#1281 Matthew 16 Weather Men

 

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16: 1-12 ESV

Matthew 16: 1-12

…9Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’ ” 10Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men. 11So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’ ”… 2 Kings 1: 9-11

…12On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” 14There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.… Joshua 10: 12-14

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came - The Separatists and the Liberals so to speak, one group taking a more literal approach to interpretation, believing in the resurrection, the other believing the Bible to be a book of moral stories, but not literal in it's meaning. These groups were constantly at each other, debating and each looking down upon the other, yet, as it turns out, both groups had more in common with each other than with the Son of God. Both groups, though wildly different in their interpretations of Scripture, believed in salvation by works, both were types of legalist, just from different sects of  apostasy. Pharisees took a more literal approach to interpretation, but also added to the law, their traditions. Sadducees spiritualized everything, but both loved their greed, their immorality, their flavor of sin, and this is what really makes them blind, they don't want to see, for in seeing, they would have to admit open defiance to God or repent. 

To test Him - As if they had the right or it would even make a difference. One of their very high ups, Nicodemus, has already acknowledged that they know Christ is a teacher sent from God. The Wise men followed His star from the East, a sign in the heavens that a King had been born. He has fulfilled the Messianic signs of healing the deaf, blind and lame. He has shown power over nature, that which was created by God and responds to His presence and voice. He was born of a virgin, of the line of David. He has fed the 5 thousand and now the 4 thousand, so these leaders know, have seen, and bear witness to His works. The problem is not the works, its that He has called them hypocrites, that He has called for repentance, and they want nothing of it. Jesus has called them blind leaders of the blind and here they are walking it out again.

17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.… Romans 1: 17-19

…18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.… John 3: 18-20

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs You are doing if God were not with him.” 3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”… John 3: 1-3

Show them a sign from heaven - Let us see something like Elijah saw when the fire came down and ate up even the rocks. Ahab saw that, and I think Elijah's hopes soared then, he killed 400 false prophets without contest, but then what happened? Ahab went back to his wife, she was unrepentant, wanted Elijah dead, so he fled into the wilderness. She loved her false religion, loved her sin, had a murderous heart, so she remained unimpressed and her husband followed her like a dumb puppy. This has more to do with hardness of heart, and it will be a never ending procession of signs. "Oh God, give me a million dollars and I will believe in you. Oh God, thanks for the million dollars, now give me five million and I will follow You." No, you have to be born again.

You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the time - All the signs that Christ fulfilled, the miracles He performed, were signs of the Messiah, a taste of the Kingdom, a place without hunger or disease, as spoken by the prophets. They were students of the prophets, but blind students, and this should make us check ourselves, how many times have we read the scripture, how many sermons have we sat under, and yet left unconverted, thinking ourselves righteous for being there, for checking off boxes, donating clothes, throwing money at problems that go much deeper? These guys were better at understanding the weather than our weathermen today, but they did not recognize the time they were in. You study the Bible right? What does it say of the end times? It speaks of Israel coming back into the land, and Israel is a nation once again. A lost people, a lost language, Hebrew, but there they are, after many extermination attempts. It talks about a falling away in the church, and a need to contend for the gospel, and look at the modern church, it takes it's cues from a culture, one described as being turned over to a reprobate mind. We call good evil and evil good today, children are without parenting, and without natural affection. We can't even define what a woman is for fear of being called a bigot by those who cannot see that the emperor is naked. 

…13“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow. 14I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.… Amos 9: 13-15

…17At that time Jerusalem will be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. They will no longer follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave to your fathers as an inheritance. 19Then I said, ‘How I long to make you My sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations!’ I thought you would call Me ‘Father’ and never turn away from following Me.… Jeremiah 3: 17-19

1But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,…

4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!… 2 Timothy 3: 1-5

An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign - In other words, it is not a matter of evidence, it's a matter of allegiance to their autonomy, pride, sin, the things they love that God hates, and so they are actually suppressing the light He has given them. Jesus is light, sent to them from above, but light reveals what was hidden in the dark, and so they will gravitate towards turning off the light. They don't want to repent, and so even repentance must be granted to men, faith has to be a gift, they are dead in their trespasses and sins, not desiring God in the least, and so salvation is that work of God equivalent to raising someone from the dead, no less. 

The sign of Jonah - Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the fish, so Christ will be buried on a Friday and raised on Sunday. He will come to fulfill that which Isaiah and many others prophesied, that Messiah must suffer, He is the Lamb of God, infinite, and therefore alone capable of satisfying eternal, infinite justice. This is the next sign they should be looking for on their chart of things to come, that atonement must take place, the Savior has to die for His sheep. Only this doesn't fit with what they want to believe, and they are adulterous, not wanting to be freed from sin, only from it's penalty, like those that kill the innocent today because they don't want the responsibility for their actions or would punish someone for the actions of another. It's getting uglier, and they continue to demand that God bend to their will as if He has not condescended enough.

…39Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.… Matthew 12: 39-41

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees - It takes the disciples a little while, but they finally understand that the teaching of these religious elite was dangerous. It was not in line with God, and those who claimed to know God the most did not recognize Him, nor did they represent Him.

…8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’” 10Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand.…Matthew 15: 8-10