A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
And he left them, and departed.
All Commentaries on Matthew 16:4 Go To Matthew 16
Rabanus Maurus
AD 856
This Magedan is the country opposite Gerasa, and is interpreted ‘fruits,’ or ‘amessenger.’ It signifies a garden, of which it is said, “A garden enclosed, afountain sealed,” wherein the fruits of virtues grow, andwhere the name of the Lord is announced. It teaches us that preachers having ministered the word to the multitude ought to be refreshed themselves with the fruits of the virtues within the chamber of their own heart. It follows; “And there come unto him Pharisees and Sadducees tempting him, and desired him to show them a sign from heaven.”.
“The signs of the times” He means of His own coming, or passion, to which the evening redness of the heavens may be likened; and the tribulation which shall be before His coming, to which the morning redness with the lowring sky may be compared.
To this generation that thus tempted the Lord is not given a sign from heaven, such as they sought for, though many signs are given on the earth; but only to the generation of such as sought the Lord, in whose sight He ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit.
