“Where’s the peanut butter?” This is often my question to my wife. She replies, “Eye-level, right in front of you.” To which I say, “I cannot see it.” Shortly thereafter an arm reaches over my shoulder and lifts the jar off the shelf that is right in front of me.
True Story. Not just one time, but many.
Sometimes we cannot see that which is right in front of us.
I think the Sadducees and the Pharisees are like me and my jar of peanut butter. As I read the text, I am thinking, “You want a sign, what are you blind? Have you not been paying attention!”
In an earlier post I noted that in 14:13 through 15:20 we read of Jesus engaging with Jewish people. Now in 15:21 through 16:12 we have read of Jesus engaging with Gentiles.
When Jesus was engaging the Jews, the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were not obeying laws about handwashing. Jesus, at that time, notes how the Pharisees laws actually nullify God’s Law.
Now the Pharisees, joined by the Sadducees, are asking for a sign.
As an aside, this is an escalation in the opposition to Jesus. This would be like the Democrats and the Republicans in the United States joining forces against a common foe. These two groups don’t normally play well with each other.
Jesus responds that while they can read the signs about the weather, they have failed to appreciate that his feeding of the thousands (both Jew and Gentile), the healings of the blind, lame, mute, and more—all of these and more—are the signs of the coming of the Messiah.
Jesus said they will only be given the sign of Jonah. Many folks have wondered what he meant. Jonah was prophet: a reluctant prophet. This prophet leads the Gentiles in Nineveh, over 120,000 people led by their king, to repent.
My sense is that the sign of Jonah is that the Gentiles are coming to repentance—and the religious of Jesus’ day cannot see it.
Who are the people in these religious groups?
The Pharisees were people who went beyond the Law. They no doubt started with the idea of following God’s Law, but they began specifying exactly how to do it. They established encyclopedias of rules around just one of God’s singe sentence commands. Their rules became all important. They also believe in the resurrection. They have huge influence.
The Sadducees were people who kept the Temple services. The Temple was hugely important for worship of God. Keeping the Temple running was their priority. They did not believe in the resurrection. They too had huge influence.
Having important jobs and possessing influence always presents challenges for organizations to lose their way, and even worse.
It would be wrong to generalize. No doubt there is a spectrum of attitudes among the people in each group. Some politically motivated, others generally seeking to serve God. (Nicodemus in John 3 was a Pharisee).
Yet the ones who come over and over to challenge Jesus, the ones who will orchestrate his death, are the ones who are perhaps more committed to their organization than God.
It is certainly easy to pick on the Pharisees and Sadducees today.
Yet perhaps the better question is, “Who are the Pharisees and Sadducees of today?” Is one of them a person who writes about Scripture?
Seriously. We, who are seeking to honor, love, obey, and serve God, must be on our guard regarding ourselves. We need to constantly be testing whether we are more committed to Jesus, or our own institution.
What is your life pulls you into Pharisee-ism?