Matthew 16:1
Sunday, 18 January 2026
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. Matthew 16:1
“And having approached, the Pharisees and Sadducees, testing, they queried Him to show them a sign from heaven” (CG).
The previous verse closed out Chapter 15. Matthew 16 begins with, “And having approached, the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
It is similar to the two groups who approached Jesus to open Matthew 15 –
“Then they came to Jesus from Jerusalem, scribes and Pharisees, saying...”
“And having approached, the Pharisees and Sadducees...”
Their presence is consistently presented as antagonistic and challenging. Each time they show up, it is certain that a dispute of some sort is ahead. Jesus, understanding this, is always ready to stand against their challenges. This time, they have come “testing.”
In other words, they may have just heard of Jesus’ miracle of feeding the four thousand and are suspicious about how He did it. They may suppose He had gone to the area a few days earlier and dug underground bunkers, filling them with enough bread to feed an army. How else could such a thing have transpired?
As such, they are testing Him, looking for a validation that He can really make the miraculous come about. Therefore, “they queried Him to display to them a sign from heaven.”
A new word is seen here, epideiknumi, to display. It is derived from epi, upon, and deiknumi, to show. Thus, it literally would be to “upon-show.” The word is found only seven times. Reading the context of those seven uses, one can see that “display” gives the proper sense.
Unfortunately, pretty much every translation punts and says “show,” the same translation as deiknumi. Thus, the reader will never know that a more poignant thought is being conveyed. They are asking for an actual display of a sign, as if Jesus could hold it in His hands, put it on like a garment, or set it before them as a piece of heavenly evidence.
This is the second time they have asked for something like this –
“Then, they answered, some of the scribes and Pharisees, saying, “Teacher, we desire to see a sign from You.” Matthew 12:38
“And having approached the Pharisees and Sadducees, testing, they queried Him to show them a sign from heaven.” Matthew 16:1
Apparently, Jesus doing a sign has been elevated to Jesus displaying a sign from heaven. If their request is, in fact, based on having heard about the feeding of the multitudes, they have gone from wanting a miraculous sign from Jesus to a magnitude greater, demanding one from heaven.
Elisha had multiplied bread in 2 Kings 4. Being an account in their Scriptures, it was considered a divinely sourced miracle. As such, and as the claim is that Jesus did this, they now want something greater, perhaps fire from heaven.
Life application: People want more than the written word. It is as if the masses have an insatiable hunger to have proof that God is God and that He is as He claims. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 1 –
“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” 1 Corinthians 1:20-25
Perfectly understanding the question of the Pharisees and Sadducees, because he was a Pharisee, Paul says that Jews request a sign. Having lived and evangelized among the nations, Paul also fully understood the Greek mind, always seeking after wisdom.
Such people want proof of what they have been told. There is nothing wrong with thinking things through, but it is an entirely different level when God says XX, and we demand that He prove XX. Who are we to question God?
Rather, if we read the Bible and understand that it answers to the needs of humanity, we should then, by faith, accept God’s word and, by faith, acknowledge what it says about Jesus, the gospel, and our eternal hope.
To many people, videos about dreams, books about coming back from the dead, and attending churches with supposed miraculous events are what life in Christ is about. But those things are opposed to life in Christ.
God is pleased with faith in His faithless people. So even a little bit will do. Have faith and be pleasing to God.
O God, may Your word be enough to guide our hearts and minds. Help us to faithfully follow You and trust in Your word and the promises found in it. May we not seek or demand that which is contrary to faith. Help us to have this attitude, O God. Amen.
