Daily Bible Reading 28th September 2026 // Luke 12:54-59
54 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. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’, and it happens. 56 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?
57 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 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. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
The primary reference in these verses about 'the signs of the times' is to the Jews. What was in process of happening was that they were resisting His word and the offer of His kingdom. They did not realise the consequences of their action; they did not see that in Him lay their only hope; if they did not receive Him, divine judgment would come upon them, as it did some years later, in the sack of Jerusalem (701AD). To Jesus the signs were telltale clear, just as the signs of the weather were clear to them. Their need to discern the signs of the times was urgent. This is the force of the illustration in 57-59. The insolvent debtor makes every effort to settle his case out of court, rather than face the utter ruin of being jailed for debt, with no prospect either of earning money to pay his creditor or of being released till the debt is paid. Similarly Israel, faced with the Great Assize, would do well to settle her account with God by admitting her spiritual bankruptcy and casting herself on His mercy. Jesus thus dramatically takes up the request in 13 about the inheritance and passes to something infinitely more solemn than that earthly inheritance, the heavenly. And what need there is here to judge what is right! What He is saying to them is this: 'You are going (the course of your life is the journey) with your adversary (the just and holy law of God) before the magistrate (God Himself); therefore by the way take pains, give diligence, to be delivered from him (by repentance and faith) lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer... and the officer cast you into prison'. It is a forthright appeal to them to get right with God, while there is yet time. And, indeed, the time was short for them!