Matthew 16:1-4 Red Skies
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: April 24, 2019 Matthew 16:1-4
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.
(Understanding the Text) Asking for a sign is not the problem. The problem is ignoring the signs that have already been given. The Pharisees and Sadducees had Daniel’s time prophecy which told them that the Messiah should be here by now. However, there were three decrees and Messiah had not come during the first two, so they ignored the third, even though that was the one that pinpointed Messiah down to the exact year. Elijah the prophet had been sent as Malachi had predicted would happen before Messiah came. His name was John the Baptist, and he denied being Elijah, but He was easily identified as Elijah by anyone who studied scriptures.
I wondered in the past why Malachi said Elijah the prophet, but it just occurred to me that if Malachi had seen John the Baptist in vision with his weird clothes and hair, the first prophet that would come to mind would be Elijah. If He heard the message of turning away from the old for the new, the message would be similar, also. Therefore, I think the only way Malachi knew to describe what he had seen was Elijah. It might not have been what God said, but what Malachi interpreted about what he had been shown and impressed with.
Anyway, they had Daniel’s prophecy; they had John the Baptist; and they had Jesus Himself. Jesus had given many signs that fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. When John the Baptist had asked for reassurance through his disciples, Jesus had had them watch His actions and then sent the message to consider the prophecy about Messiah from Isaiah. Jesus had cast out demons, even from a deaf mute, which was considered impossible to do by the folklore of the day. Jesus had healed people including lepers and raised more than one person from the dead. One of the lepers (maybe more) was a Pharisee himself, so the Pharisees had no reason not to believe his testimony. Jesus’ knowledge of the Old Testament and His ability to escape verbal traps and miraculous escapes from people who wanted to stone Him were also signs. There were signs everywhere in blazing neon lights and blaring messages announcing that Jesus was the Messiah and yet the religious leaders asked for a sign as if nothing had happened.
People will always find excuses not to believe and follow God. They come up with plenty of excuses themselves, and if they don’t, the accuser will provide some. The leaders’ justification was that Jesus was not giving the right kind of signs. “Jesus had done many signs and they remain unconvinced. They looked for a sign from heaven such as calling down fire from heaven, preferably against a Roman legion. They said they were not convinced by the signs ‘on earth’ Jesus had done. i. Tradition held that a sign done on earth could be a counterfeit from Satan, but signs done from heaven (in or from the sky) were assumed to be from God” (Guzik). Their tradition was not based on anything Biblical. They believed superstition over the word of God.
Guzik’s commentary points out “Their remarkable working in unison shows a real anxiety among them. The Sadducees and Pharisees were long-standing enemies, and the fact that they can come together against Jesus shows that they regard Him as an extremely serious threat.”
(Revelation of God) Initially, it sounds like Jesus refused them a sign, but in reality He gave them one more sign, the sign of Jonah. Jesus’ death and resurrection were to be a great sign accompanied by many smaller signs, such as dreams (Pilate’s wife), darkness, an earthquake, Jesus’ own behavior (which also fulfilled scripture), the curtain in the Holy Place being ripped from top to bottom, an empty tomb, sightings of Jesus by many people, the miracles and preaching of His disciples, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Although many of the priests would believe because of these signs and the message, the leaders themselves would still be demanding by what authority the disciples were preaching.
(Application / Prayer) Jesus has given me plenty of signs and a miracle or two, yet I still get a bad attitude of disbelief that He is leading in my life. I need to remember the signs, keep gratitude for the blessings, and keep standing where He places me because He has given me plenty of evidence to know where to stand. It does not matter if I feel successful or if I can count the results. All that matters is to stand and trust. Please help me to stand and trust You and ignore the accuser and His insults.
I thought one of Guzik’s comments was funny. “Jesus wasn’t the only one to notice the hypocrisy in His day. The Jews of Jesus’ day had a proverb saying that if all the hypocrites in the world were divided into ten parts, Jerusalem would contain nine of the ten parts.”