Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed.

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread." But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

- Matthew 16:1-12

In yesterday's reading, Jesus had gone around the shore of the Sea of Galilee and went to a mountaintop. But the multitudes followed Him, bringing their sick, lame, handicapped and hurt of every kind. In His compassion, He healed them all. In this region of mixed population, the God of Israel was glorified by them all. He told His disciples, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." He told them all to sit down. He took the loaves and fish, gave thanks, and had His disciples distribute them until all were fed, about four thousand men and more women and children. And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. The Pharisees and Sadducees have no doubt heard all the reports of Jesus' power and ministry, His healings and other wonders. But they want a kind of sign on demand, something that would "prove" to them that He is the Messiah, a spectacular sign from heaven. My study bible says, "All acknowledge that the time of the Messiah will be a time for signs. But they do not understand the signs already performed, for their hearts are hardened in disbelief."

He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'" Hidden in the Greek is a kind of play on words here. The word translated as "red" means more literally "fiery." But, even though it has a different root and hence is spelled differently, in sound it is similar to the word for test. There's a further play on words as the word for heaven and sky is the same.

"Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. They know the signs of the "face of heaven" (the sky) but not the signs of the times they so avidly seek by testing Him. His miracles, healings, feedings, all are open in His ministry. Yet they still demand a sign, but they fail to see, to discern what is in front of them. It's a sign to us about our own discernment, what we need for our faith. In modern Greek, the same word for the "threatening" sky is also synonymous with a hardened heart. The sign of Jonah, the prophet who was also from the region near Nazareth, and who preached to repentant Gentiles, is the three days between Jesus' death and Resurrection. My study bible notes, "They can predict the rain and the storms, but they cannot understand the Law, which points to Christ, even though they are supposed to be experts in it." It adds, "Just as Jonah was delivered safely from the belly of the great fish, Jesus will rise from the grave."

Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." Jesus has preached on "leaven" in a parable, as something that gives us the action of the Kingdom. But most often, leaven is used negatively in Scripture, and here the "leaven of the Pharisees" is precisely their hard-hearted inability to use discernment. As Jesus has pointed out in the verses above, they are skilled in worldly discernment, but not spiritual discernment - even though they are experts in the Law. Later in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will call them "blind guides" who would "strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." It is in this type of hard-hearted myopia, fixated in their own image of themselves, that they miss the true signs of the times.

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread." But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It seems that even the disciples are also slow to understand the "signs" Jesus gives them! But it is as disciples that they are willing to grow and learn; they are with Him in order to do so. This gives us our greatest hint about faith. We are all asked to grow, to learn, to sit at His feet. We are not all expected to be experts, but it is rather faith -- endlessly and repeatedly, the capacity to open our hearts in relationship -- that drives this ship, that creates His family, those who will follow His way. The disciples fail to discern His message at first, but even in rebuke and remonstrance (and all, I think with irony and humor and love in His exasperation!), Christ teaches. Despite the two great miracles of feeding in the wilderness in which they have participated, they still fail to understand His analogy of leaven. But, through their faith, in relationship and trust, He opens their eyes. I love the humor in the Gospel, their failure to understand that He's not angry because they forgot to bring bread this time, because the thing it teaches me is that we all belong to this school of learning; we are all capable of this faith -- except where a heart is hardened to it, predetermined in some sense to avoid it, block it. Jesus calls the disciples' faith "little" here; but a little faith is enough to open a door to understanding.

So, here we have the experts in the Law, and the collection of fishermen. The warnings of the sky, the "face of heaven," are things that all of them know and understand. (There is a traditional English adage that tells us the same thing: “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” For more on the science behind Jesus' words, see here.) But it is the fishermen, the sailors who've navigated this ministry all along the shores and the Sea of Galilee, those of "little faith," who take the journey with Christ, who are with Him in order to learn and to receive what He offers. So, let's ask ourselves what makes for a hardened heart. I think this can come in many forms, once we make up our minds we might have nothing more to learn, we have all the answers. My study bible has a note to a verse from Proverbs 30:12: "There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness." We have to think about what it is to be pure in our own eyes, and to fail to see ourselves as people who have more to learn, of whom growth is asked, and fruitfulness. A worldly understanding alone is not enough; faith will take us into a different realm, of the true heaven. To sit at Christ's feet is simply to be taught, and paradoxically to be "good enough" even with a little faith. With a little faith, we can travel far on this Way, and have our eyes opened. Our own hard-heartedness will keep us away, and Jesus indicates in today's reading that we are to beware the leaven of those who think like this, who demand proofs and signs they really don't want to see, a way of thinking in which we don't want to engage. We are all called to discernment. Where does a little faith take you today?