in reality they were pretenders. Jesus now tells them that if they don’t come to grips with reality, they will be prisoners.

Luke 12:57–59 ESV

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

Jesus tells them that they should be able to figure this out. Why are they wasting time? Judge what is right. If he’s screwy in what he’s saying, say so, but if not, then do what he says.

In our world today, we may see high-profile lawsuits happening. And those lawsuits often settle before going to trial. Depending on which side we’ve taken will depend on if we say that the accuser was just after money or that the defendant was trying to cover up their guilt.

It wasn’t a whole lot different back in Jesus’s day. People would settle before getting to the courts. But in this case, Jesus isn’t talking about earthly lawsuits. He’s talking about and eternal debt that is owed.

In this parable, Jesus is the accuser. The word literally means adversary. Those in the crowd were on their way to the magistrate and Jesus was on the journey with them. Both would be standing before God.

A couple of weeks ago, I said what many have said before: We can either stand before God with him as our Father or with him as our Judge. The same goes with Jesus. We can go with Jesus to God’s courtroom as Advocate or Adversary.

Jesus was warning the crowd that they need to get right with Jesus (and therefore God) before Judgment Day. There is no chance for mercy once we leave this mortal life. Once we die or Christ returns, all chances of reconciliation are gone! There will be no mercy. There will be no grace. There will only be full-on, fully-measured justice.

And we don’t know when that day will be. Jesus said his return will be like a thief in the night. Completely unexpected. But our death can be at any moment. We may be rocked with an earthquake. Many Nepalese residence went on into eternity early Saturday morning. Many in Israel a few weeks ago were not expecting terrorist attacks. Eighteen Mainers were eating and bowling on October 25 not expecting to be entering into eternity. There are, on average 118 car accident deaths every day.

This isn’t a scare-tactic; this is reality. Jesus says deal with reality. Every step is a step toward eternity where Jesus will be your Advocate or Adversary. Make sure you have him as Advocate. Put your trust in him. Only he can pay the debt that you owe.

Colossians 2:13–14 ESV

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

If he doesn’t pay your debt for you, you will have to pay your debt yourself. The problem is that you can’t pay it off. You owe an eternal debt to an eternal God. Thus, when Jesus says that you will be in prison until the last penny is paid, he is saying, you’re never getting out. Either Jesus paid it all. Or Jesus pays none. Either eternal joy and blessing is yours or eternal torment and judgment. There’s no in between. There is no purgatory. There’s no middle ground.

Get right with Jesus while you still can.

Conclusion

As we close this morning, we’ve seen three truths—three hard truths that we all must deal with. Even if we are Christians, we must deal with two of these truths. We’ve seen how easily we can fall into the error of prognostication. We get caught up in the temporal, simple things of this world that ultimately do not matter in eternity. And so some pretend to be religious or spiritual and follow Jesus as a rabbi/teacher. Some as a wise man. But some of us see him as a King with no kingdom, pretending that he has not called us to expand his kingdom on earth through the gospel message and gospel ministry. But there are some who are on their way to prison because at this very moment, Jesus is still your Adversary.

It is true that Jesus is a friend of sinners. But it’s only partly true. He is also an adversary. He is at once friend and foe. But the moment one steps into eternity, only the Foe remains. From that moment on, Jesus is solely an Adversary to those who did not take the opportunity to repent and believe.

Hebrews 3:12–15 ESV

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Prayer

Our heavenly Father,

Forgive us of our short-sited living. You have certainly given us joys on this side of heaven with which we can have fun. You’ve given us family and friends to laugh with and enjoy. Yet, it is easy to get caught up in temporal matters to the point we forget about the weightier things of eternity.

It’s easy to forget that we are citizens of a new kingdom, a glorious kingdom. It’s easy that we are also ambassadors of that kingdom, not only called to proclaim the good news, but to live it as well. And not only to live it, but to proclaim it. Forgive us for pretending like our King has no kingdom. Strengthen us to his work.

If anyone here has not yet trusted in Christ and his work on the cross that has canceled out and forgiven every sin, may today be the day they do. May they turn from rebellion and wickedness and turn to Jesus Christ as the only way to the Father for he is all that we have.

We pray this in Jesus’s name. Amen.