Luke

12:54-59

The teachings of Messiah, 9:51-19:44

3. The kingdom and judgment, 12:35-13:21

iv] Read the signs - it's time to settle accounts

Synopsis

Jesus now turns from instructing his disciples and addresses the gathered crowd. He warns them to read the signs of the times, reinforcing his warning with the parable of the defendant going to court.

 
Teaching

Read the signs of the time; it's time to make peace with your Maker.

 
Issues

i] Context: See 12:35-40. Read the signs - it's time to settle accounts, is the fourth episode in a set of six covering the topic of The Kingdom and Judgment, 12:35-13:21. These episodes examine the issue of discipleship from an eschatological perspective / judgment: first, watchfulness (watching unto your faith), then stewardship (particularly in relation to the proclamation of the gospel), and then a warning on the fire of testing and trouble - the division prompted by gospel proclamation. Jesus now turns his attention from the disciples to the uncommitted crowd, confronting them with the news of God's coming kingdom / the gospel. Jesus warns the crowd that it is time for them to make peace with their Maker. This theme will be reinforced in the fifth episode by reminding them of the choice they face, namely "repent or perish", 13:1-9.

 

ii] Structure: Read the signs of the times:

Reading the times like reading the weather, v54-56;

Illustration - weather forecasting, v54-55;

Warning - failing to read the signs of the times, v56.

"Why do you not discern this critical moment?"

The parable of the defendant going to court, v57-59;

Introduction, v57;

"Why is it that you can't evaluate these matters rightly?"

Parable, v58-59

 

iii] Interpretation:

For this episode, Luke sets the context with an introductory note, indicating that Jesus is no longer addressing his disciples, but rather the uncommitted crowd gathered around him. Jesus' instructions to his disciples were framed within the context of the dawning of the kingdom of God / eschatological expectation / judgment, and now Jesus has a word to the crowd on this very subject.

The uncommitted crowd has witnessed numerous signs indicating that the long-promised messianic age is bursting in upon them; "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the ptwcoi (poor = God's oppressed people) euaggelizontai (have God's important news proclaimed to them)", 7:22, cf., 4:18-21. Jesus' fellow countrymen are well able to read the weather, when it's going to rain, or when a heatwave is on the way, but they are totally unable to read the messianic signs of the time. So, Jesus pointedly asks them "Why do you not discern this period of time in its critical character?", Evans. This is a critical moment in Israel's destiny, but the people of Israel "are better at forecasting the weather than noting the signs of God's activity among them", Danker.

Luke transitions to the attached parable with a rhetorical question from Jesus. The question is not overly clear, but it is something like "Why is it that you can't evaluate these matters rightly?" "Why can't you yourselves", ie., yourselves without help from someone else. So, "Why can't you recognise the obvious, that the long-promised messianic age is upon you?" "You don't have to be a genius to understand these things. Just use your common sense", Peterson.

The parable serves to drive the obvious home. The crowd can no longer ignore the signs of the times; it is time to act, or else. Of course, this is where it all comes to grief because commentators do not agree on the intended sense of the parable. For some, it is a teaching parable (ethical) in line with the assumed sense of Matthew's parallel version, namely, "a piece of practical wisdom that personal settlement of disputes is preferable to imprisonment until the debt is paid", Evans. Yet, it is far more likely that what we have here is a kingdom parable without the usual introduction, "the kingdom of heaven is like unto ....." It deals with "the eschatological significance of the present ...... A decision should be made while there is time, because of the arrival of God's kingdom (12:53-56). It is time to get one's life in order and be reconciled to God (12:58)", Stein. See The Parables of Jesus, 8:1-18.

So, what we have here is a kingdom parable, a parable that proclaims the gospel, namely, "the kingdom of God has come upon you." The parable is a "picture of crisis, bringing out the urgent necessity of immediate action" and this because, "then and there, they stood, faced by the supreme crisis of all history", Dodd. The eternal Judge of the universe is even now settling all outstanding warrants, and pity help the person who fails to settle the charge against them before judgment is delivered. Best to settle the matter before it's too late! The next episode, 13:1-9, will explain how to settle the charge - "repent or perish."

 

iv] Synoptics:

See 3:1-20. The opening saying, v54-56, commences with Luke adding a contextual note, namely that Jesus is now addressing the undecided crowd, and not his disciples. The saying itself roughly aligns with Matthew 16:2-3, although as Fitzmyer notes, only six Greek words from Luke's forty seven / forty eight words agree with Matthew's words. Obviously, the saying was not firmly fixed within the oral tradition of the early church and so has circulated in a variety of forms.

The parable in v57-59 has a parallel in Matthew 5:25-26, with v57 regarded as a "Lukan transition", Nolland. Both versions of the parable are unexplained and so their intended sense must be determined by their context. Most commentators, even Dodd and Jeremias, take Matthew's version as ethical: it serves "to teach the importance of being always ready and anxious to take the first step towards the healing of a quarrel between neighbours", Dodd. Yet, even though the context of both versions is completely different, it seems more than likely that Matthew's version, as with Luke's version, is climactic, a picture of crisis in the face of eschatological judgment / the coming of the kingdom of God; See Matthew 5:21-37

 

v] Homiletics: Be reconciled to God.

This passage lends itself to a gospel sermon, rather than to ethical instruction like "Be reconciled to one another." It is appropriate, from time-to-time, to remind a worshipping congregation that "you might be a king, or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you dance with the reaper" - extract from the film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, 1991.

 
Text - 12:54

Read the signs of the times, v54-59: i] Reading the times like reading the weather, v54-56. a) Illustration - weather forecasting, v54-55. For Palestine, a breeze from the West travels over the Mediterranean, rises, cools and precipitates when it hits the Judean highlands. A breeze from the South travels over desert and is hot and dry.

de "-" - but/and. Transitional, indicating a step in the discourse narrative.

toiV ocloiV (oV) dat. "to the crowd" - [he was saying and = also] to the crowds. Dative of indirect object.

oJtan + subj. "when" - whenever [you may see a cloud]. Introducing an indefinite temporal clause, "whenever", although often translated as definite, "when", as NIV.

anatellousan (anatellw) pres. part. "rising" - rising, springing up, coming up. The participle serves as the accusative complement of the direct object "cloud", standing in a double accusative construction and asserting a fact about the object; "when you see a cloud up in the west", CEV.

epi + gen. "in" - upon [the west]. Spatial, with the sense determined by the context, here "in the west."

oJti "-" - [immediately you say] that [a storm, thunderstorm is coming]. Introducing an object clause / dependent statement of direct speech expressing what they say.

ou{twV adv. "-" - [and it happens] thus, in this way. Demonstrative adverb; "and so it is", Berkeley.

 
v55

oJtan + subj. "[and] when" - [and] whenever [you may see a south wind blowing, you say that it will be hot, and it happens thus]. The syntactical elements of this verse are the same as v54 with the subjunctive and demonstrative adverb assumed. "And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, 'This'll be a hot one' - and you're right", Peterson.

 
v56

b) Warning - failing to read the signs of the times. Jesus censures the uncommitted crowd for their failure to read the messianic signs announcing the dawning of the new age of the kingdom of God. "Why do you not discern this critical moment?"

uJpokritai (hV ou) voc. "Hypocrites" - hypocrites, actors. Vocative; "Dissemblers that you are!", Cassirer.

dokimazein (dokimazw) pres. inf. "to interpret" - [you know how] to test, prove, analyse, interpret correctly. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what the crowd knows, namely, "how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky", but see BDAG 694.3 for a complementary classification / Culy.

thV ghV (h) gen. "of the earth" - [the face, appearance] of the earth [and the sky]. The genitive is adjectival, possessive; "belonging to."

pwV "how" - [but/and] how is it possible that [you do not know how to test, analyse this present time]? The interrogative introduces a rhetorical question. The infinitive "to test, analyse, interpret" as above. "This present time" "refers to the time in salvation history marked by the coming of God's kingdom in Jesus' ministry", Stein.

 
v57

ii] The parable of the defendant going to court, v57-59. a) Transitional comment in the form of a rhetorical question; "Why can't you yourselves, without the assistance of others, recognise the obvious, that the long-promised messianic age is upon you?"

tiv "why" - [but/and] why. Here the interrogative introduces a rhetorical question.

kai "-" - and = also. Adjunctive.

af (apo) + gen. "for [yourselves]" - from [you yourselves]. Expressing source / origin, or more particularly "outcome from responsible agents", Thompson, BDAG 107a, "for yourselves", as NIV.

to dikaion adj. "what is right" - the right, just, fair. The adjective serves as a substantive, accusative direct object of the verb "to judge"; "what you ought to do", TH. The sense of "to judge the right" moves from judging justly, namely, "to give a just judgement", to the sense to make a right judgement about something, "to judge what is right", Marshall.

 
v58

b) The parable of the defendant going to court, v58-59. As already indicated, this is a climactic parable, a kingdom parable encapsulating the abstraction that the kingdom of God is at hand / upon us. This fact is described in the terms of a judge processing outstanding warrants, and the necessity to settle all charges before it's too late. So, in its present setting, the parable serves to warn the uncommitted crowd "to observe the spiritual signs and repent before it is too late. If they wait until the day of judgment, God (the judge) will punish them severely, without any hope of deliverance", Black.

gar "-" - for. Possibly expressing reason, so introducing an explanation of the problem facing the undecided crowd, or simply as de, a transitional connective. "Be warned", Rieu.

wJV "as" - as, as if, like / as, while. Usually treated here as temporal, introducing a temporal clause; "for while you are going to the magistrate with your opponent", TH, but sometimes conditional, "if one has a claim against thee", Knox. Possibly with a comparative sense, as if in a similitude; "for it's as if / like you are going away ....." Kingdom parables are often introduced with a comparative, although usually oJmoia, "like"; "the kingdom of heaven is like (may be compared with the situation where) ....." So wJV gar may well be short-talk (semantic density) for "Let me warn you how it is for you in the dawning of the messianic age of the kingdom, it's as if ........ "; "if you are being taken before a magistrate with your opponent at your side, make a strenuous effort, while you are still on the way, to get quit of the claim. Otherwise, he will drag you into the presence of the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff will have you thrown into prison", Cassirer.

meta + gen. "with" - [you go away] with [the adversary of you]. Expressing association / accompaniment.

ep (epi) + acc. "to" - upon [a ruler = magistrate]. Spatial, with the sense determined by the context, so "before the magistrate", ESV, or "to the magistrate", NIV, Berkeley, Barclay, .....

doV erasian (a) "try hard" - do work. Regarded as a "Latinism", TH, with the sense "make an effort / do your best."

aphllacqai (apallassw) perf. mid./pas. inf. "to be reconciled" - to set free, release, be rid of / (middle) to depart / (passive) to settle with, be reconciled. The infinitive is adverbial, final, expressing purpose.

ap (apo) + gen. "-" - from [him]. Expressing separation; "away from."

en + dat. "on" - on [the way]. Probably adverbial here, temporal, "while still on the way", TH. The phrase "on the way" is emphatic by position.

mhpote + subj. / fut. "or" - lest [he drag you toward the judge]. This construction introduces a negated final clause expressing purpose.

tw/ praktori (wr oroV) dat. "the officer" - [and the judge will hand you over] to the bailiff (an officer of the court) [and the bailiff will throw you into prison]. Dative of direct object after the para prefix verb "to hand over."

 
v59

soi dat. pro. "you" - [and i say] to you. Dative of indirect object.

ou mh + subj. "not [get out]" - no no / by no means [you may come out from there]. Subjunctive of emphatic negation.

e{wV "until" - until. Introducing an indefinite temporal clause. The context implies future time with respect to the main verb, so we would have expected an + subj.

kai "-" - and = even [the last lepton, copper coin you give back]. Ascensive. "Until you have paid the very last penny", ESV.

 

Luke Introduction

Exegetical Commentaries

 

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