Don't Need To Be A Weatherman...

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4)

Today is National Weatherman's Day: a day to appreciate the folks who know how to read the signs and make a -- usually reasonable -- prediction about what the weather will be doing. Of course, the prevailing wisdom is they quite often have no idea what they're talking about, and that we'd be just as better off simply opening a window. 

Actually, though, meteorologists have studied quite a bit to get where they are, and they do have the ability to be more accurate, thanks to their readings of the signs, than you and I can be simply sticking our heads outside or sticking a wet forefinger in the air. But yes, sometimes they're wrong.  They're wrong because they simply don't have access to all the information in the universe. They can't know what's beyond their own instruments and readings that may have an effect on the future. 

This was not true for the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day. They actually had everything they needed to see the signs of the times; they simply failed in their interpretation. They knew the prophecies of the coming Messiah, but they built their own interpretation around those prophecies, and failed to look for anything outside of those interpretations. They created a Messiah in their own image and, basically, stopped looking. This would be like a weatherman sniffing the air, testing the wind, and declaring a sunny day -- and then refusing to accept the instrument readings to the contrary. He'd stand outside in his shorts and loafers, and get soaked when the rain came. 

Because the Jewish teachers refused to alter their own interpretations, they would be shown their error by the reality coming to life: that Jesus would die and rise again in three days. 

God has also given His children today signs and prophecies. We know we're living in the final days. We have been. We may not know exactly what that will look like -- we argue about the timing and process, for example. But we know time is short. We know we have work to do in the meantime. We know we need to be ready, and to help others prepare as well. 

As Bob Dylan sang, you don't need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Jesus is coming -- and the hows and whens don't matter nearly as much as what you are doing in the meantime.