Jesus: The Sign of the Times

Jesus spoke these words after coming out of the wilderness, resisting the temptation of Satan, and the Scripture says that from that moment on his focus was the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven. also known as The Kingdom of God, was first preached by John the Baptist. Matt 3:2 “2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

This idea of the Kingdom of heaven brought judgment for some who did not follow Jesus, but for those who would it brought repentance and salvation.

The same is true today. As I preach to you about who Jesus is and what he has done, your response will either be judgement or salvation.

As as we continue to follow Christ in this three and a half years between his coming out of the wilderness until the time he is nailed to the cross, we continue to see his main focus to tell people about the kingdom of heaven....himself…God.

As we finish chapter 15, I won’t spend much time here, I will only say a few things.

In the feeding of the 4000, this is not another account of the feeding of the 5000. These are different feedings.

Different amounts of people (5000 and 4000)

the days they were there were different (1 and 3)

The number of the loaves (5 and 7)

The number of baskets of remaining (12 and 7)

And in the 5000: people wanted to make him a King, but in the 4000 there is not mention of this.

These were two different accounts, not the same. But the one thing that is the same…it both the 4000 and 5000, Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion on them.

Sometimes we see something like this....he had compassion on people… and we move past it so thinking about it.

Compassion is why God sought to repair the sin that was brought into the world by Adam and Eve. Compassion is the reason that he sent his only son to earth. Compassion is why he allowed his son to be beaten, striped of his clothes, to be spit upon, and hang on a cross.... why? compassion for you. Compassion for me.

The reason he came to speak about the Kingdom of heaven being at hand… because he had comapassion. Peter wrote this about Jesus: 2 Peter 3:9

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Just as his showed compassion to the 5000 and 4000, he has shown compassion to you, not wanting you to go to eternal death, but providing for you a means to eternal life.

We will see the subject of bread in a minute. But for know let’s move to Chapter 16.

They are back! The Pharisees and the Sadducees and they wanted to see a sign. Did they want to see a sign so that they could believe? No. They came to tempt him.

You know there was another who tried to tempt Jesus…Satan. Ad as we have seen throughout Matthew, they never came to Jesus as one seeking the Messiah, they only came to destroy him, like Satan tried to do, but couldn’t.

Jesus knows what they are trying to do: he tells them you know how to look at the sky and understand if the sun will come or if they clouds will cover and it will be rain. He says how can you know all of this, but, “you cannot interpret the sign of the times.”

These Pharisees and Sadducees were well trained in the Old Testament Scriptures. And theologins, people who study the people very well, say there there are more than 300 prophesies that point to a coming Messiah to Israel i the Old Testament. 300!

They knew the Scriptures, yet they did not know the Messiah. Why? We will see that in a moment. But before we leave this section, look at what Jesus says in verse 4: Matthew 16:4

Matthew 16:4 ESV

4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.

Everyone wants a sign. Have you ever said, God show me a sign and I know you will here me? I remember doing that once. And you know what, I never got a sign. But a I grew in my walk with Christ, I realized it was all about faith. Faith is what I needed to believe, not some sign.

We talked about faith last week, do you remember the Canaanite woman. Jesus said that she had great faith, but was it after she saw here daughter was healed that she had faith, or before? It was before. It was because of her faith, he healed the daughter.

They didn't need a sign, they were only trying to test him. If you look through the gospels, Jesus only performed miracles so that he would be glorified and people would see him as God. He didn’t need to perform a sign for nothing, they would have still not believed and Jesus knew that.

But Jesus does say he will give them a sign…not right then, but it was coming. He said it would be the sig of Jonah.

Jonah went down into the water in the belly of the fish for three days. When the fish spit him out, he went to Ninevah and proclaimed the name of the Lord and the King and all of the people turned to God.

Jesus was telling them what was coming...

He would go down into the grave for three days ands when he rose, he would provide a way of salvation to those who would believe and follow him.

So they depart and go tot he other side of the sea and he leaves he Pharisee and Sadducees behind.

But as they are going, the disciples realize that they don’t have any bread with them., but Jesus gives his disciples a warning about the Pharisees and Sadducees...

The disciples realize that they had not bought any bread. Jesus heard this talk and he said, Matt 16:6

Matthew 16:6 (ESV)

6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

So they are talking about bread, and he talking about the leaven of the Pharisees. What is Jesus trying to get them to understand?

Do you know what leaven is? Today we would call it yeast.

leaven-flat

yeast - rises up

But the main point that Jesus is using by this example, is that leaven changes the bread. From flat to rising. And he uses this changing of something and applies it to what the Pharisees ad Sadducees are teaching. They are taking the Law, given to Moses BUT they are adding to it and leading the Jews in their own personal beliefs.

In Scripture this is seen when Jesus uses the phrase… the traditions of men.

Remember when they came to Jesus and said that his disciples were breaking the Law f God by not washing their hands before they ate? That was not God’s Law, that was a law put on the people by the religious leader. It was not against God, even though they said it was. It was a tradition of men added to God’s law.

The New Living Translation states..

New Living Translation (Chapter 16)

12 Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Deceptive teaching. Teaching that is not from God.

People have been taking God’s word and twisting it and adding to it going all the way back into the times of the Bible.

Today we are one day closer to the end of the world than were yesterday. The bible tells us that we don’t know the time or day, but it does tell us to be ready. God is not going to hold up a big sign and say, tomorrow I’m coing get ready… (Matthew 24:36-51)

English Standard Version (Chapter 24)

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Today could be the day, another ordinary day.

Look at the signs of the times that Jesus discribes before all of this happens....

English Standard Version (Chapter 24)

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

*See that no one leads you astray

*many false prophets will arise and lead people astray

2 things:

1. We must be ready

2. The days are short, judgment is coming and we need to tell others.

In Nigeria there are 216 million people. But there are 63 million that have not been reach with the gospel.