An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

Matthew 15:29-16:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. ³⁰ And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. ³¹ So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

³² And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³ The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵ And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; ³⁶ and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. ³⁸ And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹ And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

16 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.” ¹² Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

In today’s text it says:  Large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel… He directed the people to sit down on the ground;  and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.  And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  After all these miracles, the healings and the provision, it says:  The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.   I’m not sure what kind of sign they were looking for. It would seem that all they would have needed to do is to watch and observe what Jesus was doing; to listen and hear what He was saying. Do we though, like the Pharisees, sometimes ask for a sign rather than just watching and observing what Jesus is doing? Do we require that He shows us a sign; that He does something to prove who He is rather than simply believing what He says?

Jesus says: “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 it, except the sign of Jonah.”     What is the sign of Jonah? Is it that Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, like Jesus was three days in the grave? Or is the sign of Jonah that after coming out he preached a message of repentance? Jonah 3:3-5 says: So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. The people believed in God at the preacing of the word.   That is what the signs, wonders and miracles are for; not to prove who God is; not to prove that He is able, but to confirm His word. In Mark 16:15-20 it says:  He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who^[d]believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.   If we don’t listen to and believe His word, we may miss the miracles and the signs that are all around us. If we don’t believe and preach His word, it is no wonder that His power and signs don’t accompany us.

Today’s text ends saying:  Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They 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? 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 full you picked up? 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 bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  We too need to hear the warning from Jesus. We need to continue to keep watching and listeneing to Jesus; to see what He is doing and to hear what He is saying. It is good to listen to teachers and preachers, but we should beware of the leaven, of anything in the teaching that would take our focus away from Jesus. We should beware of those who are more focused on the signs than on the cross. Jesus said the evil and adulterous generation would only be given the sign of Jonah. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul says:  When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.  Many in our evil and adulterous generation also seek a sign from heaven. Many will say that they will believe if God proves Himself to them. They seek a sign, but what they need is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. They need to hear the word of God, that their eyes would be opened to see the works of God. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says:  “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; I do seek You, Your kingdom and Your righteousness. I believe Your word that Jesus was crucified for my sins. According to Your word, may Your kingdom come and may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May I see, declare and exhibit the power of God and not the wisdom or the leaven of men.  Amen.