Sep9
Matthew 16:1….Working
16:1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus (Expresses an unusual alliance of two enemies uniting together in their opposition of Jesus. See Website) and tested him (tempting-K.J.V.-3985-To pressure, try, trap, and ensnare. trip-up, stump, discredit, test.) by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. (i.e. A supernatural sign of divine power & authority. e.g. Voice from heaven like Jesus’ baptism. Fire from heaven like Elijah. Stopping the sun like Joshua. Or bread from heaven like Moses. The religious leaders are trying to publicly discredit and expose Jesus as a fraud by not being able to perform a divine miracle.)
Continued From Book
“Warns against thinking that God operates on our terms and expectations, or by what we will believe and accept.” ⇒ If something doesn’t measure up with our picture of God. It’s not God’s fault its ours. We need to change.
“Teaches those who have their minds already made up are only looking to pick a fight or argument and not for truth.” ⇒ People who reject the Bible often claim to be open-minded seekers of truth, but they are hypocrites; they’re interested only in the truths that suit them, and they discredit the rest. The reason people refuse to believe in Jesus Christ is that they want to hold on to their sin; they don’t want to think about their accountability to God. The more they can disprove the bible the more they can carry on in the justification for unbelief.
“Even today, many set conditions and terms on God before they’re willing to believe, saying things like; “Lord, give me a sign so that I may know your real”. Or they’ll try to bargain with God by setting specific requests such as: “Lord if you love me heal my daughter”, “Fix my relationship”, “Pay my bills” and I’ll serve you forever, or I’ll never miss Church again! ” ⇒ You encounter people today who make similar claims. They say, “I just can’t believe in Christianity because there’s not enough evidence.” And if we were to ask them “What would be enough evidence for you”? The response is often something like, “If God would just give me a sign, or speak to me audibly, then maybe I could believe.” But if God did something miraculous right then they still wouldn’t be convinced, because they’d try to explain it away with a natural explanation. And if God spoke to them do you think they’d believe He exists? No! They’d believe they were going crazy! No amount of evidence would convince them because their unbelief isn’t really about a lack of evidence. They don’t believe because they don’t want to.
Additional Note & Applications
The Pharisees
The Pharisees lived during the Second Temple period (between 516 BCE and 70 CE)¹. Theologically, they were the conservatives, believing in a resurrection, an afterlife, angels, and a final judgment. Associating with the common people made them the “blue collar” religious leaders. They viewed Moses as the supreme leader of their religion. Holding to a high view of written Scripture, they believed that God blessed those who kept his law (Torah). But they also believed that alongside the written Torah, Moses received a commentary on it, or “Oral Torah.” The Pharisees thus claimed only their interpretations of the law were correct as they were from Moses himself. This commentary now called the Mishna, which explained the meaning behind the written law. The Pharisees are the spiritual fathers of modern-day Judaism. Their traditions and influence continued well after the 70 A.D. destruction of the temple. Their oral traditions and commentaries were eventually compiled into what the Jewish people call the Talmud. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees focused on the law of Moses and the traditions, but not much on the character of God. Out of their zeal, they added their traditions to Scripture, loading more requirements on people than those in the written law. In some cases, these loads were unbearable (Matthew 23:4). Their insistence of not doing anything that even resembled work on the Sabbath is noted many times in the gospels. They were legalists, focusing on the letter of the law and leaving little room for God’s grace. Their study of God’s law didn’t lead them to a love for God or for others. Their teachings obscured the grace and goodness of God from people that needed to know him. They misled people and destroyed the work God was doing in their lives. As such, they often treated people with a notable lack of kindness or compassion. They condemned the innocent for not complying with very minor points in their laws and traditions. The word Pharisee has now come to be known as another word for an intolerant self-righteous religious person. Jesus had regular confrontations with the Pharisees and their close associates, the teachers of the law.
The Sadducees
The Sadducees were a Jewish sect from the second century BC to about 70 AD¹. They typically belonged to the upper social class of Judean society—the elites. Most were wealthy, from the aristocratic segment of Jewish society. They were also the ruling class—they aspired to and attained high positions of authority. Many were priests, responsible for performing sacrifices and caring for the temple, a respected position in Jewish society. They rejected the Pharisees’ traditions and Oral Torah and adhered only to the written law (Torah). However, they used the Torah, usually not to know the heart of God but for political power. The Jerusalem temple was the center for the political and governmental leadership of Israel as well as much of Jewish life. The Sadducees worked hard to maintain political power. Their focus on the written law was in part to maintain control of the temple and the sacrifices. The Sadducees as a sect did not survive after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D. The Sadducees didn’t accept major portions of the Scripture, rejecting the prophets and denying the resurrection of the dead, the existence of spirits and angels, and any miracles of God. They believed God gave humans free will. But they didn’t believe in a final judgment with rewards and penalties after death, since these are not clearly explained in the Torah. Their view of Scripture was low, and they refused to accept that God’s power could ever be at work in their day. Ignorance and arrogance are a bad combination, and the Sadducees had both.
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