57. why even of yourselves, c.—They might say, To do this requires more knowledge of Scripture and providence than we possess but He sends them to their own conscience, as enough to show them who He was, and win them to immediate discipleship. read more
5. The coming distress 12:49-59Jesus’ teaching on the same occasion continued. He clarified next that His disciples could anticipate a period of intense persecution. This is the reason He charged them to be faithful (Luke 12:41-48)."In Luke 12:49 to Luke 14:24, Jesus is calling on his audience to note the nature of the time-a time when God is making divisions among people, a time when people should be able to see what God is doing through Jesus, and a time when Israel had better respond before... read more
Decision for Jesus 12:54-59Jesus again focused His teaching on the multitudes (cf. Luke 12:13). He urged the people to discern the significance of the present times. This was important in view of the coming judgment and the present division of opinion concerning Himself. Luke did not indicate a chronological connection between this section and the preceding one, though there may have been one. He may have inserted this teaching here because of its logical connection with what precedes. In... read more
The people could predict future weather from present signs, but they could not see that the events associated with Jesus’ ministry indicated the arrival of Messiah (cf. Matthew 16:2-3). The present time was one of change and crisis. By calling His hearers hypocrites Jesus was saying that He recognized that their professed inability to recognize Messiah’s appearance was unreal. It was not that they could not see that He was the Messiah, but they did not want to see it in spite of the... read more
Jesus urged His hearers to come to a decision before it was too late (cf. Matthew 5:25-26). They needed to judge what was right and to believe on Jesus before God judged them and condemned them for their unbelief. Jesus reminded them of the wisdom of settling their disputes with one another before they went to court and a judge made the decision for them (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:1-11). The result of not settling out of court might be condemnation and confinement in a Roman debtors prison from which... read more
The Leaven of the Pharisees. The Rich Fool1-12. Jesus warns His followers against Pharisaic hypocrisy, and exhorts them to be courageous in face of opposition. This speech is not unsuitable to the context in St. Luke, but the whole of the sayings are found also in St. Matthew’s Gospel, generally in a more natural connexion (mostly in the charge to the Twelve, Luke 10:5-42). Perhaps St. Luke here groups together savings spoken at different times.1. When there were] RV ’when the many thousands of... read more
(54-56) When ye see a cloud rise out of the west.—See Notes on Matthew 16:2. The differences in form are, however, noticeable enough to suggest the impression here also of like teaching at a different time. In St. Matthew the words come as an answer to the demand for a sign, here without any such demand; there the signs are the morning and the evening redness of the sky, here the cloud in the west and the south wind blowing. It is, however, probable enough that the like answer was called forth... read more
(56) How is it that ye do not discern this time?—What had been said before to Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:3) is here repeated with a wider application. It was true of the people, as of their teachers, that they did not discern the true import of the time, the season, the crisis in which they found themselves. It was “the time of their visitation” (see Note on Luke 19:44), and yet they knew it not. read more
(57) Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?—Better, judge that which is just. The meaning of the words is not that they did not know what was right, but that they did not act upon their knowledge. They were passing an unrighteous judgment on the preachers of repentance, on the Baptist and on the Christ, because they came to tell them of the time of their visitation, when their action ought to have been as true and spontaneous as their daily judgment about the weather. It is... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Luke 12:56
56. how . . . not discern, &c.—unable to perceive what a critical period that was for the Jewish Church. read more