<p>12:56 <i>You hypocrites- </i>Hypocrisy may seem a strange charge to level at men who could read the weather but did not want to perceive the fact that there were definite outcomes to their lives, either showers of eternal blessing, or the scorching heat of condemnation. The charge of hypocrisy would seem to me to imply that they realized indeed who Jesus was, but were acting as if they didn&rsquo;t. The Lord said as much in designing a later parable to have the Jews saying &ldquo;This is the heir; come, let us kill Him&rdquo; (Mt. 21:38). Another option is that their ability to read basic signs in the weather made them responsible to discerning who Christ was and their need to repent; and to not use our potential abilities is perhaps seen by the Lord as hypocrisy.</p><p><i>You know how to interpret the signs of the earth and the sky, but how is it you do not know how to interpret this time?</i>- The &quot;time&quot; can be seen as the whole work of Jesus, rather than specifically the signs of His coming again. The &ldquo;signs&rdquo; which they sought for were in front of them at the time of their asking for them. They therefore cannot really refer to fulfilled latter day prophecies. The lesson is that as farmers and shepherds act accordingly as they interpret the weather, so we ought to respond to the reality of Christ, knowing that we stand before either eternal life or eternal death, very soon.</p>