Seeing the signs, missing the truth

Matthew 12:38-45

Summary of the passage - In the previous chapter John the Baptist is in prison and doubting himself and his claim that Jesus was the messiah. He questions this because his experience wasn’t lining up with his expectation. He didn’t expect to live his remaining days in prison. So he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask “Is he the one? Or is there another coming?”. Jesus responds with telling John’s disciples to go and report what they see. The blind see, the deaf hear, the hungry are fed, the dead are raised, the poor are preached the good news. He goes on to explain a hard to swallow truth of the Kingdom of God. The least in the Kingdom is greater than the greatest person ever born. He follows with a comparison to the current generation of unsatisfied children playing games. They weren’t happy with John and said he had a demon. They weren’t happy with Jesus and said he was a drunk and a glutton. Jesus then denounced the cities that he had done miracles in because they wouldn’t repent. We get the hint of progressive revelation (the idea that God has made himself known in stages throughout history) and that more revelation = more responsibility. We see this in the more harsh judgment of the cities Jesus is working in. Jesus goes on to say that God has hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children (key being humility). He then extends a gracious invitation to ALL. Come to me ALL who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and you will find rest for your souls. This was in sharp contrast with the teachings of the Pharisees and their strict requirements placed upon the people. Next, Jesus claims Lordship over the sabbath (and establishes that it and the law are FOR people, not people for them). He makes the grand claim that he is greater than the temple (office of the priest). He explains that it is lawful to do good on the sabbath, and that men are of more value than sheep. At this point the pharisees are conspiring to Kill Jesus. Jesus had commited many capital offenses (based on their rules), and must be dealt with. In 12:22 Jesus heals a demon possessed man who was both blind and mute. Upon seeing this the crowd was amazed, but still couldn’t accept that Jesus was the “Son of David”. They were offended by him (blessed is he who is not offended by me. We hit a turning point in the book of Matthew where the Pharisees declare that Jesus is working by the power of the devil, as opposed to the Spirit of God. He easily refutes this claim, expressed a great forgiveness to people, and puts the truth of blaspheming the Holy Spirit right on them. He concluded this with a parable on recognizing false teachers. “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”. This brings us to the segment that we are looking at today.

Matthew 12:38–45 ESV

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Verse 38 - Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying “Teacher”

Pause. Why did they call him teacher? Was Jesus their teacher? Were they honestly addressing Jesus as such, or was this a dig at him? Undoubtedly, this was a trademark high-minded address to Jesus.

Verse 38 - “We wish to see a sign from you.”

Pause. We just walked through the whole previous chapter. How many signs and miracles had they witnessed. Had they not just witnessed blind people receiving sight? Had they not just witnessed people hearing for the first time? Had they not witnessed the good news preached to the poor? People healed of their sicknesses and deformities. Surely they had heard mumbles of the dead being raised… What in the world could they need to see that they haven’t already? The problem here is that they are offended. This Jesus wasn’t lining up with what they expected. They expected a worldly king coming in power and freeing them from Roman oppression. Setting up a kingdom they could recognize. They were…offended. Blessed are those who are not offended by me. We know that from Luke 16:19-31 - READ - we know that “if they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. The Pharisees weren’t seeking a sign, they were seeking the sign they wanted to see. What’s the problem with that? Well, we aren’t to lean on our own understanding. We are to become like little children, and live through faith in Jesus, by the power of his spirit. You will find in life that more often than not, God is not going to do things YOUR WAY, things aren’t going to go the way you expect them to.

Story of Naaman at 2 Kings 5:1-14

2 Kings 5:1–14 ESV

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

We see that being offended at the way God works almost cost Naaman his healing.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

We see in 1 Corinthians that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. We see that many places in scripture. God will offend your head, to work in your heart.

Are we offended when God doesn’t work the way we expect him to? John was. Naaman was. The Pharisees and Jews were.

Verse 39: “But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign…”

pause. What does Jesus say about asking for a sign? Have we ever asked for a sign from God? Which job should I take? Which person should I date or marry? Where should I move? Other examples. Are we supposed to be asking for signs? Signs aren’t necessary to live by FAITH. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things…UNSEEN. If we take a moment and look through our lives, do you not see many signs that God has his hand on your life? Can you not see many miracles that have happened up to now? Do you see any evidence that your path has been guided by God? Jesus says those who seek a sign (more than they have already recieved - which for us is Christ raised from the dead), are unfaithful to God.

Jeremiah 3:20 “Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.’ ””

Later in Matthew chapter 15 Jesus says that “these people honor me with these lips, but their hearts are far from me. And another place in Matthew he calls the Pharisees whitewashed tombs. Beautiful and clean on the outside, but nothing but dead on the inside.

Prodigal son story.

Here we get a clear picture of what Jesus thinks of “Religion”. While it may fool people on the outside with a nice orderly life, following rules, and asceticism. That’s not what is important to Jesus. He said to go and learn what this means “I desire mercy not sacrifice”. Clearly they didn’t go and learn this.

Moving on in verse 39: No sign except for the sign of Jonah…so will the son of man be in the heart of the Earth for 3 days.

Jesus knew exactly what he was doing here. See, Jonah was a prophet, but not one that the Pharisees respected. You may even be able to say they hated this reference. The Pharisees hated Jonah because not only did he go and preach to the gentile city of Nineveh, the very people who destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, but THEY REPENTED. They hated what Jonah did, because it made them look bad. The gentiles repented, but the Jews did not. There’s a sermon in there somewhere.

Verse 41: The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented ar the preaaching of Jonah, something greater than Jonah is here.

You see that Jesus is pushing back on them right where it hurts. He knew that this reference would sear their conciouses. Not only is Jesus saying the Ninevites will judge this people, but now their own minds are judging them. They are wrong, and they know it. Something greater than Jonah was there, Jesus has now also claimed the office of the prophet.

Verse 42 : The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

The Queen of Sheba in 1 Kings 10 traveled a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon, who was the wisest man to live. Someone greater is now here. Jesus has now proclaimed to Israel that he is the culmination of the priest, of the prohet, and the wisdom of God. Jesus teaches in many layers, that sometimes we have to dig and sift to find all of the nuances.

Verse 43-45: “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Jesus ends this segment with another illustration. This illustration holds truth regarding the way that demons like to operate in the lives of people, but he is also saying this is a picture of how this adulterous generations is. They, in their own self effort, have generated strict rules and ordinances to follow based on the traditions of men. But upon rejecting Jesus and his work done through the Holy Spirit, they have only cleared the way for more evil.

So what can we take from this section of scripture?

1.) God does things his way, in his time, according to his will. You can either be offended, and miss out on what He is doing here on Earth, or you can say “not my will, but yours be done”, and watch God reach down and work in your life.

2.) Don’t seek a sign. Open your eyes. Not only your physical eyes, but humble your heart. Let Jesus through the Holy Spirit transform you from the inside. The opposite of the Pharisees who tried to clean up their life first. Religion will ask that of you, Jesus want’s you to come as you are, right now. As you allow God to work in your heart, you will begin to see the signs he has performed all around you.

3.) Instead of seeking a sign to rule our life, what should we do? Colossians 3:15 says - “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” . As you submit to God, a peace that surpasses understanding will settle into your heart. Let this peace guide your every day life. From the smallest of decisions, to the life changing ones.

Lastly, what must we do? As you begin this process of sanctification, which simply means becoming more like Jesus, as you grow in faith, watch for what God is doing around you. You will begin to see things, and simply ask him, What do you want me to do here? How can I help these people, or this situation. Submit yourself truly to him and his will, and you will find Joy and peace. He who saves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake...God’s kingdom is an upside down kingdom. It doesn’t operate the way our flesh would expect. His thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways are not our ways. Let’s not lean on our own understanding, but humble ourselves, and with childlike faith say to God...not my way, but your way.

Pray.