Matthew 15.39-16.11

Matthew 15:39-16:11

39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. 1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 “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? 4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 “Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 “Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11 “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.”

As a teacher, it can become very frustrating when students just don’t “get it.”  Jesus has been doing multiple miracles since the beginning of His public ministry and yet the implications of these miracles are just not sinking into the minds of the people.  This disconnect between teacher and student can happen for several reasons; but in this case, it is a part of spiritual warfare that is going on all around Jesus.  The Pharisees and Sadducees refuse to recognize the signs that Jesus has performed.  The disciples simply fail to remember the lessons they were supposed to learn from the signs.  In either case, the message was not getting through.  The same can be true in our walk with God.  Sometimes we don’t “get” what God is trying to teach us through the circumstances of our lives because our hearts are hard.  Other times we fail to understand because our heads are thick.  Today’s passage displays the wicked hearts of the religious leaders and the weak minds of the disciples. 

JESUS IS CRITICAL OF THE LEADERS REJECTION OF SIGNS: As Jesus arrives in a new location on the other side of the sea of Galilee, He is confronted by a group of religious leaders.  They request that Jesus perform a “sign from heaven.”  In essence, what they are saying is that they would consider believing if He impresses them with some sort of miracle from heaven.  Jesus is extremely critical of this request because He has performed multiple signs all throughout His ministry.  God publicly declared His identity at the beginning of His ministry.  He has healed multiple diseases, fed multitudes of people, raised people from the dead and released people from daemonic possession.  What more could they want?  Since they have effectively ignored all of these signs, Jesus refuses to indulge them with more.  It is a very dangerous thing to harden our hearts to the Lord because with time He may simply refuse to continue to reveal Himself to us.  Jesus criticizes their ability to discern the weather from the color of the heavens but their inability to discern His identity from the signs from heaven He has already performed.  They should have been calling on the name of Jesus and in repentance asking Him to save them from sin instead of demanding additional signs that they were already determined to try and explain away.   

JESUS IS CRITICAL OF THE DISCIPLES RECOLLECTION OF SIGNS: When the disciples arrive, apparently in time to hear this exchange, Jesus warns them not to allow the unbelief of these leaders to infect their hearts.  He warns them of the “leaven” of the Pharisees.  Leaven is the yeast that permeates bread.  Jesus wants to make sure that this culture of unbelief doesn’t permeate His disciples heart.  Instead of understanding this warning, the disciples think that He is criticizing them for having forgotten to bring bread with them.  Jesus is concerned about their hearts and they think He is worried about their stomachs.  He reminds them of the fact that He can feed multitudes with a few loaves and then questions why they would think He was worried about food.  It was yet another case of His disciples just not “getting it.”  It is a danger that we all face of living for the “moment.”  We easily forget or fail to apply the lessons of the past to the circumstances of the present.  This disconnect is not as diabolical as the heard hearts of the Pharisees, but it is very dangerous.  God wants us to grow, mature and move forward in our walk with Him, but this is impossible if we fail to apply what He is teaching us from His Word or through the circumstances of our lives.  God is a very skilled teacher.  We must do our best to have alert minds that quickly recognize His work in our lives and remember what He has taught us in the past.  

APPLICATION: Protect our hearts from the hard heartedness of refusing to believe or trust the Lord.  Pay very close attention to what the Lord is trying to teach us through His Word and the circumstances we face.  Remember what God has done in the past and apply those truths to whatever we face in the present or the future.