Christ, the Full Revelation of God
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 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 one greater than Jonah is here.
Introduction
Introduction
As we come this morning to this passage, we need to keep in our minds that which has just preceded it. Luke has been careful to outline for us the unbelief that was expressed by some of those in the crowd after he had delivered a mute man from demon-possession.
You will recall that there were two different groups that opposed Jesus. The one group outright condemned Jesus by saying that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul (or Satan). They were essentially saying that Jesus was a worker of Satan.
But there was another group of people that were somewhat more subtle. They never made such outrageous claims against Jesus, but they did doubt that He came from God, simply by asking for a sign from heaven. In other words, despite all that he was doing, and all that he was teaching, they did not want to believe.
16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
I said last week that although this group was slightly more subtle, they were nonetheless failing to honour Christ as He ought to have been honoured, despite the very clear evidence that was demonstrated by Him concerning his power and authority.
This morning, as we consider this text together, we will find that Jesus actually addresses the kind of person that asks for a sign, but that refuses to believe in the plentiful evidence that was displayed by Jesus as He preached and performed miracles in his time in the world.
The text contains a strong warning, both to the people of the day of Jesus, and also to our day. We certainly do not have Jesus walking around today, preaching and teaching and performing the same miracles. But we do have the testimony from the eye-witnesses, we have the Scriptures – God’s written word, and we are to heed and obey. And so everyone in our day ought to pay careful attention to what Jesus says in these verses.
As we come this text, we see firstly…
1. The Blessed Hear and Obey (vv.27-28)
1. The Blessed Hear and Obey (vv.27-28)
There is link that is provided between what we considered last week, and that which we pick up on this week. While old hustle and bustle was unfolding around them, an unknown woman from the crowd, who is clearly very impressed with what Jesus is doing and saying, cried out that Jesus’ mother must truly be blessed.
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
No doubt this was not merely a woman, but rather a mother to children. And she probably was speaking from her own experiences as a mother, knowing what a joy it is when children are raised and are a blessing to society, and live their lives in honour to God. That’s really where this is coming from - it’s a mother’s heart.
24 The father of a righteous man has great joy;
he who has a wise son delights in him.
Prov 10 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son grief to his mother.
This is what this woman has in mind when she comes to Jesus. She can see that He is wise and has understanding. She can see that He is performing miracles, and thus be under the favour of God.
What parent wouldn’t be exceedingly proud if this was their child?!
I would add to this that Mary certainly did consider herself blessed. We see this in Luke 1:46-49… Manificat...
But notice the response from Jesus - and it’s an important one.
Luke 11:28
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
What Jesus brings across isn’t merely the fact that, yes, she’s blessed, but there are others that should far more significantly be consider blessed. There is someone - or a group of people - that will be blessed. But the basis for that blessing is not being related physically in some manner to Jesus, but in responding rightly to Jesus.
We have already considered previously in Luke’s gospel that at one point Jesus said to the crowds that were following him that his mother and brothers were those that listen to him and did what he said. His mother and his brothers had come to him, and the crowds had told him that they were there, but Christ use this as an opportunity to emphasize the fact of who his true family was.
21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”
Jesus does a similar thing in this case. He emphasizes the fact that the one that is truly blessed is the one that listens and obeys him. And so, Jesus goes on to tell the woman…
Luke 11:28 (NIV84)
28 ...“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Now, we need to keep in mind that as Luke records this incident, it fits within Luke’s broader context of what is unfolding in terms of the interactions between Jesus and the crowds.
And what Jesus is saying, both to this woman, and to those listening on, that if anyone would be truly considered to be blessed, there are two things that need to happen. Firstly, They must hear the Word of God…
To hear the Word of God was to listen carefully to all that God has revealed to mankind. In particular in this instance right here, this means that man is to listen to the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. It is demonstrated very clearly in John’s Gospel that Jesus was indeed the Word made flesh.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
But notice that Christ not only speaks about hearing the Word of God, but of obeying it. In the Scripture, this link is always necessary in terms of listening to God.
Christ tells this crowd that it was essential that those who were following Him would not only need to take heed of His words, but that they would then be required to put the words into practice.
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Practical Application…
As a practical note for us today, I really want to emphasize the importance of carefully listening to the words of Jesus Christ with a view to putting those words into practice. God has given us his revealed word. We live in a world that is craving knowledge and seeking to understand things seeking to understand life. There’s a continual drive to find answers to the questions of life.
The only way that man will find answers is by looking to the revelation of God to him. If we want answers to the questions of life, we look to the word of God.
Christ is been sent into the world to give life to the full.
Secondly from our text, we must see...
2. The Wicked Demand a Sign (v.29)
2. The Wicked Demand a Sign (v.29)
As Christ continues he will confront that crowds that are following him, and he particularly does this in light of the request for a sign that some from the crowds were asking him for. In verse 29 we read…
29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
Before we get to the main thrust of Jesus words here, just notice the context in which it takes place. The crowds were increasing. More and more people were heading towards Jesus, watching what he was doing. But instead of playing to the audience, he confronts them with the reality of the wickedness of their own generation. He confronts their fickle nature.
He says to them that “this is a wicked generation.” This was a generalized statement made by Jesus, but one that was important within the context of this massive crowd of people that were following after Jesus, without truly wanting to commit to Him or submit to Him as Lord. The vast majority of people that were here following Jesus had no genuine belief that Jesus was more than a great miracle worker.
Christ’s charge against them that they were wicked was certainly not too strong. Even at this stage, they were refusing to submit to Christ, they were refusing to consider the clear evidence that was being presented right before their very eyes in terms of what Jesus was teaching and doing, and so they were outright rebelling against God.
This was not an innocent request for a sign - certainly not in light of Jesus’ work and power and authority.
Hebrews 1:1–3 (NIV84)
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word...
It is thus that Jesus confronts them so strongly.
The reason, of course, that he calls them wicked is precisely because they asked for a sign. And he says to them, that no sign will be given them except for the sign of Jonah.
With this in mind, I want to move to our third point as I go on to elaborate on what Jesus is saying here...
3. Christ, the Perfect Sign (vv.30-32)
3. Christ, the Perfect Sign (vv.30-32)
As we continue, we will find that christ in fact speaks about two different “signs” that were given in the history of Israel, and he then uses this to demonstrate that something far greater, far more significant in terms of signs from God was present in this moment, right before them…
3.1. Christ Greater than Jonah
3.1. Christ Greater than Jonah
Already we’ve seen the idea of a sign introduced in terms of Jonah. Jesus says to these crowds that no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah. He goes on then in verse 30 to elaborate on this further.
Luke 11:30
30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.
There are a couple of important things that we need to recognise through this. The first thing that I want to touch on is that which is not specific to Luke’s Gospel. In other words, Luke doesn’t really touch on this clearly, but I think it’s something that we need to keep in mind.
If you go across to Matthew’s Gospel account, and the parallel account of this, we find that Matthew emphasizes the fact that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days, and then he links this to Christ being in the tomb for three days.
Matthew 12:40
40 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.
Now, we need to recognise that Matthew is picking up from Jonah’s being stuck in the belly of the fish for three days, and in a sense conveys that as a sign to the Ninevites. He is saying that in the manner in which Jonah dissappeared and was not seen for three days, this was some kind of sign to Ninevah.
Perhaps this was a sign in the sense that he would have announced to them the fact that he had tried to flee away from God, but had been unsuccesful, and had then spent three days in the belly of a fish… and then he arrived to preach - so urgent was the call - they had better repent.
However, Matthew also goes on to speak about the preaching that Jonah did in Ninevah…
Matthew 12:41
41 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 one greater than Jonah is here.
And this is where Luke places the emphasis as he brings across the teaching of Jesus to these crowds. He excludes the picture of Jonah being in the belly of the fish, and linking that with Christ being in the grave, and he jumps straight to the importance of the message being preached. But Christ himself certainly was clear as He spoke to these crowds.
And they would well have known the account of Jonah. This was part of their Jewish context and history. They had learnt all the stories of their Jewish history, including the account of Jonah, and so Jesus was preaching this important message to them. There was a sign given through Jonah.
But again, I want us to See the emphasis that is placed here on the preached word of God.
32 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 one greater than Jonah is here.
We must see the emphasis on the significance of the preaching of the word of God. Jonah was sent to Ninevah to preach a message of repentance. He was sent there in order to preach to a people that was in rebellion and sin. The task was to call them to repentance, and to turn their hearts towards the true and living God.
Now, what is essential for us to see as we consider the sign of Jonah, is that when he went and preached to the Ninevites, they repented of their sin, and turned to God.
4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
This is, by all accounts, a radical picture of a wonderful repentance that came about by the preaching of the Word of God. They heard the word, they acknowledged their own sin, and they repented, leading to a relenting of God to send calamity on these people.
Now, the question really is, in light of this, what will people do in light of the Gospel message being proclaimed by Jesus Christ? Will they hear the message, and will they thus repent of their sin? Or will they continue in their rebellion?
Clearly, they were choosing the latter, hence the need for Jesus to even speak these words.
They had the Gospel proclaimed to them, but despite this taking place, they were requesting some kind of sign to be performed by Jesus before they would consider to believe in Him.
Christ is very clear here. The people before Him that were requesting a sign to be performed were in outright rebellion against God. In fact, Jesus says that the people of Nineveh would stand in judgment against this generation.
They had heard Jonah. Jonah was a rebellious prophet that tried to run away from God. After the fish encounter, Jonah went to Nineveh, and the preaching of Jonah led these people to repent, and brought about God’s gracious mercy, whereby he relented of sending calamity upon the Ninevites. In response to that, the sinful prophet Jonah got exceedingly angry. He was angry with God because of the mercy shown.
Now, compare Jesus Christ with Jonah. Jesus comes into the world as the sinless Saviour. There is no sin in him whatsoever. Everything that the Father sent Him into the world to do, he was doing perfectly, in perfect submission and obedience to the will of the Father.
He, too, was preaching the Gospel of repentance. He was calling a wicked generation to repentance and confession of sin, and they were refusing to listen to Him. This perfect revelation of God in terms of the nature and character of God was being rejected.
On account of this, Jesus says that the generation that repented at the preaching of Jonah will rise up and judge this present generation because they refused to believe the greater prophet.
One greater that Jonah is here, says Jesus, and you refuse to hear him.
Practical Application...
It is by the preached word of God that man is called to repentance and faith.
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Dear friends, do you recognise the importance of the Word of Christ being proclaimed in order that man may be saved! So many people try to argue with people and persuade people with intellectual arguments for God, but they don’t use the Scripture. They don’t use the very sword of the Spirit that is designed to confront man in his rebellion. If lives will be saved, the Word must be proclaimed, and God will be pleased to use that to save His elect.
In our current context, the church has been charged with proclaiming the glories of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been called to preach the Good News. We have been commissioned by Jesus Christ to go out into all the world, and to call men and women to repentance and faith in Him.
3.2. Christ Greater than Solomon
3.2. Christ Greater than Solomon
This leads us to consider the second example that Jesus uses as He confronts this wicked generation of people, and that is the “queen of the South.”
Luke 11:31
31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.
The “Queen of the South” that is referred to here is clearly the Queen of Sheba that we find in the book of 1 Kings, and particularly in chapter 10.
As you will recall, when Solomon had become king of Israel, God had said to Solomon that he could as God for anything that He likes as the new king, and God would give it to him.
As Solomon considered this offer by God to give him that which he desired, we find that Solomon didn’t set his mind and his heart upon riches, but rather he chose to ask God for wisdom. Solomon recognized that the people that he was to govern, were a large, numerous people and that he lacked the wisdom in order to govern them. As such, he requested of God that God bless him with an abundant wisdom to lead God’s people.
Given that Solomon had all asked for that which was good and pleasing in the sight of God, God was pleased to bless him abundantly with that which he requested. And so he became the most wise man that has ever lived on the face of the earth apart from Jesus Christ. Solomon was the author of the song of Solomon, most of the Proverbs that we have contained in the book of Proverbs, and various other passages in Scripture.
What is so striking, however, particularly as we consider the context of this passage, is that all of the rulers surrounding Solomon recognized his exceedingly great wisdom. His wisdom far exceeded that of anyone else around. And it was this knowledge of Solomon’s wisdom that prompted the Queen of Sheba to make the effort to go and visit Solomon in order to evaluate for herself, first-hand, this wisdom attributed to him.
We find some of the impressions of the Queen of Sheba on Solomon’s wisdom, as we read in 1 Kings 10:4-7.
4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7 But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.
Notice that the Queen of Sheba initially had a hard time believing what was being said of Solomon. And so she went to see with her own eyes…
But the important point here is that when she saw with her own eyes, she believed… And she went on to do something very important - she gave glory to God.
9 Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.”
Now, once again, we need to keep in mind that the people of Jesus’s day understood the wisdom of Solomon well. He was one of the most respected men in the history of their tradition. As such, when Jesus now speaks to the people about Solomon’s wisdom, and then compares himself with Solomon himself, Jesus is essentially saying that they are failing to see and perceive the true greatness of the man who was before them in terms of his teaching.
The emphasis in this regard is the fact that Jesus, apart from performing mighty miracles before the people of his day, also taught the people with such great wisdom that they could not deny or refute his exceeding wisdom.
We recall that account after Jesus had preached the sermon on the Mount, he descended from the mountain and the people were saying of Jesus that he taught as one with authority. His teaching was not like that of the scribes and the Pharisees of the day. He clearly distinguished himself from the typical teacher of that day.
But the sad truth for this people was that they would not give glory to God as a consequence of His preaching and teaching. Their hearts were proud.
As Jesus now preaches to this people that are listening to him, he pronounces to them that at the time of the judgment, the Queen of Sheba will come and stand before them and pronounce judgment on them because they have refused to listen to one which is exceeding the greater than Solomon. Notice that Jesus is, “now one greater than Solomon is here.”
Christ, the Full Revelation of God
I would like to just tie up some of the important implications of what Jesus has said in these past few verses.
Firstly, I want us to recognize that Jesus is speaking about the ministry of the word before this people of his day. He is emphasizing the fact that as Jonah went to the Ninevites and preached the word to them, and they on the basis of that word repented of their sin, and turned to God, so too, the people of his day ought to be hearing far exceeding revelation of God through Jesus Christ, and thus listening to him and obeying him.
We must recognize that Jesus Christ came as the Word of God. He came as the perfect and full revelation of God to mankind. John’s Gospel clearly portrays Jesus as the very word of God.
Secondly, inasmuch as Solomon was an exceedingly wise man, and his wisdom was recognized by all around him, not least by the Queen of Sheba herself, here before these people stood Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was the full and final revelation of God.
In 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, we read these glorious words concerning Christ being the wisdom of God…
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Colossians 3:16 brings together these glorious truths concerning Christ being both the full Word and revelation of God, and also the wisdom of God…
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Application / Conclusion
Application / Conclusion
As we draw to a close, what needs to be emphasized from this teaching of Jesus Christ is the fact that judgment will come upon those who refused to listen to the word of God through Jesus Christ. This is very serious.
Men will come up with every kind of excuse and reason why they do not want to listen to and obey Jesus. Man is always going to have excuses as to why that would not to listen to Jesus Christ. In our day, the refusal to listen to Jesus Christ is the refusal to live in obedience to the word of God, the Scriptures.
For us today, we have the full and final revelation of God through Jesus Christ, including the testimony of eye-witnesses of the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
As we close, let me ask a couple of questions…
1 - Do you believe, and have you responded in faith? Repent of your sins, and place your faith in Christ!
2 - Do you live your daily life in a demonstration of continued faith in Christ? In your manner of living your life, are you showing through your responses to life, that you truly believe every word of God in Scripture.
3 - Are you obeying Christ?
Finally, let us both preach and live out this Gospel message before the world.