Something Greater
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If you have your Bibles, please open them to Matt 12:38. As you do that, I have two quick announcements.
Carving Pumpkins
Date - Oct 20 - that’s in one week
Bring your own pumpkin
Corn Maze
Date - Friday Oct 29
Price - $10
Meeting here at the church at 6:00
Lots of fall activities coming up
Tonight we are continuing our time in Matthew chapters 11-13 in our series that we are calling, ‘A Rock of Offense’.
As we do every week, let’s stand together for the reading of God’s Word.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 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. 40 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. 41 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. 42 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.
Let’s pray
Tonight’s sermon is called, ‘Something Greater’
We live in a day where we always want something greater than what we already have.
People spend lots of money upgrading our phones each year when their current phones work perfectly fine
We want better clothes that what we already have. We want the best video game counsels We want better cars, and though you guys are young, someday you’ll probably want a better home.
We all know a thing or two about wanting something greater than what we already have.
Well the same can go for our faith. Often times we are discontent with what God has revealed to us… we might wish God was more real to us… we may wish that we could even walk with Jesus and see his miracles, and then we would believe…
But the reality is this, God has given us the clearest demonstration of his power and wisdom in by sending his Son to die and raise again from the dead. This is what we will be discovering in tonight’s sermon.
You see, our text opens up like this…
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
The scribes and the Pharisees were the group of people who knew the Scriptures best of all… they were the ones who devoted their life to know God’s Word and obey it.
But in all their devotion to the Lord, they were not convinced of who Jesus was… in fact, what we have been seeing is they were quite opposed to Jesus and his ministry…
In last weeks text, we heard about how Jesus cast out a demon of a man who couldn’t talk or see, and when the demon left him, that man spoke and saw.
But the Pharisees heard of it and accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of another demon
Before that, Matthew tells us about how Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath who had a withered hand. After doing this, Matthew tells us
14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
So in tonights text, when it says,
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
The scribes has already seen multiple signs from Jesus - but they wanted to see something greater than what they had already seen… they weren’t content with what Jesus had done, and in fact, they weren’t only not content, but they were offended by the work of Jesus.
It’s helpful to remember what has gone on before this story
they have seen multiple signs from Jesus - they are still demanding more signs… they want a greater proof that Jesus is who he says he is
But more than this, they are asking, not as genuine followers who wish to learn from Jesus. But up to this point, they have taken offense at everything that Jesus has done - and they are looking to accuse Jesus of sinning by doing something that they want to say is unlawful so that they might kill him.
But notice the language that they use when asking for a sign…
“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
They call Jesus a teacher - this is a respectable title for the Jews to use - especially for the Pharisees and scribes to call Jesus a teacher when in fact they were teachers themselves…
They came to Jesus with the appearance of being one of Jesus’ disciples… but Jesus was not so easily fooled by them
39 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.
Jesus called these supposed disciples evil and adulterous -
This is an important lesson for us to learn
1. Not everyone who follows Jesus has a genuine faith.
1. Not everyone who follows Jesus has a genuine faith.
As a young person I had often believed that those who were in the church were saved. After all, that’s what the church is right? The church is the congregation of believers who have gathered to worship Jesus. The church is the make up of those who have put their faith in Jesus and have repented of their sins…
So we might think… if someone is in church, well that means they are a Christian.
But my dad had this old saying… if a mouse is in a cookie jar… does that make it a cookie?
So to, if a person is in a church, does that make him a Christian?
Consider for a moment, the profile of these scribes and Pharisees
First of all, they were Jews -
This means, they were a part of the people of God… they grew up hearing the Word of God…
But they weren’t just a run of the mill Jew - they were scribes and Pharisees - this means they dedicated much of their life to studying and memorizing the Word...
But they didn’t just know the word in their mind… they prided themselves in their righteousness… they were the most obedient Jews in Israel… they even made up other rules and customs that were not found in the Scriptures to further ensure that they didn’t slip and break any of God’s commandments.
And if that wasn’t enough to make us think that they were genuine and godly… they were following Jesus… they called him teacher… and they desired to see him work wonders before their eyes…
To be clear, in we wish to be saved, we must follow Jesus… if we are saved, we must submit ourselves to Jesus as our teacher and our Lord, and those who have a genuine faith desire to see God minister to his people...
The Scribes and Pharisees looked like disciples on the surface… and they might have been able to fool the crowds in their day, and they would probably be able too fool you and me as well… but their faith was far from genuine.
They weren’t following Jesus because they believed in him.
They followed Jesus because they wished to make further accusations against him so that they might destroy him.
Two lessons we can should learn from this
First about those in the church - Not all who are among the people of God do in fact belong to God…
This will be made more clear in a Parable that we will cover in the next month… but for now just listen to this parable that Jesus taught in Matt 13.
24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
This parable talks about the mix of good seed growing together with bad seed… so too in the world, there is a mix of those who are righteous and those who are not and they are all growing together. But in the end they will be separated from one another.
But this parable, and this point in the sermon isn’t given to us so that we can try to identify believers from non believers
- this is given to us so that we might take a closer look at our life… are we following Jesus because we love him… because we believe in him… because we want to worship him?
Or are we just in church because this is what we are expected to do? Or, are you just going to church so that you can try to fool and impress others that expect you to follow Jesus?
Such a faith is not a genuine and saving faith.
But we do have in tonight’s Scripture an example of those who do have a genuine faith.
39 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. 40 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. 41 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. 42 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.
Notice two different references Jesus makes here from the OT
v 41, the men of Nineveh, and v 42, the queen of the South. Both, Jesus says, will rise up on the and judge the the scribes and Pharisees for rejecting Jesus…
Remember who these Pharisees were
+They belonged to the people of God
+They knew the Word of God
+They appeared righteous on the outside
-But they did not believe in Jesus nor did they repent of their sin
Now contrast them to that of the men of Nineveh and the queen of the South.
-Neither the men of Nineveh nor the queen of the south belonged to Israel
-Neither the men of Nineveh nor the queen of the south knew the Word of God
-And neither of them appeared righteous on the outside
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
Their evil was so great, that Jonah didn’t want to go preach there, because he preferred them to be die from the judgment of God.
And how about the queen of the south… who was she?
We learn about her from 1 Kings
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
Notice that she was putting Solomon to the test… similar to the way that the Pharisees were putting Jesus to the test to see if he was truly wise like she had heard....
And listen to her assessment of Solomon’s wisdom.
6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.
She put him to the test, and upon seeing with her own eyes the wisdom of Solomon, she believed what she had heard…
And similar to this listen to the response of the men of Nineveh.
4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Both of them had a kind of faith in that which they heard and saw… and upon seeing and hearing, they changed.
The queen believed that which she formerly did not believe
and the men of Nineveh repented of their sin.
2. Those with genuine faith are not those who you might expect.
2. Those with genuine faith are not those who you might expect.
It’s not about the families that you were born into - like the pharisees who were born in Israel compared to the men of Nineveh and the queen of the south
Genuine faith is not received by having through knowledge of the Scriptures like the case for the Pharisees in comparison to that of the queen of the south or men of Nineveh
It’s not about having your act together and being without sin
Genuine faith is about this
Like the queen of the South, we may have our doubts, but upon seeing Jesus we will believe
And like the men of Nineveh, we may be wicked sinners. But upon hearing the word of God we will repent of our sins and turn from them.
Genuine and saving faith is not about being without sin… it’s about having faith in that which we did not believe in, and then responding in repentance.
But how do we come upon such faith?
Let’s return to the text one last time.
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 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. 40 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. 41 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. 42 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.
In order to have faith, do we need to see great signs and wonders with our own eyes?
- no… that wasn’t what the Scribes and the Pharisees needed.
In order to have genuine and saving faith, must we travel far to the promised land so that we can see the wisdom of a king?
-no… for there is a greater demonstration of wisdom than Solomon…
In order to have genuine and saving faith, but a prophet be spat up from the belly of a fish?
-no, for there is one who is greater than Jonah who could not be contained by the grave.
What is needed in order to have genuine faith?
We just need one sign…
39 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. 40 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.
What we need in order to have saving faith, is to behold the risen Christ.
For in the resurrection, we have a demonstration of power that is greater than the Prophet Jonah
In the resurrection, we have a demonstration of wisdom that is greater than the wisdom of king Solomon
In the resurrection of Jesus, we have all that is needed for saving faith. because
3. All that is needed for genuine faith is the resurrection of Jesus.
3. All that is needed for genuine faith is the resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus’ resurrection is the greatest demonstration of the wisdom and power of God.
The Pharisees wanted a sign from Jesus… they wanted to see something with their own eyes so that they could believe in Jesus…
But seeing with our eyes is not what is required to have faith… in fact… faith has nothing to do with physical sight...
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Genuine faith, doesn’t require seeing with our eyes… rather, genuine faith comes when God opens the eyes of our hearts so that we might see Jesus for who he is.
So let us ask God to do this… let’s ask him to increase our faith, so that we can love him, and obey him.
Let us ask him to increase our faith so that we can abide with him and live
Let us ask him for faith so that through our life he will be glorified.
Let’s pray.
What are the marks of genuine faith?
What can you do to strengthen your weak faith?