After Jesus fed the 4000 at the end of Chapter 15, He turns His ministry toward the disciples. The 3-year public ministry has ended and intentional training for the disciples has begun. In the passage we’re looking at in this study, Jesus is tested once again by the Pharisees and Sadducees who were determined to upend Jesus.
A UNITED EFFORT
In Matthew 16, Jesus’ ministry has moved to a more Jewish area near the Sea of Galilea called Magadan. The remote area where he fed the 4,000 was a mixed audience and had many gentiles and jews, a melting pot. Magadan was also a mixed crowd but leaned more Jewish. It was there that Jesus gets a visit from not just the Pharisees but also the Sadducees as well.
Matthew 16:1- The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.
The Pharisees had asked for a “sign” from Jesus before. In Matthew 12:38-39 they asked Jesus for a miracle to be worked. But in that request, they had just determined to themselves that they believed Jesus’ miracle working power was of Satan and of evil origin. Jesus rebuked them in that passage since they refused to believe.
But this request is different for two reasons. First, they brought more muscle. The Pharisees had tried to trip up Jesus before, but this time they brought the Sadducees along with them. The Sadducees and Pharisees were not typically friendly with each other. They had very different doctrinal beliefs and were also in a power struggle in the temple. The Sadducees ran the business of the temple, and the Pharisees were the zealots of the law and the religious leaders. In this case, despite not liking each other much, they both have reasons to want Jesus out of the picture. After all, crowds are following Jesus by the thousands.
The second way that this request for a sign is different from the first is the way they asked for it. They didn’t just ask for a miracle, they asked for a “sign from heaven”. They wanted Jesus to rachet up the spectacle.
He’s been working signs on earth, healing sick people, casting out demons, even raising the dead. But asking for a sign from heaven would have been something even more grand! How about manna falling from heaven like Moses (Exodus 16)? Or Joshua causing the sun and moon to stand still (Josh 10:12- 14)? Or what about Elijah calling down fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice and put Jezebel to shame (1 Kings 18:30- 40)? These may have been the type of signs they were asking for!
One thing we know for sure from this passage is that the request for a sign wasn’t asked with pure motives or a desire to understand and believe. They were coming to “test” or “tempt” Jesus. The goal was to destroy Him (Matthew 12:14). How would this destroy Jesus? I think they knew Jesus would refuse to do the miracle. They had already asked once and were soundly rebuked. I believe it’s possible that when he refused, they could advance the narrative that Jesus was a fraud who couldn’t do the “sign from heaven.” Then they could finally get rid of Him.
Matthew 16:2-4- But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
Jesus does in fact rebuke them and refuse to give them the sign they’re asking for. But He does point to another sign from heaven. Jesus points out that they can discern weather patterns with some level of competency but they’re missing the biggest sign, the ‘sign of the times’ standing right in front of them! The sign from heaven, that is the Messiah! Jesus is showing them that He is the sign from heaven they have been looking for, but they’re unable to discern that. They’re more worried about the weather than seeing the fulfillment of prophecy and the reality of the Messiah in their midst.
MISSING THE POINT
After Jesus very brief interaction with the Pharisees and Sadducees, He leaves them and begins to teach the disciples. While there are still a few instances where Jesus teaches the general public, much of His teaching from here until the end of this Gospel is directed toward the disciples.
Matthew 16:5-6- And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
The disciples only had one bread cake to sustain them. They were supposed to buy bread for their trip, and they forgot. So, they’re concerning themselves with the fact that they may get hungry. Jesus, meanwhile, is still thinking of the interaction He just had with the Pharisees and Sadducees. But the disciples are completely missing the point.
Matthew 16:7-8- They (the disciples) began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?”
Jesus is trying to warn His disciples. He wants them to understand the danger the teaching of both the Pharisees and Sadducees pose. But the disciples are fixated on the lack of food they brought. But why is this an issue of little faith as Jesus charged them with? Well consider what they had just witnessed from Jesus! The disciples have witnessed Jesus’ feed multitudes on two different occasions and Jesus points that out to them.
Matthew 16:9-10- Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?
Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people with very little food to begin with on two very recent occasions. The feeding of the 4000 would have been within the last few days for them. And yet the disciples are concerned with how much bread they brought for their small entourage. To the degree that they were missing the lesson Jesus wanted them to hear.
Matthew 16:11-12- “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The disciples finally get there! It takes them a minute, but Jesus finally helps them understand what he’s trying to teach them. The spiritual lesson is of Jesus concern, not the physical. He had already demonstrated that He would care for the physical needs. There was no reason to even worry about it. However, the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, now that is of great concern.
CONCLUSION
The Pharisees were the professional law keepers and the example of piety and righteousness that was being put forth as the example to please God. Yet they were continually missing the point! The Sadducees were also false teachers but had completely different views from the Pharisees. Yet, both attacked the Messiah as a team. And while they both claimed to teach from the Old Testament with some truth mixed in, there is a warning. Jesus compares their false teaching to leaven.
Leaven is an agent, such as yeast, that causes dough to rise. It is necessary to make bread, yet you wouldn’t know its there otherwise. It takes very little to work and doesn’t have a taste or smell. It’s very subtle. A very little bit affects an entire batch, the very nature of what it will become.
The warning Jesus is giving the disciples is to be discerning about what teaching they allow to influence them. These religious leaders were leading a lot of people and yet they were not able to discern that the Messiah was before them. Over the next two chapters, Jesus will be teaching the disciples in depth. But an early lesson He has for them in this section is a warning to be cautious with the teaching of false teacher. Especially those who don’t know the Messiah!