Four parables in a row recorded by Luke deal with repentance. The first is the parable of the Weather Signs:
Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming;’ and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather;’ and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:54-56)
How often have we heard people going through verbal gymnastics trying to make this verse about End Times? There is no reason to make the phrase “this time” fit any other period than the one in which Jesus lived at that moment. Whatever the term means, it has to include that. This is one of those sections where Luke avoids citing precise details to prevent fixing the date and place. What we do know is what often happened while Jesus traveled about teaching and healing: huge crowds would gather (see 12:1). Instead of chasing the precise context, Luke wants us to keep our eyes on what Jesus teaches about the nature of His ministry.
We have already seen in the last lesson where He debunks the notion of peace in a fallen world. Here He continues where John the Baptist left off: This is the one best time to repent, before everything changes forever. I am convinced John and Jesus both had in mind the coming final Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. This was the last opportunity for the Jews as a nation to get it right. We know they did not, and after the Roman General Titus destroyed the city, the Jews never again rebuilt the nation as it had been. The modern version of Israel is simply a secular political entity, with no significant concern for the Law of Moses, only for their ethnic identity and their ancient homeland. The majority of modern Israelis are ethnically Jewish people, but very few are actually followers of Judaism.
At any rate, there was no Judah or Israel for almost 2000 years. This was a direct result of rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. He warned against this very thing with the next parable, about making peace with one’s adversary at law (12:57-59). Jesus was saying God was about to take the nation to court, and they would surely be found guilty. Thus, the only escape was to make peace before court was in session. There was no time to lose.
On a similar note, Jesus responded to the latest news around that part of the world, where some Galilean extremists had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at one Passover (13:1-5). They had been such pests to Pilate he had them killed in or near the Temple grounds just before they presented their sacrifices. There was also a reference to the collapse of the Tower of Siloam. Because the Jewish religion had become so focused on this age and this life, there was little reference to any afterlife. Indeed, the Law of Moses had practically nothing to do with saving one’s soul — virtually all its promises, blessings and curses applied to this life. The Jewish religion was very confused about this. Thus, when disaster struck, there was a popular myth that it was somehow due to sin in the life of the victims.
Jesus never denied the victims had been sinners, but retorted they were no worse than most any other Jew. The nation as a whole had long rejected a heart for God in search of a mere code of conduct. While the code was virtually impossible to keep, it was easy for the sinner to convince himself he was okay with God, because nothing bad had happened. Simply repenting of sin and turning with a whole heart to God would require changing their entire worldview. The Law had always pointed to a higher spiritual truth, something they denied.
Finally, He uses the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree to illustrate how God had just about had enough (13:6-9). Three years was plenty of time for a fig tree to mature enough to produce fruit. This one was worthless. The trusted servant interceded for just one more chance. God’s patience was far beyond reason. Thus, Jesus warned often how God was about to chop down the tree of the Nation of Israel once and for all (Luke 3:8-9).
Jesus came to earth to provide, in part, one last opportunity for the Jews to finally get it, to grasp the original intent of all the previous covenants. With all His might, Jesus tried to break up the hardened soil of traditions of men, and fertilize it with the true teaching of the Word of God. God waited another 35-40 years after Jesus paid that awful price in blood, then destroyed the nation for good. If these, His very Own People, could meet such a fate for rejecting His Son, how much more those of us not born His People?
