SHARING BREAD
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested
him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.
2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
Matt
16:1-4 (NIV)
Heads up – majoring on the minor’s will get us nowhere fast.
According to the Lord Jesus, the
Pharisees and Sadducees – men normally at variance among themselves - were here
unanimously proficient - by careful observation - in predicting the weather –
the mundane, the normal, and the daily – whether it would be good or
threatening. Yet, sadly, they sorely lacked
the more important spiritual knowledge of recognizing the signs previously
given them pointing to the fact that Jesus was the Christ. They were careful observers of the weather
yet our Lord calls them wicked and adulterous because they missed the most
important – and that would be Him. They
demonstrated great stupidity regarding their own souls. They missed the day of the Lord’s favor. They had no broken hearts – no repentant
spirits – rather they merely sought to trifle with the Almighty – not a very good
idea.
“A broken and contrite heart has no room for frivolity and trifling. A broken heart is serious, and solemn, and in earnest. A broken heart never tries to play any tricks with God, and never shuffles texts as though even Scripture itself were meant only to be an opportunity for testing our wit.” C. H. Spurgeon
Jesus did not come to earth as a performer of miracles to
tantalize and mesmerize us. He was no
puppet on a string. The purpose of the
miracles He performed confirmed His Words – gave validity to what He said. It is great hypocrisy if we slight the signs
God ordains and seek further signs of our own prescribing. Our Lord tells us in John:
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I
have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you
stone me?” 33 “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the
Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” 34 Jesus
answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have
said you are gods’? 35 If
he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot
be broken-- 36 what
about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the
world? Why then do you accuse me of
blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God's Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father
does. 38 But
if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you
may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” John 10:31-38 (NIV)
These religious leaders had been privy to have been exposed
to plenty of our Lord’s miraculous workings - things too hard for mere man to
accomplish. In pretense they approached
Christ implying they would be satisfied if they saw yet another miracle. They negated the signs that had relieved the
sick and sorrowful but desired those that would gratify their proud curiosity
and please their arrogant attitudes.
Simply put, they were not satisfied with the evidences given them though
they were sufficient to satisfy an unprejudiced understanding. They wanted thunder and lightning and voices
from heaven as proof of His Deity. Sounds
a lot like attitudes of our day as well does it not? We want God to send us an email, come out of
the sky doing mighty works perhaps even tweet us and then perchance we might
believe even though more than sufficient evidence of the Truth has already been
given us. We better be careful unless we
like the terms “adulterous” and “wicked” attached to our names.
These religious elite were not seeking Truth they sought to
trap the Master – to ensnare Him with their cunning. And Jesus leaves them and went away.
“It is the undoing of multitudes, that they are not aware
what will be the result of their refusing Christ….This discourse broke off
abruptly; ‘Jesus left them and went away’,
Christ will not tarry long with those who tempt him, but justly withdraws from those who are disposed
to quarrel with him.” Matthew Henry
“The great difficulty is to get modern audiences to realize that
you are preaching Christianity solely and simply because you happen to think it
true; they always suppose you are preaching it because you like it or think it
good for society or something of that sort…”
C.S. Lewis
1 As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive
God's grace in vain. 2 For
he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Cor 6:1-2 (NIV)
“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Cor 6:1-2 (NIV)
What I
glean from this:
· Through
the Truth of God’s Word I am to discern the signs of the times.
· Jesus
wants His people to be knowledgeable not ignorant of the Truth. This requires faithful discipline from His
followers.
· I am not
to require more signs than Jesus has given me.
