161 And the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming to [him], asked him, tempting [him], to shew them a sign out of heaven. 2 But he answering said to them, When evening is come, ye say, Fine weather, for the sky is red; 3 and in the morning, A storm to-day, for the sky is red [and] lowering; ye know [how] to discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it save the sign of Jonas. And he left them and went away.
5 And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 16:1-5
Commentary on Matthew 16:1-4
(Read Matthew 16:1-4)
The Pharisees and Sadducees were opposed to each other in principles and in conduct; yet they joined against Christ. But they desired a sign of their own choosing: they despised those signs which relieved the necessity of the sick and sorrowful, and called for something else which would gratify the curiosity of the proud. It is great hypocrisy, when we slight the signs of God's ordaining, to seek for signs of our own devising.
Commentary on Matthew 16:5-12
(Read Matthew 16:5-12)
Christ speaks of spiritual things under a similitude, and the disciples misunderstand him of carnal things. He took it ill that they should think him as thoughtful about bread as they were; that they should be so little acquainted with his way of preaching. Then understood they what he meant. Christ teaches by the Spirit of wisdom in the heart, opening the understanding to the Spirit of revelation in the word.