11 And the Pharisees [And Saducees Matt 16:1] came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him.

On landing, a company of them met him, along with a number of the Sadducees -- people not usually to be found in the company of the Pharisees, but who, like Herod with Pilate, could become friends when there was a work in which their common animosity could be gratified.

A sign from heaven

‬It is notorious that these [who look for God's signs in our atmosphere] used to teach,‭ ‬and many of them do so to this day,‭ ‬that the darkening of the sun in Yankeeland,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬D.,‭ ‬1780,‭ ‬and the meteoric constellation of Nov.,‭ ‬1833,‭ ‬were the darkening of the sun,‭ ‬and the falling of the stars predicted by Jesus in Matt.‭ ‬24:29,‭ ‬as events,‭ ‬or signs,‭ ‬to be manifested indicative of his appearing.‭

With such‭ "‬interpreters‭" ‬of prophecy it is impossible to reason.‭ ‬They have yet to learn,‭ ‬that God's signs of the approaching consummation of his purpose,‭ ‬which is political,‭ ‬having relation to the affairs of nations,‭ ‬are not atmospheric,‭ ‬but political also.‭

This principle must be admitted,‭ ‬or the prophecies cannot be understood,‭ ‬nor the signs of the times discerned.‭ ‬Failing to do this,‭ ‬our friend cannot discern them.‭ ‬The sign of the Son of Man,‭ ‬which exists,‭ ‬he cannot see‭; ‬because he has got the notion into his head that‭ "‬the heaven‭" ‬in which it was to appear is not political,‭ ‬but atmospheric.‭

This was the blunder of the old Pharisees,‭ ‬who wanted signs from the natural heaven,‭ ‬but never obtained them.‭ ‬He knows what sort of a generation they belonged to‭; ‬a generation,‭ ‬we regret to say,‭ ‬which is far from being extinct at this day.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Oct 1855

We would see a sign from thee

What sign could be availing to those who saw no sign in the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, the restoring sight to the blind? If men could seriously attribute such things to "Beelzebub," how could they be expected to see anything divine in anything that could be done?

And if they make such a suggestion, not seriously, but in the flippancy of a scornful animosity, how could they be worthy of any sign at all? Jesus answered in the spirit of these questions, in doing which Mark informs us that

"he sighed deeply in his spirit."

... "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas."

the great sign of Christ's divinity would be Christ's resurrection.

...They wanted something showy, something spectacular, something impressive. Jesus could have shewn them such. He could have shewn them "twelve legions of angels" marshalled in shining phalanx around him. He could have shewn them Mount Ebal or Mount Gerizim plucked from its base and hurled into the Mediterranean. He could have shewn the country filled with horses and chariots of fire such as surrounded Elisha. But there would have been no object in such a display.

It would not have wrought conviction. It would merely have gratified an idle curiosity, which would have found excuse for disbelief in some reservation, or theory of the Beelzebub order. The minds that could not see the hand of God in the healing of multitudes by a word, and the raising of the dead, would not have seen it in anything.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 25

12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.

Christ's argument here is that the common intelligence that was able to forecast the weather from atmospheric appearance was equal to the discernment of his divine credentials in the abundant miracles he wrought, if there were only the sincere and humble disposition to know the truth.

Had the Pharisees and Sadducees been sincere, they would have seen sign enough in what Jesus was doing every day.

Hypocrites

They were acting; they were not honest: they pretended there were no signs, when in point of fact they were really of the opinion expressed by a prominent member of their body -- Nicodemus:

"We know that thou art a teacher came from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him."

Is it a wonder he "sighed deeply in his spirit?"

They felt themselves foiled by the quiet, sad man of Nazareth, and doubtless made their best effort to preserve their learned dignity with the bystanders under discomfiture.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 36

16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.

They really supposed, it would seem, that he meant they were to be careful, when reprovisioning the boat, not to buy bread made by the Pharisees or Sadducees for fear of its being tainted with leaven; and furthermore, that they were in danger through having forgotten to bring bread.

Jesus was disappointed with the childishness of such a supposition...

Nazareth Revisited Ch 36

29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

Many in One

In Christ we have:

An Adam in dominion, federal headship and sonship to God.

An Abel in being slain by wicked hands.

An Enoch and an Elijah in translation.

A Methuselah in the longevity of his (resumed) life.

A Noah in preaching (righteousness).

An Abraham in faith and heirship.

A Melchizedek in priesthood, and in being the future King of Salem, King of righteousness, and King of peace.

An Isaac in promise, divine intervention, and sacrifice.

A Jacob in his power with God.

A Joseph in being sold for silver by his brethren.

A Moses in meekness and the prophetic office.

An Aaron in his entrance into the Holy of Holies.

A Joshua in name (Joshua being the Hebrew form of Jesus).

A Samson in strength, and spirit-might.

A Phinehas in zeal for the house of God.

A Samuel in justice and judgment.

A Jonathan in love and sweetness.

A Nathan in parable and point.

A David in subduing kingdoms and working righteousness.

A Solomon in wisdom, and the wealth and peace of his coming kingdom.

A Job in patience, and the power of overcoming temptations.

A Jeremiah in weeping-lamentation.

An Ezekiel in apocalyptic prophecy.

A Daniel in "counsel and wisdom," and in being "greatly beloved."

A Nehemiah in casting defiling things out of the temple.

An Israel in his being called out of Egypt.

A Cyrus in his future overthrow of the apocalyptic Babylon.

The Christadelphian, Jan 1889

33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Peter, though a good man and devoted friend of his Master, was styled Satan by Jesus. He had told his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and be killed, and be raised on the third day after. But Peter rebuked him, saying,

"Be merciful to thyself, Lord; this shall not be unto thee."

He could not endure the idea of such a catastrophe. But Jesus said to him,

"Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of the Deity, but those that be of men."

Had Jesus been merciful to himself, as Peter advised, he would not have been "obedient unto death;" in the, event of which he would have frustrated the Father's purpose, incurred the fate of the first Adam, and failed in the dedication of the Abrahamic Covenant by which alone man can be saved. Peter's well-meant advice was adverse to the first and last of these things, and therefore as such an adviser, he was for the time a Satan to Jesus.

Eureka 12.15.

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mortifications are only for a season

Considering what the present world is, we need not be sorry that Christ and his brethren are not of it. On the contrary, it is a joyful fact that they do not belong to a world so thoroughly unsatisfactory on all points.

The present world is a transient panorama of clouded and unsatisfactory objects and conditions. Its pleasures are empty; its prizes are cheats; its favour is uncertain as the wind; its honours are short-lived; its very best state is altogether vanity and vexation of spirit. The world that the saints belong to is a world of light and reason and goodness, and joy and life everlasting. It is worth waiting for and worth sacrificing something for.

It is God's righteous arrangement that we suffer now in order "that we may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God" when it comes. It is hard for flesh and blood; but faith can submit, and without faith, no good can be done either in this world or that which is to come.

Seasons 2.24