LESSON 6
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
CHPTRS. 16-19
Chapter 16
Matthew 16:1-28
Matt. 16:1-19 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.2 He answered and said to 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 foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.4 “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed. 5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?9 “Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?10 “Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?11 “How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to 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 doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock ( this rock of revelation) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
16:1-19 YAH SHUA REBUKES THE PHERISAS AND THE ZADUQAYA And the Pherisas and Zaduqaya approach testing him: and asking him a sign from the heavens to show them. He answers, wording them, when being evening, you word, Fair weather! — for the heavens are fiery: and being dawn, you word, Downpour this day! — for the heavens are fiery and gloomy. Hypocrizing hypocrite! to examine the face of the heavens you know — to discern the signs of these times you know not A generation evil and adulterous seeks a sign: and a sign is not given to it except the sign of Yaunan the prophet. — and he leaves them and goes. YAH SHUA INTERPRETS THE PARABLE OF LEAVEN When his disciples come across and they forget to take bread with them and he words to them, See and beware of the leaven of the Pherisas and of the Zaduqaya. And they are thinking among their souls, wording, because we took not bread. And Yah Shua, knowing, words to them, why reason you among your souls, of little trust, because you took no bread? Understand you not until now? Remember you not the five breads of the five thousand and how many baskets you took?— and not the seven breads of the four thousand — and how many baskets you took? How understand you not that I worded not to you concerning bread but to beware of the leaven of the Pherisas and of the Zaduqaya? Then they comprehend that he words not to them to beware the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pherisas and of the Sadoqiym. OPINIONS CONCERNING YAH SHUA And when Yah Shua comes to the place of Quesariya Dephilipaus he asks be his disciples, wording, What words humanity concerning me who the Son of humanity has been? And they word, Some have worded, Yah Chanan the Baptizer and others, Eli Yah and others, Yeram Yah or, one of the prophets.
THE WITNESS OF KEPHA CONCERNING YAH SHUA He words to them, And You, who word you me to have been? Shimun Kepha answers, wording, you are the Meshiah, the Son of the living God. And Yah Shua answers, wording to him, Graced are you, Shimun Bar Yauna: for flesh and blood manifested not to you but my Father in the heavens. And I also — I word to you, that you are Kepha: and upon this stone I build my congregation: and the portals of sheol prevail not: to you I give the keys of the sovereigndom of the heavens: and all that you bind on earth becomes bound in the heavens: and whatever you release on earth becomes released in the heavens. Aramaic NC
A. Warnings against the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
1. (1-4) The Sadducees and the Pharisees seek a sign from Jesus.
a. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees: Their working together showed a deep fear among the religious leaders. The Sadducees and Pharisees were long-standing enemies, and the fact that they came together against Jesus shows they regarded Him as a serious threat.
1). 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 according to the smallest points of the oral and scribal law; the Sadducees received only the written words of the Hebrew Scriptures. 613 in all.
· The Pharisees believed in angels and the resurrection; the Sadducees did not (Paul used this division in Acts 23:6-10).
· The Pharisees were not a political party and were prepared to live under any government that would leave them alone to practice their religion the way they wanted to; the Sadducees were aristocrats and collaborated with the Romans to keep their wealth and power.
· The Pharisees looked for and longed for the Messiah; the Sadducees did not.
2). Yet for all these differences, Jesus brought them together. Not in a good way – they came together in opposition to Jesus, but they came together nonetheless.
b. And testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven: Jesus had done many signs and they remained unconvinced. They looked for a sign from heaven such as calling down fire from heaven, preferably against a Roman legion. They said they were not convinced by the signs on earth Jesus had already done.
1). Jesus had already been asked for a sign in Matthew 12:38, and in response He had already pointed them to the sign of Jonah. Tradition held that a sign done on earth could be a counterfeit from satan, but signs done from heaven (coming in or from the sky) were assumed to be from God.
2). The immediate demand of the Jewish leaders for a sign from heaven contrasts sharply with the Gentile crowd’s response to Jesus’ miracles (Matthew 15:31).
c. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times: Jesus condemned their hypocrisy. They felt confident about predicting the weather from the signs they saw around them but were blind to the signs regarding Jesus’ Messianic credentials right before their eyes.
1). The proof that they cannot discern the signs is that they ask for a sign!
2). Jesus wasn’t the only one to notice the hypocrisy in His day. The Jews of Jesus’ day had a proverb saying that if all the hypocrites in the world were divided into ten parts, Jerusalem would contain nine of the ten parts.
3). You cannot discern the signs of the times: Jesus said this of the religious leaders of His own day regarding the signs of His first coming. There were prophecies, circumstances, and evidences that should have made it clear to them as signs of the times that the Messiah had come. Many people today are just as blind to the signs of the times regarding the second coming of Jesus.
d. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign: This statement of Jesus reminds us that signs alone convert no one. It is easy to place far too much confidence in signs and wonders as tools to bring people to faith in Jesus.
1). The problem isn’t that the signs are themselves weak, but that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after them. The Bible gives repeated examples of those who saw remarkable signs yet did not believe.
e. No sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah: Jesus promised a sign that would have power to bring people to faith – His resurrection. He had previously mentioned the sign of the prophet Jonah in Matthew 12:39-41, clearly explaining it as His coming resurrection.
1). We remember some of the similarities between Jonah and Jesus:
· Jonah sacrificed himself that others would be saved.
· Jonah disappeared from all human view in doing this.
· Jonah was sustained the days when he could not be seen.
· Jonah came back after three days, as back from the dead.
· Jonah preached repentance.
Pharisaical – excessively or hypocritically pious; “a sickening sanctimonious smile” holier-than-thou, pharisaic, sanctimonious, self-righteous, pietistic, pietistical. pious – having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity; “pious readings.”
B. (5-12) Jesus cautions the disciples against false teaching.
a. Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: After the preceding conflict with the religious leaders, Jesus gave this warning to His disciples, using the metaphor of leaven.
1). As noted previously in the parable of the leaven (Matthew 13:33), leaven is consistently used as a picture of sin and corruption (especially in the Passover narrative of Exodus 12:8, 12:15-20).
2). It was the Jewish metaphorical expression for an evil influence. To the Jewish mind leaven was always symbolic of evil: leaven stood for an evil influence liable to spread through life and to corrupt it.
b. It is because we have taken no bread: This was a strange concern after Jesus had, in the recent past, miraculously fed both crowds exceeding 5,000 and 4,000 people. The disciples didn’t understand Jesus at all here and His use of leaven as a metaphor.
c. Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees: Jesus impressed the importance of being on guard against false teaching, especially that in the service of religious hypocrisy.
1). Jesus charged His disciples with three things:
· Ignorance, because they didn’t understand that He was using material things (leaven) to illustrate spiritual things (the dangerous teachings and practices of the Sadducees and Pharisees).
· Unbelief, because they were overly concerned with the supply of bread, when they had seen Jesus miraculously provide bread on several previous occasions.
· Forgetfulness, because they seemed to forget what Jesus had done before in regard to providing bread.
HERE IS HOW WE KNOW JESUS WAS NOT A FALSE TEACHER!
NOT WHAT WOULD JESUS DO (WWJD)? BUT WHAT HE DID!
The miracles of Jesus are proposed miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and Islamic texts. The majority are faith healings, exorcisms, resurrection, and control over nature. In the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign to prove his authority.
But He went about teaching the gospel of the kingdom (sound doctrine), healing and doing good because He is good!
2 Timothy 1:13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 4:6 In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following.
Proverbs 4:2 For I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction.
Luke 1:4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
Titus 1:9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
Want to know what God really looks like? Look at Jesus!
(Heb.1:3; Col.1;15; John 5:30 & 12:49)
(Heb 1:2-3) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, through Himself cleansing of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high,
(Col 1:13-15) For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son; in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation.
Explanations of Matt. 16:1-28 Continued next week.
We will continue with Les.6 next week.
The blessings of the Lord are upon you whether by blood, adoption/sonship or assignment. The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Prov. 10:22
David & Mary Sue