Matthew 16: 1-12

Editor's note:

(Last week, per request, I added an outline to the Talksheet. Don't know if it was helpful or not. If it was helpful, let me know. Otherwise, I will go back to the more familiar method... jv)

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The Demand for a Sign

1. Review vs 1

-Why did the Pharisees and the Sadducees wish to test Jesus? What was their goal?

2. Review Jesus' response to their request for a sign from heaven in vs 2 and 3

-What were the "signs of the times" when this was spoken by Jesus?

-Why were they not able to interpret these things? Was this due to their ignorance? Arrogance? Lack of faith? All of the above?

-What about the crowds that followed Jesus? Were they able to interpret these things? If they were not able to interpret them, why not?

-What about 2009? What stands in the way of people being able to interpret these matters today?

3. Review vs 4

-What is the sign of Jonah? Why was this sign given to the wicked and adulterous generation of the time of Jesus?

-How would people interpret it today?

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Jesus warns the disciples against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 

Review the dialogue between the disciples and Jesus in verses 7-12

1. If Jesus had advised you to "be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees," what would your reaction have been?

-Would you have taken it as a reprimand or as a warning? Something else?

2. After the disciples mistakenly interpret Jesus' warning, He points out their lack of faith. He then reminds them of His miracles of feeding many thousands of people.

-Why did He bring up these miracles? Why did he not reference His miraculous healing of the blind or making the lame walk?

-Why would the disciples be concerned about a lack of bread, especially after Jesus was miraculously able to provide bread twice?

-Why did the disciples so quickly forget these two miracles?

3. The disciples finally interpret Jesus' statements as a warning against the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

-What was so bad about their teaching? Was Jesus referencing something else? Their cynical attitudes, maybe? Their lack of faith? Their hypocrisy?

4. In Matthew 13,  Jesus told His audience that the "Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that once mixed into flour, it eventually worked through out the dough." 

-Was the "yeast" of the Pharisees and the Sadducees capable of spreading in the same fashion?

-If it was so dangerous, why didn't Jesus just plainly say that?

Teacher: Troy Nesbitt

Matthew 16: 1-12