Earlier in Luke 12, Jesus was speaking to his disciples, but here he is talking to a crowd. These are people who depend on their crops for survival. They study the skies and winds for any indication of what weather is coming. They know by experience that westward clouds passing over a body of water bring rain, and southern winds bring warmer temperatures. They can see these indicators right before their eyes.

But there are other indicators before them that they cannot comprehend. The religious leaders are arrogant and prideful. Herod and the Romans are bearing down with their unjust agenda of occupation. By contrast, Jesus has been walking among them, performing miracles and teaching the pure religion of the kingdom of God. Why can they not see the signs and accept what is before their eyes?

Jesus has a single-word diagnosis: hypocrisy. They know the truth, but they live in denial of it. Their problem is not their capacity to understand; it is their unwillingness to accept the truth. They don’t like what it could mean for them if Jesus is indeed who he says he is. There is a proverb that captures this tragedy: “A person convinced against their will is of the same persuasion still.” Jesus understands this powerful reality, and he calls it out.

Like the crowds who followed Jesus, we too must recognize the hypocritical dilemmas we face. We know the right action, but something overtakes us and we fail to do what we know to be right. That “something” is the very thing Jesus illuminates.

We are not always ready to accept and believe what being a disciple of Jesus means for us. It is not easy to hear these words, but we can trust that Jesus wants us to know abundant life.