54 ¶ And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.Today when I was reading that last verse, I realized that not only was it an admonition to settle differences before lawsuits occur, but it was also being used as a parable to teach the necessity of repenting of all our sins before judgment day.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?
58 ¶ When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.
59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite. (Luke 12:54-59)
When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him – Our adversary, Satan, will be our accuser at the judgment day and it takes diligence to repent of all our sins so that we can be completely free from him.
lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison - The assumption in this parable is that we are all guilty, which we know we are. This is why repentance is needed.
I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite. – If we do not obtain forgiveness for our sins through the Atonement, we will have to suffer for our own sins—every last one.
So what did the ideas about weather prediction at the beginning have to do with this parable? I think that Christ was telling them that if they have been able to predict the weather based upon clouds in the sky and the direction the wind is coming from, they should be able to predict what is going to happen to them and where it is coming from based upon Christ’s calling them to repentance and where that message is coming from.
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