God will not prove himself to mankind. Ch. 43 The issue is faith. Did Jesus mean what He said? We cannot believe in Jesus apart from His words. Ch. 44 The lesson continues in our day as in his, Jesus versus tradition.

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Ch 44: Jesus Warns Against The Teachings Of The Pharisees And Sadducees

Matthew 16:5-12; Mark 8:13-21

WHEN JESUS had left the Pharisees and Sadducees to whom he had refused a sign, he embarked, with his disciples, to cross the sea.

            The disciples forgot to take food with them. There was only one loaf in the ship.

            Jesus said to them:

            “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”

            His disciples reasoned the meaning of this among themselves, thinking:

            “It is because we have taken no bread.”

            Jesus knew what they were thinking and said:

            “Why reason ye because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?”

            The disciples answered:

            “Twelve.”

            Then Jesus asked:

            “And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?”

            They answered:

            “Seven.”

            Then Jesus said to them:

            “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?”

            So they understood that Jesus did not bid them beware of the leaven of bread but of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

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Ch 43: Jesus Again Refuses To Give A Sign To The Pharisees And

Sadducees

Matthew 15:39, 16:1-4; Mark 8:10-12

IMMEDIATELY AFTER he had fed the four thousand, Jesus and his disciples went by boat to another part of the country.

            The Pharisees and Sadducees came and tempted Jesus, asking him to show a sign from Heaven as evidence of his authority.

            Jesus refused them, saying:

            “When it is evening, ye 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 lowering.’ O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

            Then Jesus immediately left them.