Thoughts for the Day

Jesus 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. 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?'

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I have been travelling around the United Kingdom a fair bit over the last two months, and have noticed how the morning and evening light changes depending on how far north or south, or east or west you travel. The evening light lasts so much longer in west Wales than it does, say, in Suffolk. Similarly the trees in west Wales have hardly started changing colour, but in the north Midlands the oak and chestnut leaves have turned to glorious yellows. This has also made me notice the evening and morning sky, and how the old rhyme "Red sky at night shepherd's delight, and red sky in the morning shepherd's warning" comes true.

In our passage from Luke's Gospel today, Jesus calls his listeners "Hypocrites!" They understand the signs of nature and how it will affect their life, but they fail to understand the truth before them - that Jesus is the Messiah sent by God the Father, to bring the people back to Him. Why is this? Jesus implies they don't want to understand. This accusation is not aimed at the disciples who though slow to learn do understand in the end, rather it is aimed at the ordinary people who flock to listen to him and to see the miracles that he would perform.

The question for us today, who have the benefit of hindsight, and who know of the death and resurrection of Jesus, is, are we hypocrites and do we sometimes wilfully also fail to read the signs and to understand that Jesus really is our Saviour!

Lord Jesus,
You came to call the people back to God,
and yet so many refused Your message
but went their own way.
May we respond to Your call,
to know that You are our Saviour
and show that understanding
in our life.
Amen.