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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

Interpret the Signs

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February 15, 2026
Matthew 16:1-4
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

Faith

The Person of Christ

Transcript

0:17So like last week, if you got a little sense of deja vu in hearing this passage read, you're Not Alone. This passage is very similar to what we looked at several weeks ago in Matthew 1238 to 42, where the scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus asking for a sign in Jesus once again references the sign of Jonah. So before we discover why, let's pray and ask the Lord for help.

0:48Father in heaven, would you come now in the power of your spirit and help us to think rightly about you. Help us to live rightly in light of you and then help us to see Christ more clearly from your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Signs often need interpretation. Signs need interpretation. So if you hear the tornado siren, you need to figure out if it's a test, if it's the what, first Wednesday of the month at noon or whatever it is, or if it's the real deal or if you're driving on the highway, you need to figure out if the flashing lights behind you or is an emergency vehicle trying to go around you?

1:35Or if it's a policeman pulling you over, or if you have a headache, you gotta figure out is it from dehydration or is it from added stress recently or lack of sleep, or maybe you forgot your morning coffee. Is my chest tightness anxiety or is it a cardiac event that requires me to go to the emergency room right away? If someone avoids eye contact, maybe in the hallways here at church, are they annoyed? Are they ashamed? Or maybe they're just deep in thought and they didn't think anything of it. Signs often require interpretation to understand their message. And in our passage this morning, the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to Jesus asking for a sign.

2:25But surprisingly, Jesus refuses their request because they fail to interpret all the signs that have already come. So what are we to make of Jesus refusing to give them a sign? Jesus has done dozens, hundreds of signs up to this point in his ministry, healed the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, walking on water, feeding thousands with just a few loaves, and he's done it among the Jews and the Gentiles. And the signs reveal his authority, his power, his identity. So why would Jesus all of a sudden refuse to give these religious leaders a sign? I think what we're gonna discover in our text in that testing, Jesus is rooted in unbelief and that's why Jesus refuses to give them a sign.

3:22They're testing him to demand that Jesus prove his identity stems from a heart of unbelief to ask for more signs when we already have the testimony before us is not noble but wicked. And so this text this morning comes primarily as a warning to God's people. It's a warning not to make demands of Jesus, not to try to test him, not to demand that Jesus fit according to our logic in our boxes or to do what we want. So we're gonna look at this text in three parts. We're gonna see the request, the rebuke, and then the rejection, the request, the rebuke and the rejection. So look with me at verse one.

4:07At the end of 15, Jesus got in a boat and went away from the region. And then verse one tells us, and the Pharisees and Sadducees came and to test him, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. So Matthew makes clear that this is not just any request, but this is a test. They demand a sign, but they have no intention to believe. But notice first who comes. It's the Pharisees and the Sadducees. We might just glaze over this, but normally in Matthew's gospel it's been the scribes and the Pharisees that have come to Jesus. The scribes were these copiers and editors and interpreters of the law.

4:49The Pharisees were really concerned with the strict interpretation of the law and they would often partner together. But Matthew mentions the Sadducees, which are a different faction or religious sect. And we know from Acts 23 that the Sadducees denied the resurrection from the dead. So the Pharisees and the Sadducees had these very different beliefs. And the only other time they've appeared in Matthew so far is in Matthew three seven where they come to question John, John the Baptist and his baptism. So what's going on is these two rival groups that don't really like each other very much are coming together to oppose a common enemy.

5:29It would be like Vikings fans and packers fans coming together in order to oppose the Chicago bears or the Detroit lions. It's like the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And so they've made this temporary alliance to oppose Jesus. And so that's our first clue that they don't come genuinely seeking Christ, but that also Jesus is growing as a threat. The second thing we see is Matthew tells us that they came to test him. The idea here is to entrap Jesus. Just listen as I read John eight verse six, which uses the very same sense of the word. It says this, the scribes and Pharisees said to test Jesus that they might have some charge to bring against him.

6:23And so they're trying to test Jesus. They're fishing for evidence, they're trying to discredit him and expose him as a fraud. It's an attempt to put God on trial. Not only are they saying do another trick for us, Jesus, we don't believe all that you've done, but let's see how we can trap Jesus in his words. It's like today, day and age, if someone pulls out their phone and starts videotaping you, uh, they're gonna post it on social media to make you look bad and and that's the same thing going on here. They're trying to trap Jesus in his words. Now, tests are not wrong in and of themselves. Jesus tested the disciple's faith back in Matthew 14, when they were caught up in this deadly storm, Jesus drew out the canyon night woman's faith in Matthew 15.

7:13Tests are fitting when it's conducted from a position of authority. So we, we have things like driver's tests or a medical board exam or a pilot license test. The authority in charge must ensure that drivers or doctors or pilots are proficient. We have compliance tests or safety inspections. But here the Sadducees and the Pharisees presume to make demands of Jesus because they think that they sit in the seat of authority over Jesus. We're the ones to gauge whether your doctrine Jesus is right, whether you are truly who you say you are, and they've forgotten that Jesus is Lord of all and he stands above them.

7:58They demand a sign from heaven. And this suggests something like a miracle to prove his identity. If Moses in the Exodus could make hail fall from the sky, surely Jesus would be able to do something bigger and better as the greater prophet. And if you think all the way back to Exodus four, when Moses is talking to God in the burning bush and he says, what if they don't believe me? What does God give Moses? He gives them three signs. Throw down your staff, it'll turn into a snake. Put your hand inside your cloak, it'll turn lepers and you can turn blood, excuse me, water from the Nile into blood.

8:39These signs Moses could do for the people of Israel on command in order to show that he was sent from God. And and I think in the same way, the Pharisees are saying, well, what sign are you gonna do? Do something on command right now for us so that we would see that you're truly sent from God, these signs with authenticate that he is truly divine. It's like when you try to get a real id, any of you tried to do that? Yes, you need that to fly now. And it's like they want a passport, social security card, two forms of residency, maybe your birth certificate and you're like, might as well just take my blood and urine sample as well, right?

9:19We probably shouldn't give the state of Minnesota any ideas about that? Or when you try to check your email, it wants two factor authentication, right? Like pull out your phone and click another button. And in this case, the religious leaders are saying, Jesus, we've heard about your miracles. We've seen some of them, but we don't believe you prove it again with an unmistakable sign from heaven. The problem is that they're not seeking God. It it's like someone who says, if God is real, let him strike me with lightning right now you've heard atheists or agnostics say something like that. It's taunting God. If God does indeed exist, then he'll do that very thing.

10:04Uh, the problem is that they've come to entrap him. If Jesus does do a sign, he's doing it in the power of Satan and from sorcery, which is what they accused him of in chapter 12 verse 24, he had healed this demon oppressed man who was mute and blind and they said He's doing it in the power of be eligible. But if Jesus doesn't do a sign, then he isn't who he claims to be. Catch 22, nothing can satisfy their evil unbelief. And that's the warning for us this morning. Do we approach God almighty demanding signs? So the demand leads to the rebuke. Look with me at verse two. Jesus answered them, when it's evening, you say, it will be fair weather for the sky is red, and in the morning it will be stormy.

10:52Today for the sky is red and threatening. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. So Jesus uses this analogy from the weather, I think to play off the demand for a sign from heaven. So he is reading the heavens, if you will. And the idea here is that a red sky at sunset means the setting sun is shining through clear skies in the west, which means good weather is on the way and weather generally moves from west to east. And so a red sky at sunrise means the rising sun is illuminating illuminating clouds to the west that are moving towards you indicating an incoming storm.

11:36One of the pastors said he grew up growing up on a lake. He heard the phrase red sky at night, sailors tonight, red sky in the morning, sailors warning, how many of you heard that before? Many of you, I didn't grow up on the lake. Jesus is saying you, you can interpret the weather, but you can't interpret the sign of the times. You can decipher the nuances, but you can't see the obvious reality. So that that's what he's getting at. The phrase sign of the times could be translated the sign of the seasons, meaning you can figure out what tomorrow's weather is gonna be, but you don't know if you're in summer, winter, spring or fall.

12:19It's a little bit like here in Minnesota yesterday, today and tomorrow are lulling you into thinking that spring is coming. But real Minnesotans know this is fake spring preparing us for the battering of second winter, right? He's saying you've missed the signs that are right in front of you. The sign of the times that Jesus refers to is the era of the inbreaking kingdom of God. You don't see what a monumental moment this is right now. If you knew that I was the Messiah standing right before you, you wouldn't ask me for a sign, but you would bask in the reality that God himself stands in our midst.

13:03That's what Jesus is calling out among these Pharisees and Sadducees. It's like going to the eye doctor and he's like, read the very bottom line where you need like 2010 vision to read that and you spout off all those letters perfectly fine. And he says, what's the letter at the top? And you're like, I can't see that letter. Well, that would be ridiculous. And that's precisely well's going on. They can parse out the obscure meteorological data, but they don't know it's raining even if they're soaking wet. And the question for us are we like that question then What are the signs of the times? What are the, what are these signs of the seasons?

13:44What's so obvious that these religious leaders have failed to see? And very simply, if they failed to see Jesus, they are spiritually und, discerning, and entirely imperceptive to the Messiah. One commentator says this, the proof that they cannot discern the signs is that they ask for a sign. And we've seen throughout the gospel of Matthew, the virgin birth fulfills Isaiah seven 14. It reveals that Jesus is Emmanuel God with us or John the Baptist fulfills Isaiah 40, verse three, the one sent to prepare the way for Yahweh or Jesus heals the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, and raises the dead to fulfill Isaiah 35, 5, the inbreaking of the kingdom of God.

14:34At the end of Malachi, until Jesus came, there was about 400 years of radio silence, no prophets, no miracles done. And then all of a sudden Jesus bursts onto the scene and he does things that they've only heard about in the Old Testament that they've never seen done in their presence before. And instead of saying, this is the Messiah, God has come, he's fulfilling all of the Old Testament scriptures. They stand back with arms crossed and say, do another one. I don't think it's, I don't think you're the one. They failed to recognize Jesus. They've denied his authority, rationalized his miracles, misattributed his power, questioned his teaching, criticized his deci disciples, and obscured his glory.

15:24And this is the picture of a hardened heart before God Almighty. And the text this morning is warning us of hardened hearts, of demanding signs, of making ultimatums of God. This leads to the rejection that we see in verse four. Jesus says, an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. So he left them and departed. So we refer to Jonah just like he did back in chapter 12, verse 41, and he again calls them this evil and adulterous generation. It's exactly what shows up in Matthew 1239. And so this calls to mind the wilderness generation that came out during the exodus that were wandering in the wilderness that refused to go into the promised land.

16:16They refused to have God leading them. They're called an evil generation, a crooked and twisted generation, a perverse generation in whom there is no faithfulness. So they're spiritually unfaithful, giving themselves over to idolatry again and again. And Jesus is saying, these religious leaders characterize their entire generation. The Jews as a whole in Jesus' time have largely rejected Jesus. That doesn't mean that there weren't a remnant that came to believe, but by and large, these leaders, it's not just their problem, they represent their generation. And once again, Jesus affirms that Jonah is a historical figure.

17:00And so what's the sign of Jonah? Jonah doesn't do any miracles. He doesn't throw down his staff doesn't turn water to blood. He doesn't call down fire or bread from heaven. Jonah was the sign, the very presence of a Jewish prophet in a hostile gentile city. Nineveh was sufficient to bring about repentance. And Jesus is saying, how much more should the presence of God incarnate bring about repentance? The sign of Jonah highlights the centrality of the cross of the Christian faith. Notice if you kind of rewind back to Jonah, not just Jonah's preaching, but what does Jonah do? He runs from God. But then as he's in the boat with those sailors, he sacrifices himself by telling the sailors to toss him into the sea.

17:56And then Jonah is buried in the waters and is as good as dead. But then he's resurrected from the dead when the great fish vomits him up onto dry ground and he goes to preach to the Gentiles. And so in the same way Jesus was sacrificed, he sacrificed himself, he was crucified, died, and was buried. And then three days later, he rises again from the dead triumphing over sin Satan and death. And this is the ultimate sign. Jesus is foreshadowing this reality so that the Pharisees and the Sadducees would know Jesus is displaying the ultimate sign of his identity, that he would die and rise again, and yet he knew they would not believe.

18:43And Luke 16, verse 31, Jesus in a different context says, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, if you didn't believe the Old Testament prophecies, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. So the implicit rebuke of this text is don't be like the Pharisees and the Sadducees. It's a warning this morning. They want signs, but they refuse to believe. And if you're not a disciple of Jesus this morning, the invitation this morning is not to make demands of God, not to say, show me otherwise I won't believe, but rather to come and to see the signs that are already revealed in his book.

19:32There is a testimony of Jesus death and resurrection and then to pray for eyes and ears to see and hear the truth of Jesus from his word. The last sentence of verse four solidifies the rejection and judgment. So he left them and departed. There is a sense in which Jesus turns his back on Israel's religious leaders and he will not indulge those who refuse to come by faith. And so if you'll notice at the end of chapter 15, ju Jesus does a miracle for those who don't ask for one. And here he refuses a miracle for those who ask because they refuse to believe. Now, what I wanna do is to address the question of whether we should test God, whether or not we should test God.

20:23Jesus was tested and tempted by the devil in Matthew four, which was wrong later in Matthew verse chapter 22, Jesus is going to be tested again by the Pharisees about marriage and divorce, taxes and even the greatest commandment in the law. And yet you can probably think of several instances in the Bible where people tested God and weren't condemned for it. Did any come to mind? I think Gideon comes to mind most of all with his fleece that he puts out. So should Christians put God to the test? Yes or no? If we know our Bibles, we might answer No, it's wrong to test God. Exodus 17, two says, therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, give us water to drink.

21:15And Moses said to them, why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord uh, in demanding water from me? Moses says, you're not testing me. You're testing the Lord. Or Deuteronomy six 16 says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Massa. Or in Acts five, you think of Anani and Saria who lied to the disciples, and what do they say to them? Why have you put the Holy Spirit to the test? Jesus himself says in Matthew four, seven, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test and yet God can test our faith. Abraham's face was tested by God when he was told to take Isaac up to the mountain to sacrifice him or at Mount Sinai.

22:05Exodus 2020, God tells, or Moses tells Israel, do not fear for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. In second Corinthians 13, five, we're told to test our own faith to see that we're in the faith. And so God has the authority to test, but we are not to test him. And so the first application is don't put God to the test. Don't put God to the test. We're not in a position of authority to weigh God's intentions or to assess his wisdom or to gauge his goodness. We are his creatures. He is God. And so this text warns us not to approach God with demands or ultimatums.

22:56And I don't know if this is true of us, but I've heard it before that we can be tempted to make vows or to give ultimatums or to tempt to bargain with God. And that can be kind of simple or it can be very serious if you don't get me out of this bind, God, if you get me outta this bind, I'll serve you forever. Or if you don't save my child or give me a spouse or rescue me from bankruptcy, I, I'm done with you. God, if you help me win the Powerball lottery, I will give you 50% of the winnings. If you answer this prayer, I'll become a missionary. If you gimme all green lights as I'm late to work, I'll then share the gospel with someone at work.

23:42Lord, we we can kind of chuckle and yet we probably can think of opportunities where we've done something similar, bargained trying to test God, maybe giving him an ultimatum. And we know that vows are really serious business in scripture, don't we? Jeha and judges 11. And yet God honors Hannah's vow in one Samuel one. But Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount that we should not make oes or vows. He says, let what you say simply be yes or no. Matthew five 30 sevens repeated by James in James five 12. And so what we need to do here is realize that we don't put God to the test. We shouldn't intentionally put ourselves in harm's way and expect God to rescue us even with promises like Psalm 34 17, when the righteous cry for help the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

24:40We shouldn't jump off a building and demand that God save us. And there's a difference between faithfully obeying Jesus in dangerous situations like the disciples did in acts, and presuming that we can force God's hand to do as we wish. There's a difference between Saul's presumptuous sacrifice in one Samuel 13 in order to get God's favor in order to break his law. And Jonathan's statement later in one Samuel 14 where he says, it may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. And so the application here is beware of making demands or giving ultimatums to God about a spouse, about a job, about healing, a miracle prosperity, immediate answers or justice.

25:33It's so easy to go from prayers and cleaving to his promises and then slipping into God. Why aren't you doing this? And beginning to question his goodness and to doubt who he is or to begin to grow entitled, I deserve better than this. Lord, I've served you all my life. Why are you giving me such difficult circumstances now? Why are my children so wayward to try to raise them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord? And we begin to make demands of God?

26:07And so we should beware, concluding that somehow if things are not going our way, that somehow God isn't good. He isn't sovereign, he isn't gracious because our lives are not going the way that we want. Paul reminds us that we are just creatures. Romans 11 for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid. God is God and we are not. And he owes no one. He owes no one anything and is judged by no one. And yet the glorious good news of the gospel is that God is indeed good. He is indeed just. He is full of love. He is indeed gracious.

26:55And every good and perfect gift comes from the Father. And so God gives us what we need for our eternal good, even if it means enduring earthly suffering that is painful and unpleasant in the moment. So don't put God to the test. The second application is put God to the test. Second application is put God to the test. And I'll explain what I mean by that. Hear the words of Malachi three 10. Some of you may be thinking of this when I was saying don't put God to the test Malachi three 10. You can turn there if you want. It says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and this is God speaking.

27:41And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need notice, God Almighty says, put me to the test. But the approach is very different. We have to understand the context here. The context in Malachi is that Israel was materially poor and they were robbing God by withholding their tithes and their giving. And God calls them to bring the full tithe into the storehouse to take the step of faith to obey. And then he says, I will show that I am faithful. So the sense of put me to the test is not prove yourself to me, but rather God saying to his people, trust me and I will show that I am faithful.

28:35Trust me, obey me. Do as I tell you because I am not going to let you down. This is the opposite of demanding signs or giving God an ultimatum. It's evil to say, I will only believe God if he makes me a millionaire or blesses me with all my hopes and dreams. I will not trust God until he does what I want. That's not how faith works. Instead, we walk by faith, we obey, we we take hold of promises that have not yet come to fruition. And we say, God, I know you're good. I know you're faithful. I know you've established good for me. Imagine or go back to the Canaanite woman when she came to Jesus.

29:20She came with no entitlement. She didn't say, I deserve better than this. It's so rude that you would even call me a dog. What does she do? She just says, help Lord, I know there's more mercy in you. I know there's more compassion in you, Jesus, that would overflow so that the crumbs would meet all of my needs. So the saying, put God to the test means to put your faith in Jesus and bank on him fulfilling all of his promises. So the encouragement this morning is that we are to do that very thing and the lyrics of the old hymn, trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey according to Psalm 34, taste and see what the, that the Lord is good.

30:09Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. This is an invitation not to test God, but to taste of his goodness by coming, by faith and believing in him. And so what, what does this look like when we grow despondent over our sin? You're like, ah, I did it again. Uh, I I've sinned. I I spoke harshly to my family. You clinging to the promise of one John one, nine. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thank you Lord, that I can once again go to this promise that promises me cleansing when I confess or when we doubt his presence.

30:57We go to Matthew 28 20. I am with you always to the very end of the age or when we doubt that God maybe hears us. It's been so long since I've received an answer for these prayers. We again go to Hebrews four 16. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace in help in time of need. When we're weighed down by suffering, we call the mind two Corinthians four 17 for this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. And so the invitation for each of us this morning, I, i, is not to put God to the test by making demands and ultimatums, but rather to put 'em to the test, but cleaving to his promises so that he would show that he's faithful and good and just, and we are to rightly interpret the sign of the times we are living right now.

32:01In the last days, the return of Christ is imminent and today is the day of salvation. Jesus is seated on his throne. And so let's come to Jesus as his children. So we can think of it like this. When we approach God, we can be like children who go to their parents and we can make demands. Give me dinner Now. Hopefully your children don't talk to you that way. Uh, if my kids talk to me that way, they would not go well with them. We can make demands of God though. Give me dinner now or we can give ultimatums, give me dinner or ice cream. Or we can maybe ask for signs of God like a child who says, well, show me the ingredients that we're eating tonight so that I know that you have dinner planned.

32:56Or we can come with doubt. Will we have dinner tonight? And you're like, we have dinner every night. Unless you had all you can eat buffet for lunch, right? But rather, may we come to God with the disposition of trust. I can't wait for dinner tonight or of happy faith. I know that what you have prepared will be delicious and nourishing. Once again, may that be our heart disposition this morning, not making demands of God, not giving him ultimatums, not doubting his goodness, but coming once again and saying, I know that every good and perfect gift comes from you and you are good. And so let's come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

33:41Father, we thank you that we have the sign of Jonah, Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension, so that we would see that you indeed are the Lord. You are the Savior, you are the Messiah. And we can bank on your promises because you will bring every single one of them to pass. That's right. So show us more of who you are. Help us to see more of your glory. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

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Sermon Text

Matthew 16:1-4

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