Clowne Christadelphian Ecclesia

Maybe you have been watching the weather forecast more than usual lately. Sometimes the predictions are correct and sometimes they are not.

​

Jesus spoke about that in Luke ch 13v54: “…When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’. And so it happens”. A lot of forecasting is based on experience. Certain things happening in the sky have led to rain before, so it is expected to happen again in the same way.

​

Jesus was using the example of weather-forecasting to rebuke the crowds he was addressing. “You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

​

What was Jesus talking about? While he was on earth teaching people, he spoke a lot about the kingdom of God. He wanted everyone to know that the world was not going to continue as it was. He warned them that it would come as a shock to anyone who was not prepared for the changes God was planning. But before the kingdom came, Jesus would be killed. He warned his disciples about this over and over again, but because it was not something they wanted to happen, they tried to shut out his words. They wanted the kingdom to come straight away. When Jesus was crucified, they were devastated and, 3 days later, some of them doubted that he had risen from the dead. Then Jesus met with them and explained that his death and resurrection had been forecast in their Bible, which at that time was only the Old Testament. They had not understood, but when he explained it to them, it all fell into place.

​

The kingdom of God is coming, and we don’t know how long we have to wait. Jesus told his disciples to “watch”, and we are instructed to do the same. If we read the Bible and watch the “present time”, as Jesus called it, we will start to see a pattern emerge which reflects what God has told us in His book. World empires were listed before they came to power (Daniel chapter 2, for example) and it is fascinating to see how prophecies have been fulfilled. The prophecies about the return of Jesus to the earth are going to be fulfilled too. We don’t have a date for this event, because we are supposed to focus on preparing. Even if we die before it happens, there is the hope of resurrection when Jesus returns.

​

Weather forecasts can affect our short-term plans. Forecasts of the return of Jesus have much longer-term implications, leading to life or death, so isn’t it worth finding out more?