Seeking signs (Mt 12:38-12:38)

“Then some of the Scribes

And Pharisees

Said to him,

‘Teacher!

We wish

To see a sign

From you.’”

 

Τότε ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ τινες τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων λέγοντες Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἀπὸ σοῦ σημεῖον ἰδεῖν.

 

This seeking of signs was common among all the synoptic gospel writers, Matthew, here and chapter 16:1-4, Mark, chapter 8:11-12, and Luke, chapter 11:29.  Once again, the Scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign.  These Scribes were religious experts who determined the traditions to be followed.  They were professional copiers of manuscript documents, although they had a wider role in Jewish society.  The Pharisees, on the other hand, were a political party, a social movement, and a religious school of thought that became the basis for later Rabbinic Judaism.  They had they own expert explanations of Jewish law that sometimes appeared to be hypocritical or arrogant, with the letter of the law above its spirit.  They had a form of Judaism that extended beyond the Temple.  The Pharisees in the New Testament, engaged in conflicts with Jesus and his disciples, as here.  Some of these scribes and Pharisees (Τότε ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ τινες τῶν γραμματέων καὶ Φαρισαίων) asked Jesus, as they called him a teacher or rabbi (λέγοντες Διδάσκαλε).  They wanted to see a sign from Jesus (θέλομεν ἀπὸ σοῦ σημεῖον ἰδεῖν).