Luke 12:56

56 hypocrites! the face of the earth and of the heaven ye have known to make proof of, but this time -- how do ye not make proof of [it]?

Luke 12:56 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 12:56

Ye hypocrites
A word often used of the Scribes and Pharisees, and which suggests, that there were such in company, to whom Christ more especially directs his discourse; and this may be the rather thought, since much the like things are said by him to the Pharisees, with the Sadducees, in ( Matthew 16:1-3 ) and the same appellation is given them there, as here:

ye can discern the face of the sky, and of the earth;
from the appearance of the sky, they could tell how it would be with the earth, and the inhabitants of it, whether they should have dry or wet weather, heat or cold:

but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
that this is the time of the Messiah's coming, and that it is the accepted time, and day of salvation, if ye receive him, and believe in him; and a time of vengeance, if ye reject him: this might have been discerned by the prophecies of the Old Testament, which fix the characters of the Messiah, and the time of his coming; and describe the manners of the men of that generation, in which he should come: and point out both their happiness and their ruin; as also by the doctrines they heard Christ preach, and especially by the miracles which were wrought by him, it might have been known he was come.

Luke 12:56 In-Context

54 And he said also to the multitudes, `When ye may see the cloud rising from the west, immediately ye say, A shower doth come, and it is so;

55 and when -- a south wind blowing, ye say, that there will be heat, and it is;

56 hypocrites! the face of the earth and of the heaven ye have known to make proof of, but this time -- how do ye not make proof of [it]?

57 `And why, also, of yourselves, judge ye not what is righteous?

58 for, as thou art going away with thy opponent to the ruler, in the way give diligence to be released from him, lest he may drag thee unto the judge, and the judge may deliver thee to the officer, and the officer may cast thee into prison;