Post by Mark on Nov 27, 2009 4:30:13 GMT -8
Messiah Yeshua had been touring the region of Galilee. There were thousands of people who came to Him, maimed, sick and lame. He healed them. He taught them. He fed them, even when there seemed to be no resources available.
Then the Pharisees and Saducees come up to Him after all of this and say to Him, "Teacher, we would have you give us a sign."
If you have no sense of humor at all, please let me explain to you, that’s funny. The statement is about the equivelant of coming up to Charles Lindburg as he landed "The Spirit of St. Louis" on a French airstrip and saying, "Now, I’d like to see if you know how to really fly an airplane." Yeshua’s response was unnecessary; but His response is very important to us.
He said, "An evil and adultrous generation seeks after a sign."
I’d like you to hold onto that statement for just a minute.
Messiah led His disciples into a boat and they crossed over. The sense in the story suggests that not a lot of conversation was going on. They were all hungry. They’d forgotten to pack lunch- and rather than place blame or point fingers, they rowed across the sea in silence.
Suddenly, Messiah speaks up. He said, "Take heed and beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Saducees."
"Oh great. Rub it in," they thought to themselves, thinging that He was talking about bread. Messiah continued, "Do you thinkI’m talking about bread?" And He reminded them how He had fed 7000 people with just a few loaves and fishes. Then they realized that He wasn’t talking about bread; but the teaching of the Pharisees and Saducees.
This statement would have been absolutely shocking for the disciples to hear... but not necessarily for the reason you might think. You have to consider what was "the teaching" of the Pharisees and the Saducees: not teachings (plural) but the singular teaching that these two groups shared in common. The point is that there wasn’t one. In fact, Pharisees and Saducees were polar opposites.
Now take a look back at Messiah’s response to these guys and you’ll see something interesting. The Pharisees and the Saducees came to Yeshua, together, and said, "We want you to show us a sign." Messiah responded, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign."
It’s easy to get caught up in the process, mistaking that for the goal. They came to Messiah seeking a sign, when they had the Word of Truth standing right before their eyes. The leaven that the Pharisees and Saducees shared is that they had forgotten that their pursuit should be for a sincere intimate relationship with the Lord God of Israel- they had forgotten that because they were too busy being Pharisees and Saducees.
Seeking after the sign is like driving to San Francisco just so you can see the estimated population printed below the "Now Entering"sign. Our goal and our prize is in the hope of what our belief system contains, not the rites and practices for their own sakes.
It is an evil and adulterous generaton that seeks after a sign- we stop short of entering in.
