The Pharisees and Sadducees were two Jewish groups that sprung up around the time of the Maccabees during the third century BC. The Pharisees represented a liberal point of view in Judaism, while the Sadducees held a conservative point of view. They usually opposed one another (Acts 23:7-8), but under certain circumstances, like opposing a common enemy, they cooperated with one another in a loosely held alliance. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the existence of spirits/angels, nor did they embrace the whole word of God, but only held to the Torah or the Mosaic Law as God’s word. The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed in the Torah, as well as the Prophets and the Writings. However, they also held to an Oral Law, which they claimed was handed down from Moses. They believed in a future physical resurrection and that mankind was endowed with power of free will. The Sadducees denied both, believing only in fate and that the present existence is all there is. So, they opposed one another on many issues in Judaism, but they were united in their labor to destroy Jesus.
After the feeding of the 4000, Jesus and his disciples once again entered the boat and sailed away, this time to Magdala (Matthew 15:39). Mark tells us they had gone to Dalmanutha, which scholars conclude was a village within the district of Magdala and about one mile from the city by that name. We aren’t told what Jesus did there, but, at some point during the time Jesus spent there, the Pharisees with the Sadducees came to him (Matthew 16:1). Mark tells us that they questioned him, presumably about something he had said, and tempting him, they demanded a sign from heaven (Mark 8:11).
At this point it is Matthew who is more detailed than Mark. Usually, it is Mark who is more detailed in those matters that the writers of the Synoptics mention in their narratives, testifying of the same event. Matthew begins by telling us that Jesus described how the Jewish authorities can read the heavenly signs that indicate weather patterns, but, while describing the Jewish authorities as hypocrites, Jesus said they were unable to discern the signs of the times they are in (Matthew 16:2-3).
According to Mark, Jesus put a question to the Jewish authorities: “Why does this generations seek after a sign?” (Mark 8:12). Then Jesus told them there would be no sign given to them. However, Matthew adds, except for the sign of the prophet Jonah (Matthew 16:4; cp. 12:38-40).
Why? Why wouldn’t Jesus simply offer the Jewish authorities a sign? The fact is that Jesus offered miracle after miracle, but they rejected them. For example, after feeding the 5000, the people wanted to make him king (John 6:14-15). Yet, when he returned to Capernaum, the very same folks who were fed and wanted to make him king, balked, when Jesus told them, if they wanted to do the work of God, they needed to believe him (John 6:26-29). However, instead of believing, they asked what “sign” he offered as proof of his statement (John 6:30). Thus, for those who seek miracles, no number of miracles would be enough to cause them to believe, which is why Jesus told the Pharisees and Sadducees they were part of a wicked and adulterous generation (Matthew 16:4).
They sought a sign, when many signs were already given. Therefore, the only sign they would receive is a sign too late! Just as Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights, so Jesus would be buried for three days and three nights after these same authorities had him crucified, but he would rise from the dead. Moreover, as proof that they were an evil and adulterous generation, a generation that would not believe no matter how many signs were offered them, when it was made clear to them that Jesus had risen from the dead, they bribed the guards to obtain their silence, and tell folks that Jesus’ disciples stole him in the night, while they slept (Matthew 28:11-15). Nothing can be accomplished, when discussing with skeptics, because “truth” for them is not something that exists by itself. For skeptics, truth is always what they say it is! Therefore, Jesus left the Jewish authorities and traveled by boat to the other side of the lake (Matthew 16:4; Mark 8:13).
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