Matthew 12:38-42 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
Jesus said that those who have ears will hear, but the willfully deaf will never hear. No sign will open up their ears. Jesus is not gentle with the Pharisees and teachers of the law, attacking them with a frontal, devastating assessment of their spirituality: A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! Because they ask for a sign, He does not say they are just unbelievers, He says they are WICKED: full of evil, and ADULTEROUS: unfaithful, even in the most intimate relationships. Of course, the Jewish leaders should have had a strong allegiance to the One who called their Father Abraham out of the land of Mesopotamia, the One who rescued them from their land of slavery, Egypt. They were known as God’s chosen people to whom God revealed his likeness and holiness. He was the God who brought them to Canaan and who gave them strength to drive out many nations from the land promised to Abraham. However, even though Abraham was a man of faith who believed in the words of God, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day demanded a sign rather than believe in the words and deeds of Jesus. Jesus rebukes them harshly for He knows they lack faith in the God they proclaim to believe, for if they were true believers in what they taught, they would accept Jesus’ words. One order of the priesthood, the Sadducees, would not accept Jesus’ words as divine, for they believed only in the rational. These priests could not accept Jesus as anything but a man. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law believed in a spiritual reality, but they would not accept Jesus as a spiritual leader. Consequently, they beseeched Jesus to give them a sign to verify his divinity. Of course, these spiritual leaders should have recognized that Jesus’ words and actions were directly from God. Instead, they were the mockers, naysayers, thorns in Jesus’ flesh. They followed him around, condemning him for healing on the Sabbath, unimpressed with demon deliverance, rejecting his teaching and activity as from the devil. In today’s focus, we see them asking Jesus to perform a miraculous sign on their command. Jesus is to be a sideshow event as with a circus or carnival. “Come and see the marvelous acts this man will perform right before your eyes, an unbelievable sight, one you Jews will never forget. Come in, be thrilled by the unimaginable! Hurry! Hurry! Pay your coin and enjoy the show!” Jesus would have none of it! He told them that there would be a show, one they would never forget, one they would unknowingly participate in: But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Of course, this comment befuddled these religious leaders, for they could not understand Jesus’ words. Only after the event would they have any comprehension of Jesus’ resurrection. Then they would reject the resurrection by telling falsehoods of what had happened to Jesus’ body when the tomb was found empty. Jesus was right about them when he said: A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! Even the sign Jesus predicted would be given to them, they would not believe because their hearts were filled with their own pretentious ideas of their worthiness to God and the people. The resurrection would smash to smithereens their religious order and their understanding of how to please the God of creation.
The people of Nineveh heard AND BELIEVED the words of Jonah as he traveled throughout the great city of Nineveh. No sign was given them, no special intervention of God was played out before their eyes, only the words of Jonah were given to them. Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. (Jonah 3:3-5) They believed Jonah’s prophecy about their destruction. They believed so much that they even had the animals participate in the fast, clothing the animals in sackcloth. They repented completely of their evil ways and their violence. For they knew God hated sin with a fierce anger towards those who practice evil. We see Jesus telling these religious people of his day that God hates sin and that the pagan Ninevites understood that in their hearts. They were willing to repent, but the Jewish leaders He was addressing did not understand how far they were from God. Their arrogance and supposedly preferred position with God made them wicked in heart, unwilling even to appreciate the law and regulations that they were claiming to know. They demanded a sign from Jesus who loved the people, healed them and taught them about his Father in heaven. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were living in blindness, claiming to lead people, but in reality living in darkness. Their darkness was so great that John the Baptist called them vipers and called for them to repent. Jesus also called for their repentance, wishing for them to yield their hardened hearts. But they needed new hearts for them to change their ways and attitudes. For centuries before Jesus walked the earth and for centuries into the future, mankind has not had the ability to change on his own. Our wickedness and adulterous hearts are part of our DNA. Even today, we have enough weaponry in our hands to destroy the planet Earth. As with all generations we live in need of transformed hearts, new hearts. Jesus recognized this when He addressed the wickedness of his generation. A deceiving, adulterous people will demand a sign, rather than a change of heart. They will not accept the healing message of Jesus, his death and resurrection. This hardness of heart exists in every people, nation, and ethnic group. Unwillingness to accept the authority of God is part of the makeup of humans who have gone astray. Paul said there was a law in him that would not conform to the will of God, but instead did what he did not want to do even though he knew what was right and good. No one escapes this law of rebellion. If we are to display the works of God and enter his realm, Jesus said, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:3)
Jesus tells these religious leaders that his words possess more truth, more wisdom than even Solomon’s words. The queen of Sheba traveled far to hear Solomon’s words of wisdom, but Jesus was a wiser man than even Solomon. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. Because they refused to believe in his teachings, but attacked him, they would be judged harshly by God. Signs will not change people: faith in Jesus changes people. By believing in his death and resurrection, taking it as our own death and resurrection, we become new creatures. Signs, miracles, affirmations of God’s existence will never change the hearts of men. Following after God through knowing his reality will never change the hearts of men. The flesh desires a flash from heaven to reveal God’s reality. In the Old Testament we see Elijah call down fire from heaven. “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. (1 King 18:36-38) This sign was so great that even the stones and soil were consumed by fire, totally destroyed by God’s mighty power. Of course the people who were silent before this demonstration fell to the ground and started to worship the only true God. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (18:39) However, this sign did not change the hearts of the people. They still abandoned God. They were not obedient to the laws of God. Their kings were still weak and sinful. After this mighty sign from God, we see Jezebel threatening Elijah with death after knowing that all her priests of Baal were killed. This fire from heaven did not intimidate her. Her hardened heart was not changed. We see Elijah fleeing from her into the desert. Why did he not say, “Bring it on Jezebel— my God will destroy you too with fire.” But God does not change the hearts of men by signs. The heart is changed because faith brings the Spirit of God into our innermost being. An unbelieving heart wants miracles, but a believing heart will trust God regardless of the circumstances. Job said, even though He slay me, I will believe in him. Elijah fled because he was playing on the field of flesh. We are all on that field. Supernatural plays might never be seen on this field. The aches and pains of life might be evident on this field. Even though desired, no quick ascension to heaven may be seen on this field. Even Elijah, the man of miracles, is seen fleeing in times of stress on this field, but Elijah never lost his faith in God even though he feared sometimes. Even though he played on the same field of life that we all play on, experiencing threatening and difficult situations, he still believed that God was in control of his life. We who are people of God, say as Elijah said, MY GOD hears my words. Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord MY GOD, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord MY GOD, let this boy’s life return to him!” (1 King 17:20-21) This young boy came to life. Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights. He who was in the image of man stretched himself over us completely before God, his Father. MY GOD, LET THEM LIVE. We live because our God, Elijah’s God, causes us to live forevermore. This game of life can be rough. Sometimes we see no sign of God’s existence, but He lives in us, giving us life. For One greater than Solomon has set us free!
No comments:
Post a Comment