Prophets can foretell the future, not as fortune-tellers, but as people who have learned to read the signs of their times. By becoming fully aware of the political, social, economic, military, and religious tendencies of their time, prophets are able to see where it is all heading. Like many of the Hebrew prophets, Jesus saw the threatening armies of a powerful Roman empire. Jesus knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Roman armies felt sufficiently provoked to attack and destroy Jerusalem. For most Jews, the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem would mean the destruction of their worship, their culture, and their nation. Jesus’ concern was not for the future of the temple but for the people of Jerusalem, especially the women and children who would suffer so much at the hands of the Romans. Reading the signs of the times Jesus saw that this spiral of violence held no hope for the poor and the oppressed. The people were powerless and helpless. Two thousand years later, prophets still raise their voices against the spirals of violence that continue to rob the poor and the oppressed of hope. Do we even hear them? It is only by taking on the plight of the poor and the oppressed that we play our part as disciples of Jesus. Deuteronomy 15:11 “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’”
