Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from you.
All Commentaries on Matthew 12:38 Go To Matthew 12
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Then. When? Just when they ought to be kneeling before him, to admire, to be amazed and give way, then they refuse to cease from their wickedness. And note their words too, teeming with flattery and dissimulation. For they tried to draw him out in their deceptive way. First they insult, then they flatter him; now calling him a demoniac, now again Master, both out of an evil mind. No more selfcontradictory words were ever spoken. This is why he rebukes them severely. Note that when they were questioning him roughly and insulting him, Jesus reasoned with them gently. But when they were flattering him he reproached them with greater severity. They imagine that he is in control of neither passion and that he can be at one moment moved to anger and in the next moment softened by flattery. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
