TRANSLATION MATTHEW16:1

Some Pharisees and Sadducees came to test him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. Jesus gave them this answer: “When evening comes you say, “Fine weather on the way, because the heavens are fiery red.” And in the morning, ” Storms today, because the heavens are fiery red and lowering!” You know how to discern the appearance of the heavens, but cannot discern the signs of the times! A perverse and unfaithful nation demands a sign, but it will be given no sign except the sign of Jonah. Then he left them and went away.

Matthew has already recorded words of Jesus which touch on Jonah (12:39) in his capacity as a prophet to Nineveh. Here the mention of Jonah as a sign points to the prophetic ministry of Jesus. They have got their “sign from heaven” but have rejected him.

The joint delegation of Pharisees and their enemies the Sadducees is historically unlikely. The latter had ceased to exist by Matthew’s day, so he probably uses them along with Pharisees as meaning the religious leaders opposed to Jesus.

The demand for a sign is understandable in the case of the prophet who claims to speak God’s truth: “How can we trust you, give us an authenticating sign!” Like other prophets Jesus can only point to his prophetic ministry, his words and actions.

I have throughout this passage translated the Greek ‘ouranos’ as ‘heavens’ so that Jesus’ critique uses the same word as their demand. In some contexts, he says, you see plenty of signs from ‘heaven.’

The phrase ‘signs of the times,’ is difficult. The word used for times is the Greek ‘kairos’ which can point to the ‘times that are a-changin”, that is, critical times of decision, when a message from God might be detected. Perhaps in the history of his own time and society, Jesus detected such a message and made a decision?