<p>16:3&nbsp;<i>And in the morning: It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening-&nbsp;</i>See on 16:2.</p>
<p><i>You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky- </i>AV &quot;You hypocrites&quot;. Hypocrisy may seem a strange charge to level at men who could read the weather but did not want to perceive that they were Nineveh with Jonah in their midst; and according to their response to the Lord&rsquo;s resurrection, their eternity would be decided. 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>But you cannot interpret the signs of the times-&nbsp;</i>The &ldquo;sign[s] of the times&rdquo; which they wanted but couldn&rsquo;t discern can be seen as the whole work of Jesus, rather than specifically the signs of His coming again. The &ldquo;sign[s]&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 resurrection of Christ [cp. that of Jonah], because it portends the return of Christ in judgment. And the outcome of that sign was either to their blessing [&ldquo;fair weather&rdquo;] or condemnation [rainy / foul weather]. There is no reason to think that &ldquo;signs&rdquo; and &ldquo;times&rdquo; have to be read as plurals. They could just as easily refer to the one great sign of the one great and ultimate time. The one great sign would then refer to the Lord&rsquo;s resurrection, perception of which (and&nbsp;<i>when</i>&nbsp;it was perceived) would lead to either acceptance or rejection at the ultimate &ldquo;time&rdquo; of the last day. This is how the Lord elsewhere uses the word&nbsp;<i>kairos</i>&nbsp;(&ldquo;times&rdquo;): &ldquo;The time of harvest&rdquo; (Mt. 13:30); &ldquo;the time of the fruit&rdquo; (Mt. 21:34); &ldquo;you know not when&nbsp;<i>the time</i>&nbsp;is&rdquo; (Mk. 13:33).</p>