CRITICAL NOTES
Matthew 16:1. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees.—The presence of members of the latter sect, who do not elsewhere appear in our Lord’s Galilean ministry, is noticeable. It is probably explained by St. Mark’s version of the warning in Matthew 16:6, where “the leaven of Herod” appears as equivalent to “the leaven of the Sadducees” in St. Matthew’s report. The Herodians were the Galilean Sadducees, and the union of the two hostile parties was the continuation of the alliance which had begun after our Lord’s protest against the false reverence for the Sabbath which was common to both the parties (Mark 3:6) (Plumptre).
Matthew 16:4. The sign of the prophet Jonas.—As if he would say, I refer you to my former statement on this subject
(12) as sufficient and final (Lange). He left them.—This abrupt termination indicates that He judicially gave them up (ibid.).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 16:1-4
Evil repeating itself.—We have seen reason to believe that the Saviour, in going to Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21), and in going afterwards to the other side of the lake (Matthew 15:29) was actuated by a desire, for the sake of His work, to be out of the way of His enemies. The story before us seems to show us how much reason He had for this wish. Scarcely is He back again before some of His bitterest enemies—sinking for the time their mutual antipathy (Acts 23:7-9) in their greater hatred of Him—come upon Him with a hostile design. It is a repetition of what we have read of before in Matthew 12:38—a request for a “sign from heaven”—as though to put an end to their doubts (Matthew 16:1). The Saviour meets this second request, the insidious and treacherous character of which He fully perceives (Matthew 16:4), by a twofold reply, in which He points them, first, to what they already possess, and, secondly, to what He has already promised—in the very way they demand.
I. What they already possess.—They possessed signs, on the one hand, which were not difficult to perceive. They might see this by that which was palpably true about them in other respects. They speak of “heaven.” Let them look upon “heaven.” Are there not certain frequent and well-known appearances there by means of which they were all in the habit, in a certain way, of judging of the times? Did they not constantly argue, e.g. from what they saw of such signs as to the kind of weather to be expected by them in the immediate future (Matthew 16:2-3)? And were there not at that time, also, in the spiritual firmament, very similar signs? Certain conspicuous appearances which the least intelligent among them, if only they looked for them, could not fail to descry? Possibly, in so speaking, the Saviour referred to such cotemporaneous occurrences as the mission and message of John the Baptist, and His own subsequent appearance and works as predicted by John himself. And certainly, if He did so, He referred to such things as the generation He spoke to had already acknowledged as signs (see such passages as Luke 3:15; Matthew 3:1-6; John 3:1-2, etc.). Let them, therefore (so He says to them, first), make use of these signs. In other words, let them read what they had before seeking for more. And that all the more, in the next place, because of the character of the signs they possessed; these not being of such a character as to make them, in reality, at all difficult to interpret. A certain amount of discrimination would be required, no doubt, if men would do so aright. But the same thing was true, and that notoriously, in regard to those “weather-signs” too of which He had spoken. Men had to consider, in judging of them, the question of time as well as that of appearance. The very same appearance, when seen at one time, meant the exact opposite of that which it signified when beheld at another (Matthew 16:2-3). Men knew this so well, in fact, that they argued accordingly every day that went by. Let those that heard Him, therefore, do the same by those other “signs” to which He had alluded. Let them consider their date, as it were, as well as their nature. Let them consider how things were in Israel (Matthew 21:13), let them consider how they were in the world (Romans 1:28-32), when these spiritual signs, so to call them, were seen in that sky. Let them consider these things and they will see how these “signs” pointed to Him as the “Christ.”
II. What He had already promised.—Besides these present “signs” there was that future one of which He had spoken before (Matthew 12:39-40). Three things seem observable here with regard to this sign. The first is, that, as before, our Lord does not allow it to be a thing to be claimed. It was an “evil and adulterous generation” that was “seeking” it at His hands (Matthew 12:39, and here Matthew 16:4). They were not asking for it in sincerity. They would not use it aright. All the same they should have it in its proper season and way. Not even this unreasonable request of theirs should be wholly rejected. The second is that the Saviour, on this occasion, merely refers to the fact. On the previous mention of it, whilst even then leaving the event itself to explain His meaning in full, He yet gave some sort of intimation of the kind of “sign” to be expected (see Matthew 12:40). Now He appears to do nothing more than, as it were, refer back to those words. It is to be, but what it is to be you will not fully know till it comes. And the last is, that when He has given them this, He has given them all they must ask. In the future let them understand fully that there should be evidence enough of His mission. A “sign” should be given which would declare plainly enough that “heaven” attested His work. But for the present they must understand as fully that He was only biding His time; and must diligently, therefore, fall back on the use of those signs they possessed. Such was the tone of the Saviour’s language. Such also appears to have been the significance of His action. “He left them and departed” (see also Mark 8:13).
Here is, therefore, a lesson for all of us as to hearing the word. When the Saviour had given these inquirers what was enough for them at the time, when He had let them know that a good deal more might be expected by them in time, He added no more. He left it with them to do with it as they thought well. Even so of the world at large and of Scripture at large. It is not intended to give us light on every department of thought. It does not aim at making it impossible for us to disbelieve in its truth. It appeals to us only as free agents and reasonable beings. And it asks us, therefore, while waiting for more light, to use the light that it gives (2 Peter 1:19). We shall not find it too little, if used aright, to be a guide to our steps. Neither shall we find it too little, if despised by us, to prove our condemnation and death (cf. John 5:45-47; Luke 16:31).
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Matthew 16:3. The signs of the times.—Two evils in Judging the moral and spiritual condition of our times: that of the optimist, and that of the pessimist. Reasons for difficulty of forming fair judgment.
1. They are our times. We are not dispassionate.
2. Each one’s circumstances tend to warp his judgment.
3. Special opinions bias our conclusions. Christ told us that we ought to understand the “signs of our times.” What then can we see?
I. Vast increase of intelligence and education.—Supposed panacea for all woes. Knowledge is wider, but shallower. Knowledge of our day loves surprises. Men are becoming “vain in their imaginations.” To know is trying to take the place of to believe. Will it succeed? Can we ever know?
II. Seeking after pleasure.—We are sent into the world to serve, not first to enjoy. We may come to put pleasure before duty. And what moral condition would that indicate?
III. Pressure of business and haste to be rich.—Fortunes made rapidly in manufacturing districts. Is this consistent with Christian calmness and content? Success is the modern god.
IV. Preaching is intellectual and moral, rather than evangelical and spiritual.
V. Organisations for Christian work are multiplied.—In this advantages and disadvantages. Danger of loosening the sense of personal responsibility.
Points to impress.—
1. God must not be thought of as separate even from a decaying and dying church. See His messages to the Seven Churches of Asia.
2. It is in the power of God alone to revive a dying church. 3. Revival begins in the experience of some individual soul. The kindled flame will run and enlarge, until the new love will inspire the whole church. Will you be the one?—Weekly Pulpit.
Overlooking the signs of the times.—
I. There are signs of the times by which wise and upright men are enabled to make moral prognostications, and so far to understand the motions and methods of Providence as from thence to take their measures, and to know what Israel ought to do, as the men of Issachar, as the physician from some certain symptoms finds a crisis formed.
II. There are many who are skilful enough in other things, and yet cannot, or will not, discern the day of their opportunities; are not aware of the wind when it is fair for them, and so let slip the gale (see Jeremiah 8:7; Isaiah 1:3).
III. It is great hypocrisy when we slight the signs of God’s ordaining, to seek for signs of our own prescribing.—M. Henry.
The duty of pondering the signs of the times.—It is a religious duty to estimate the times in which we are called to live a Christian life, and by our life to render our witness for God. It is said that some years before the Franco-German war, German officers had visited the probable battle-fields, and had made plans and maps of mountain range, village, wood, watercourse, road, and rail. To that wise foreknowing and estimating of difficulties the German success was largely due. It is possible for us to hide ignorance and unpreparedness behind the use of merely general terms. We say that the Christian must fight the “world, the flesh, and the devil,” but we fail to observe the exact forms in which each evil power is clothing itself in our times, and for us.—Weekly Pulpit.