The Gospel of Matthew
Pharisees and Sadducees: Mt 16,1-12
"Pharisees and Sadducees" as a pair occur four times in these twelve verses, verses 1,6,11 and 12. They were linked earlier in the Gospel by John the Baptist (3,7) but nowhere else in the Gospels are they found together. In 19,3, it is only the Pharisees who seek to test Jesus. This passage at the beginning of chapter 16 shows a special cluster of references to an unlikely grouping of Jewish teachers. It may be seen as the united front of Judaism opposing Jesus.
(We can note that in the parallel passage, Mark, Mk 8,15 (as in Mk 3,6) has the equally unlikely combination of the Pharisees and the Herodians, the religious and the secular parties.)
That Pharisees and Sadducees were an unlikely pair can be seen in the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 23, Paul causes a riot by playing off Pharisees and Sadducees against once another through their different views on the resurrection.
A Sign from Heaven: 16,1-4
In Matthew more clearly than in Mark (Mk 8,11-12) the request for a sign by the Pharisees and Sadducees is a way of setting up the following scene, verses 5-12. There as we will see, Matthew will be giving a different message to Mark.
The first part of Jesus' reply about the red sky just says that his opponents can read the signs of the weather but they cannot read the signs of the times. It is actually redundant as the main sign follows. So the omission in many manuscritpts is not important
In Matthew (and Luke, Lk 9,29, but not Mark, Mk 8,12) Jesus offers the sign of Jonah. Details about the sign were given in chapter 12 (12,38-42). There too they were called an the evil and adulterous generation (12,39): adulterous because it was not faithful to the covenant.
In the earlier response, Jesus went out of his way to mention Jonah in the belly of the whale as a sign of the resurrection (12,40). That may be the sign refered to here which would not be accepted by both the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their inability to read signs, weather or prophets, sets limits on their teaching.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees: 16,5-12
Going straight to the conclusion in verse 12 and comparing it with Mark, Mk 8,21, we can see that Mark's concern is with the lack of understanding of the disciples. For Matthew, the scene has beome a warning about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He has simplified the episode in Mark.
The starting point is the forgotten bread, though unlike Mark the disciples may not be in a boat. The disciples' concern is their lack of bread. Jesus in verse 7 seems to be thinkinginstead in terms of Dt 8,3, that man "does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God".
The two feedings of the crowd in deserted places to which Jesus refers in verses 8 to 10 ought to recall this. Traditionally the manna with which God fed his people in the desert is understood as being the word of God as in Amos 8,11. Sirach also uses eating and drinking as images for receiving wisdom (Sir 24,21).
Matthew's treatment of the disciples is gentler than Mark's. Whereas Mark's focus was on the disciples and their failure to understand, the message of Matthew from this opening episode of chapter 16 is a clear warning to them against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Return now to the main page and on to the scene at Caesarea Philippi and a different teaching.