1The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! 4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
He left them and departed. 5The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. 6Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
8Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, because you have brought no bread? 9Don’t you yet perceive or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up, 10or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 11How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds. 28Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees? There were four political and religious parties that influenced Jewish society at the time of Christ, the Sadducees and Pharisees (who were also spiritual leaders), the former who were connected to the Temple, were theological liberals, and consorted with Rome. Conversely, the Pharisees were teachers of the law.
The Zealots wanted to overthrow Rome in favor of national independence. They were fanatical about the Law and saw themselves as warriors for God. They believed the pagan Roman Empire as the enemy of God, and thought it was their duty to engage in military resistance against Rome.
Opposite to the Zealots were the Herodians, who supported the rule of king Herod and were supporters of Roman rule.
In contrast to the Zealots were the Sadducees and Pharisees. The Sadducees are traditionally thought to have had their beginnings with Zadok, the high priest under King David, but their actual beginnings were with the Hasmonean “priest-kings” in the 2nd century B.C. At the time of Christ, they were economically affluent, politically powerful, religiously liberal, and represented by most of the high priests. Many served on the council known as the Sanhedrin. Holding only to the Law of Moses (the first five books of the OT), they denied the resurrection of the dead, life after death, eternal punishment, a literal kingdom, the existence of angels, and God's control of history (see Matt 22:23; Acts 4:1-2; 5:17; 23:6-8).
The Pharisees, on the other hand, were religious conservatives whose cause probably derived from the Hasidim, their name meaning "to separate." They arose roughly at the same time as the Sadducees, perhaps as a reaction to them. Many had a distrust of the priesthood and chose to study the law on their own, and were considered doctors of the Law. Like the Herodians, another political party in Israel, though less influential, they favored local political autonomy. Like the Sadducees, they were well represented on the Sanhedrin. Unlike the Sadducees they held to the Talmud, Mishna, oral and rabbinic tradition with fanatical zeal. They believed in God's intervention in the affairs of men through angels, and a future kingdom in literal fulfillment of God's promise to David. Their most notable difference with the Sadducees was their adamant belief in the resurrection of the body, and life after death (see Paul's exploitation of this dispute in Acts 23:5-8). For all of their differences, Jesus warned His disciples against "the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees," which was later identified as their teaching (Matt 16:6-12). Both groups were spiritually blind, self-righteous, sign-seeking, and hypocritical (see Matt 3:7; 16:1; 22:29; 23:1-39; Luke 12:1).