See the notes at Matthew 16:2-3.

South wind - To the south and southwest of Judea were situated Arabia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, all warm or hot regions, and consequently the air that came from those quarters was greatly heated.

How is it that ye do not discern this time! - You see a cloud rise, and predict a shower; a south wind, and expect heat. These are regular events. So you see my miracles; you hear my preaching; you have the predictions of me in the prophets; why do you not, in like manner, infer that "this is the time" when the Messiah should appear?

A cloud rise - See on Matthew 16:2, Matthew 16:3 (note).

And he said also to the people,.... For what Christ had before said, were chiefly, if not solely, directed to his disciples; but now he turned himself to the innumerable multitude that were about him, and particularly addressed himself to the Scribes and Pharisees that were among them:

when ye see a cloud rise out of the west; the watery vapours being attracted by the heat of the sun, out of the Mediterranean Sea, which lies west of the land of Judea, and formed into a cloud, and drove by the wind:

straightway ye say there comes a shower; as soon as it is seen, it is presently concluded and affirmed, that a very heavy shower will soon fall, it having been frequently observed so to do, when this has been the case:

and so it is; for the most part, there commonly follows a large shower on such an appearance, and they were seldom mistaken in their conclusions.

A cloud

With the definite article, the cloud, which you so often see.

There cometh a shower

Or, a shower is coming. See on James 5:7.

It is (γίνεται)

Better, as Rev., it cometh to pass.

{14} And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud {n} rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.

(14) Men who are very quick to see with regard to earthly things are blind with regard to those things which pertain to the heavenly life, and this through their own malice.

(n) Which appears, and gathers itself together in that part of the air.

12:54-57 When ye see a cloud rising. See notes on Mt 16:2,3.

12:54 And he said to the people also - In the preceding verse s he speaks only to his disciples. From the west - In Judea, the west wind, blowing from the sea, usually brought rain: the south wind, blowing from the deserts of Arabia, occasioned sultry heat. Mt 16:2.

Lu 12:54-59. Not Discerning the Signs of the Time.

54. to the people-"the multitude," a word of special warning to the thoughtless crowd, before dismissing them. (See on [1653]Mt 16:2, 3).

12:54-59 Christ would have the people to be as wise in the concerns of their souls as they are in outward affairs. Let them hasten to obtain peace with God before it is too late. If any man has found that God has set himself against him concerning his sins, let him apply to him as God in Christ reconciling the world to himself. While we are alive, we are in the way, and now is our time.