The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, Part 11: Matthew 16, by Kevin M. Williams

From Pneuma Review Fall 2003

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Him asked Him to show them a sign from heaven (Matthew 16:1).

This section of Matthew can be troublesome. Who among us has not, at some time or another, asked for a sign from God? Yet the intent behind Yeshua’s (Jesus’) words here may help put the matter into perspective.

First, we once again encounter the Pharisees and Sadducees testing the Messiah. We may be lead to ask, “Why do they bother him? Why do they seem to be testing him all the time?”

As we have encountered their challenges before, it is good to remember that while their tests may seem “bothersome,” they were wise in doing so. History records that there were many men rising up in those days claiming to be the Messiah. How would anyone know who he was? There was one way—through testing. If it was important to recognize the Messiah, it was more important to recognize the true Messiah and not fall into deception.

Even a Pharisee who was “the teacher of Israel” (John 3:10, emphasis mine), Nicodemus, tested Yeshua. Yet few look on him with the same distaste they do for other Pharisees.

The conflict here is not so much that they were testing Yeshua, but how they were testing him. It would seem that they wanted Him to perform a sign, such as we might turn on a light switch. This form of “sign seeking,” particularly from God’s chosen people, did not honor God, but rather turned Him into a circus performer, there for the amusement of an audience.

So far, as we have witnessed in Matthew’s gospel, miracles are a result of faith. This mockery of a test left faith behind and exempted themselves from the process. Throughout the Scriptures, God looks for faith-partners to enter into the work with Him.

This “test” dispensed with faith, reduced God to a conjurer of cheap tricks, and smacked more of Pharaoh’s demand to know why he should acknowledge this God of the Hebrews (Exodus 5:2).

But 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, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? (Matthew 16:2-3).

Yeshua’s answer is not argumentative, nor is it full of guile or anger. He reminds them of their own traditions and asks them to use the same “logic” here. In John Lightfoot’s 17th Century work, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, he notes that the Hebrew people were quite concerned with reading the weather:

The Jews were very curious in observing the seasons of the heavens, and the temper of the air. “In the going out of the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, all observed the rising of the smoke. If the smoke bended northward, the poor rejoiced, but the rich were troubled; because there would be much rain the following year, and the fruits would be corrupted: if it bended southward, the poor grieved, and the rich rejoiced; for then there would be fewer rains that year, and the fruit would be sound: if eastward, all rejoiced: if westward, all were troubled.” The Gloss is, “They observed this the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, because the day before, the decree of their judgment concerning the rains of that year was signed, as the tradition is, In the feast of Tabernacles they judged concerning the rains.”¹

If Lightfoot is correct, then to some degree judgment and weather worked hand-in-hand. There appeared to be some recognition that God would “give a sign” through the weather, either by wind, by rain, or by storm.

This being the case then, Yeshua’s answer becomes much more poignant because in not so many words, He tells them that they have already been given the sign(s), but they have been ignorant to recognize it (them)! Not only that, but the “signs of the times” Yeshua is concerned with will bring a storm indeed, a storm that will separate the righteous from the unrighteous, the redeemed from the lost.

Without dancing around the issue, Lightfoot goes on to say:

[It was] as if he had said, “Can ye not distinguish that the times of the Messias [sic] are come, by those signs which plainly declare it? Do ye not observe Daniel’s weeks now expiring? Are ye not under a yoke, the shaking off of which ye have neither any hope at all nor expectation to do? Do ye not see how the nation is sunk into all manner of wickedness? Are not miracles done by me, such as were neither seen nor heard before? Do ye not consider an infinite multitude flowing in, even to a miracle, to the profession of the gospel? and that the minds of all men are raised into a present expectation of the Messias? Strange blindness, voluntary, and yet sent upon you from heaven: your sin and your punishment too! They see all things which may demonstrate and declare a Messiahs, but they will not see.”²

Yeshua was telling them that they had all the evidence they needed—yet he still promised them a sign, the sign of Jonah:

An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them, and went away (Matthew 16:4).

Much has been written over the years about the “sign of Jonah,” and how he spent three days in the belly of the fish, but on the third day came back into the world. For many, this is the culmination of the “sign.” Yet the truer purpose of the sign is found back in chapter 12:

“The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” (Matthew 12:41)

We have already read “Something greater than the Temple” (Matt 12:6), and “something greater than Solomon” (Matt 12:42) . . . is here. The intent behind the words meant that whatever you think about this or that—as true as those things may be—now something even greater and more important has arrived. Something with even more impact than the first missionary journey of Jonah was in their midst. Without using words that could be used as evidence against him in the Temple court, he was intimating that he was the Messiah.

Yet Yeshua’s words, that the Ninevites would stand in judgment of Israel is consistent with rabbinic thought, at least to some degree. The notion has its roots in ancient Jewry with the question, “Why would such a prominent prophet of God be so recalcitrant to go to Nineveh?”

Their conclusion? “Were Jonah to go to Nineveh he would be the instrument of a terrible condemnation of Israel. Jonah had to choose between obeying God and defending the honor of Israel. In order to shield the child from the wrath of its Father, he chose not to go to Nineveh.”³

In other words, rather than have Nineveh elevated spiritually above Israel and the chosen people, Jonah chose to assume God’s wrath on himself. One commentator even goes so far as to say that Jonah was “zealous to sacrifice himself for the sake of Israel.” Does that sound familiar?

The four chapters of Jonah do not lead to this conclusion. However, if this is how the Hebrew people viewed Jonah, then his personal sacrifice for their sins would be a valid sign worth mentioning by Matthew, would it not? It should be noted again, that Matthew is considered the gospel to the Hebrews, addressing Hebrew issues more than any of the other gospel accounts. Regardless of what our modern Christian view is, if their perception of Jonah was one of personal sacrifice, then Matthew was wise to record it for all his (Jewish) readers.

How remarkable that a group of gentiles—the Ninevites—could be such a phenomenal tool in the hands of God. These gentiles, who knew nothing of the temple, nothing of holy sacrifice, nothing of the sanctity of Yahweh (Jehovah), nothing of a messianic hope, nothing of the Torah of God, and had not grown up in the religious environment or covenants made to Israel, came to know the forgiveness and grace of the Almighty.

Nineveh became an everlasting example. What was accomplished in one nation through the Jewish prophet Jonah, the sign of the Jewish Messiah would be even greater. And how great it was—it has reached every continent of the earth! What one Jewish man, Jonah, did in Ninevah, 12 Jewish men would do for the continent, and eventually, the globe.

And to make Yeshua’s “sign” even more poignant, the Nenevites found redemption not through strict, ritual observance of the Torah—as many Pharisees and all Sadducees practiced—but through repentance. The Pharisees and Sadducees, the people considered then and now as those most concerned with holiness, ritual purity, and Torah observance, were missing “the sign of Jonah.” Unless they too came to embrace repentance, they would face “condemnation,” at the hands of faithful Gentiles. What irony!

There may have been other “signs” as well buried inside this person of Jonah. The first is in his very name, Yonah (הנוי) which means “dove.” This brings to mind the words of Luke 3:22, “… and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, ‘Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased.’” If these Pharisees and Sadducees were aware of Yeshua’s immersion, then they knew that a heavenly sign, a “yonah” had descended upon him.

Another hint of a sign may be in Jonah’s lineage. We do not read it in the book that bears his name, but rather in 2 Kings 14:25, “… according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.” That would make Jonah, Yonah bar Amittai, “son of the truth,” a valid appellation for the Messiah.

Another might be that we easily see Yeshua as the priest and king, but what about as prophet? Yet Jonah was a prophet and Jonah is the “sign.”

All together we have hints to Yeshua’s death and resurrection, we perceive the brewing storm of God’s judgment, we have images of the care God has for the non-Jewish people, we see the absolute call for repentance from sin, we find the dove, the son of truth, and we find the prophet. They may all work together to identify this man, this promised Messiah by the “sign of Jonah.”

Finally, and though not a part of the “sign,” it cannot be missed that Yeshua was addressing two types of people: the Pharisees who believed in the resurrection of the dead, and the Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection. When Yeshua spoke of the Ninevites standing in judgment on this generation, he was implying a resurrection of the dead before the “bema,” the judgment seat of God Almighty. When Yeshua “left them, and went away,” there was no doubt a wake of dissension behind Him.

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And the disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “It is because we took no bread” (Matthew 16:5-7).

I wonder, at times, how these men who were so close to Yeshua could so often miss the point. I wonder at how, having been raised in the synagogue and daily living out the Torah, they were so capable of ignorance. Then I think of myself, and am reminded how very much alike we are.

Leaven as a symbol for sin or false doctrine was a familiar concept to the Hebrews. Even among their liturgy of the day we find the prayer, “Lord of ages, it is revealed and known before thy face that we would do thy will; but do thou subdue that which hinders: namely, the leaven which is in the lump, and the tyranny of [heathen] kingdoms.”

The disciples seemed to have thought that Yeshua was rebuking them, that because they had forgotten the bread they were as the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Others have written than perhaps since they had so little bread with them, they were looking to Yeshua to multiply it, therefore requiring a miracle—a “sign”—from Him. Another understanding however, is that Yeshua had not yet finished his earlier train of thought.

Yeshua was not chastising them for forgetting bread. In fact, he seems completely unconcerned with food, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you took up?” (Matthew 16:8-10).

The Messiah, the bread of life, was more than competent, more than able to provide them with sustenance.

“How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:11).

Is there a question to which Yeshua did/does not know the answer? When God asks a question, it is not so that He can be informed but so that mankind will search their hearts. They were concerned about feeding the flesh, Yeshua was more concerned with feeding the soul—or in this case—what not to feed the soul. It would seem that Yeshua was more focused on the eternal.

Now that they were back on track and thinking spiritually instead of carnally, “they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:12).

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Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-16).

This region into which they have journeyed, Caesarea Philippi, has a long and unholy tradition. Originally it was a Caananite site of worship to Baal, a fertility god. Under the Greeks, it became known as Paneas, the city of the pagan deity Pan, another fertility god.

King Herod the Great refurbished the city and dedicated it to Caesar (Caesarea), and joined his own name (Herod Philip), to the emperor/god’s name. Hence, he named it Caesarea Philippi. Though attempting to enshrine his own name, today the region is known merely as Banyas.

In those days, it was very common—expected even—for rabbis to take their talmadim (disciples) on journeys for the purposes of teaching. During these expeditions, rabbis would use the landscape as word pictures on which to build lessons. This may well be what Yeshua was doing.

At Ceaesarea Philippi is a huge rock formation from which the head springs of the Jordan River flow. Inside the caves, human sacrifices were once made to the fertility gods and over time, the entrance to the headwaters became known as “the gates of Hades,” the god of the underworld. It was here that many gods had been professed, but now, something even greater—the greatest—would be publicly revealed. Yeshua asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” and Simon Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

So far, at no point has Yeshua publicly proclaimed himself the Messiah (Christ, or Anointed One). He has hinted. He has told people that the evidence was right in front of them. He fulfilled many messianic expectations. Yet at no point had He removed His character of humility to proclaim Himself the Messiah.

Even today, anyone who claims to be the Messiah in the Jewish community is immediately discredited. In Jewish thought, the Messiah is revealed by his teachings and his works. In essence, the Messiah will be known by his fruits, not by self-proclamations.

On the one hand this kept Yeshua from too an early arrest, trial, and execution. To make such a self-proclamation meant certain guilt punishable by death.

On the other hand, Yeshua did what He continues to do today—He waits for us to reach our own conclusion about His identity. He waits for all people to realize that He is the Anointed One. He does not force Himself into lives, He does not parade about showing off, but with humility and grace, He woos and waits for His beloved to acknowledge him as The Bridegroom.

Even when the proclamation is made by Peter, Yeshua does not say, “You are right, I am the Messiah.” He still wears a cloak of humility and blesses, “And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona [son of Jonah], because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven’” (Matthew 16:17, brackets mine).

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ (Matthew 16:18-20).

Yes “Peter” can be translated as “rock,” but it is not necessarily upon Peter that the Messiah promised to build His Ecclesia (called out ones). That would establish false doctrine since no one is saved by the name “Peter.”

Caesarea Philippi is the visible location of pagan worship and the “gates of Hades.” It was these very gates at which they were looking that Yeshua claims will not stand against what He established there that day. What did He establish? Jurisprudence.

The phrase “bind and lose” is a legal term in Hebrew culture. It has nothing to do with spiritually containing or casting out demons. Rather, it means that whatever halakah, or “way of life,” is decided upon (essentially a legally binding ruling), it will be as binding in heaven as it is on earth.

For instance, when the first Jewish people came to the American shores, they encountered a strange bird—the turkey. This was new to them and they asked the question, “Is it kosher (clean to eat)?” They watched it, analyzed it, and established that a turkey is “clean” to eat. This was now “bound” into the dietary halakah.

The turkey is a simple example, but an apt one. It demonstrates the authority to set legal precedence and jurisprudence in the faith.

What Yeshua was was likely saying in Matthew 16:18-20 established earthly authority for the disciples, with Kefa (Peter) at its head. They had acknowledged His Messiahship and He, in turn, established the first messianic sanhedrin (court).

The Hebraic application of “binding and loosing” is explored further in Matthew 18.⁴

Next Issue: In part 12 of the series, we shall examine Peter in more detail and the mount of transfiguration.

Endnotes

1. Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica, vol. 2, John Lightfoot, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1997, p. 231.

2. Ibid., p. 232.

3. Jonah: A New Translation with a Commentary Anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources, Mesorah Publication, 1978, p. xxvi.

4. Editor’s Note: See also Craig S. Keener’s study on Matthew 18:18 in this issue, number 25 of his “Learning Context,” page 38.

All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.