Matthew 16:1

_THE PHARISEES ALSO WITH THE SADDUCEES CAME, AND TEMPTING DESIRED HIM THAT HE WOULD SHEW THEM A SIGN FROM HEAVEN._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

Matthew 16:1._And the Pharisees came. _Mark says that they _began to dispute_, from which we may conjecture that, when they had been vanquished in argument, this was their last resource; as obstinate men, whenever they are reduced to extremities, to avoid being compelled to yield to the truth, are accustomed to introduce something which is foreign to the subject. Though the nature of the dispute is not expressed, yet I think it probable that they debated about the calling of Christ, why he ventured to make any innovation, and why he made such lofty pretensions, as if by his coming he had fully restored the kingdom of God. Having nothing farther to object against his doctrine, they demand that he _shall give them a sign from heaven. _But it is certain that a hundred _signs _would have no greater effect than the testimonies of Scripture. Besides, many miracles already per

1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees were opposed to each other in principles and in conduct; yet they joined against Christ. But they desired a sign of their own choosing: they despised those signs which relieved the necessity of the sick and sorrowful, and called for something else which would gratify the curiosity of the proud. It is great hypocrisy, when we slight the signs of God's ordaining, to seek for signs of our own devising....

CHAPTER XVI. _The Pharisees insidiously require our Lord to give them a sign_, 1. _They are severely rebuked for their hypocrisy and wickedness_, 2-5. _The disciples are cautioned to beware of them and their_ _destructive doctrine_, 6-12. _The different opinions formed by the people of Christ_, 13, 14. _Peter's confession, and our Lord's discourse on it_, 15-20. _He foretells his sufferings, and reproves Peter_, 21-23. _Teaches the necessity of self-denial, and shows the reasons on_ which it is f

See also Mark 8:11. THE PHARISEES ALSO, AND THE SADDUCEES - See the notes at Matthew 3:7. TEMPTING - That is, trying him - feigning a desire to see evidence that he was the Messiah, but with a real desire to see him make the attempt to work a miracle and fail, so that they might betray him and ruin him. A SIGN FROM HEAVEN - Some miraculous appearance in the sky. Such appearances had been given by the prophets; and they supposed, if he was the Messiah, that his miracles would not all be confined to the earth, but that he was able to give some signal miracle from heaven. Samuel had caused it to thunder...

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 16:1 _The Pharisees and Sadducees desire a sign. _(Mark 8:11.) MATTHEW 16:1 THE PHARISEES ALSO WITH THE SADDUEEES; rather, _and the Pharisees and Sadducees. _The scribes and Pharisees are often mentioned together as watching or attacking Jesus; but this is the first time that we hear of Pharisees combining with Sadducees for this purpose. The two sects were directly opposed to each other, the traditional belief of the former being antagonistic to the scepticism and materialism of the latter. But both were hostile to Christ, whose teaching, on the one hand interfered with rabbinism, and on the

THE PHARISEES ALSO WITH THE SADDUCEES CAME, c] Not from Jerusalem, as in Matthew 15:1 but from the neighbouring places: these were Galilean Sadducees and Pharisees, of whom mention is made in the Misna w "says צדוקי גלילי, "a Galilean Sadducee", (i.e. one that was of the land of Galilee, as Bartenora on the place observes,) I complain of you Pharisees, because ye write the name of a ruler with the name of Moses, in a divorce; say the Pharisees, we complain of you Galilean Sadducees, that you write the name of a ruler with the name of God, in the same leaf:'' but though these two sects could not agree in this, and in many other things, yet they could unite against Christ, to whom they bore an implacable hatred. AND TEMPTING, DESIRED HIM THAT HE WOULD SHOW THEM A SIGN FROM HEAVEN: they came with no sincere view to be taught by him, or learn anything

4. THE GREAT ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE REJECTED KING CONCERNING HIMSELF. CHAPTER 16 1. Pharisees and Sadducees Asking a Sign. (Matthew 16:1 .) 2. Instructions Concerning the Leaven. (Matthew 16:5 .) 3. Peter's Confession. (Matthew 16:13 .) 4. The Future Building of the Church Announced. (Matthew 16:17 .) 5. The Announcement of His Death and Resurrection. (Matthew 16:21 .) 6. Peter's Rebuke and the Lord's Answer. (Matthew 16:22 .) 7. The Pa

THE REQUEST FOR A SIGN REFUSED (Mark 8:11 *, Luke 11:16; Luke 11:29 f.). For the mention of Sadducees _cf._ Matthew 16:6 *. The saying about the weather (Matthew 16:2_ b,_ Matthew 16:3) is wanting in some good MSS., and is perhaps an interpolation from Luke 12:54 *. The signs of the times are regarded here as the miracles already wrought by Jesus. The sign of Jonah is repeated from...

The Pharisees and Sadducees came to him, trying to put him to the test, and asked him to show them a sign from Heaven. He answered them: "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fine weather, because the sky is red.' And early in the morning you say, 'It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. An evil and apostate generation seeks for a sign. No sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." And he left them and went away. Hostility, like necessity, makes strange bedfellows. It is an extraordinary phenomenon to find a combination of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They stood for both beliefs and policies which were diametrically opposed. The Pharisees lived life according to the minutiae of the oral and the scribal law; the Sadducees rejected the oral and the scribal law...