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

Yesterday we read that Jesus departed from the region of  Tyre and Sidon, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "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."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides 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.  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 sign from heaven is a demand for a spectacular display of power, meant to prove that Jesus is the Christ (or Messiah).  The time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, my study bible says.  However, these hypocrites haven't recognized the many signs already being performed by Jesus, because their hearts were hardened, and they ignored the works happening all around them.  It's important to know that the word for testing Him can also mean "tempting" Him.  This second meaning gives us insight into the strong character of Jesus, who will conduct His ministry with strict loyalty to the Father and the need for discerning true faith rather than offering proofs.

"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.  An adulterous generation is one without loyalty to God.  It's an illustration used for Israel by the prophets when Israel was unfaithful to God (Jeremiah 2; Hosea 2:2-13). The sign of the prophet Jonah is a veiled prediction of Christ's death and Resurrection, my study bible tells us.  This is the ultimate sign that Jesus is the Christ. 

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.  The leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine, and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  The reason the disciples are so slow to understand is that they have such little faith, as Jesus tells them.  It is after Pentecost that they will grasp His teachings, when the Holy Spirit is given.

Why does it take the disciples so long to catch on to what Jesus is teaching to them, saying to them?  Even Christ Himself seems to be surprised and exasperated, asking, "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?"  My study bible points out that there are two things involved here:  the first is their little faith.   The second element that will change things in the future is the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Perhaps what we can infer from this is the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit discerns in us what is potential for faith, for trust in God, for relationship and participation in the Kingdom, and helps facilitate the manifestation of the effects of that faith.  Surely wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit, as witnessed throughout both the Old and the New Testament.  But there is more than wisdom here; there is the capacity to hear Christ, to understand Him, to discern His meaning.  Faith is involved, and faith is trust.  Where hearts are hardened there is no trust at all.  Both the leadership and the disciples fail in some sense.  In the case of the Pharisees and Sadducees, there is a condition of pride and envy.   Among the disciples, we see the slow work of faith and its gradual progress within us.  Jesus has compared the kingdom of heaven to leaven, that gradually works its way through the whole of a lump of dough.  Here we observe the painfully slow progress made, and the disciples' lack of understanding at this point.  It seems even to be a mystery to Jesus, although He understands their "little faith."  In both cases, it is lack of faith that keeps us from discerning, from understanding.  Faith itself has a mysterious depth:  can we really say how it works in us and why?  When we pray to God, let us remember the work of the Holy Spirit, and how that work helps us to grow in likeness to Christ, to manifest our potentials for understanding Him and His word to us.   We pray that obstacles to our faith, such as hard-heartedness and our own blindness to ourselves and our motivations, be removed from us.  We accept that there is always room for more work, more growth. Above all, Jesus brings to us a Kingdom of love, and seeks our love for a depth of participation and understanding not possible in any other way but through the trust He offers and asks of us.  How deeply are you willing to trust in Him?  What keeps you apart?