Sermon Manuscript for Feb. 21, 2016

“Looking for the Signs”

Matthew 12:38-42

Sermon Series: Kingdom Expectations

I. The Unbelief That Was Displayed (v. 38).

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus with what may sound on the surface like a polite request. However, this demand for a sign signaled a deteriorating relationship between Jesus and the Jewish leadership.

Near the end of Jesus' Galilean ministry, the Pharisees and Sadducees would once again put Jesus to the test with the same demand: “The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, demanding of Him a sign from heaven to test Him” (Mark 8:11 HCSB). Luke 11:6 (HCSB) says: “And others, as a test, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.”

Notice that the phrase “from heaven” clarified the intent of the question. The Jewish leaders were demanding proof that Jesus' authority was from God. The request for a sign could be easily misunderstood as a request for a mighty deed or miracle. The text, however, does not use the word that is translated “miracle” (dunameis), but rather the word for “sign” (sēmeion).¹

The request for a sign was not a demand to perform another miracle. They had seen plenty of those. The Pharisees and Sadducees had seen Jesus heal the paralytic (9:1-8), give sight to two blind men (9:27-31), cast out unclean spirits (9:32-34), and more recently healed the man with a withered hand (12:9-14). They were not asking for another miracle. Rather, they were demanding that Jesus provide them a unique, indisputable sign that would confirm that His ministry was approved and empowered by God.²

Spiritual Truth #1: When we demand God provide us “signs,” we display a spirit of unbelief.

The context of Matthew 12 can be best described with two words: rejection and conflict. Despite the fact that the Twelve joined Jesus in the preaching of the gospel throughout Galilee, the response was mixed at best. Many people continued to come out to see the miracles, but the number of Israelites who were repenting and committing their lives to follow Jesus was few.

Likewise today, many people say, “If I could just see a real miracle, then I can believe in Jesus.” Or, “If God would just give me this confirmation ___________, then my faith will be strengthened.”

What is the nature of biblical faith?

1. Biblical faith is grounded in God's greater realities (Hebrews 11:1).

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The word assurance is translated from the word hypostasis, which communicates the idea of substance, confidence, a guarantee, or a proof.³ So, we can translate this part of Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the resolute confidence. . .” The examples that follow in Hebrews 11 demonstrate a firm confidence in the promises of God even though the believer had not yet received the fulfillment of those promises.

The second part of verse 1 says, “the conviction of things not seen.” The word “conviction” used here is not a static emotion of complacency. It is something lively and active which propels a believer to stretch out their hand and lay hold of those realities on which his or her hope is fixed.

Some realities are unseen because they belong to the spiritual realm and some because they lie in the future. In either case, the person of faith lives out a bold confidence in God's greater realities.⁴

2. Biblical faith is evidenced by the salvation of an individual.

Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God...”

3. Biblical faith is rooted in the testimony of God's Word.

Romans 15:4, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

When we ask God for a “sign” we ignore the overwhelming evidence He has already given us: Jesus' birth, death, resurrection, and ascension, centuries of work in believers around the world, and the testimony of the Bible.

We must accept what God has given us and move forward.

II. The Comparisons That Were Drawn (vv. 39-40).

But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

Jesus' response to the request for a sign, both here and in other scenes reflects His frustration with the Jewish leadership's rejection. Mark captured the spirit of Jesus' response by noting that He sighed “deeply in His spirit” before responding (Mark 8:12).⁵

Jesus began by rebuking the Jewish leadership, and by extension, Israel: “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign.”

The term translated “evil” has the sense of a wicked, degenerate person. The term translated “adulterous” brings back to mind the prophet Hosea, who made use of the precise phrase to describe the behavior of Israel and their relationship with God. It also recalls Moses' indictment of disobedient Israelites in his generation: “His [God's] people have acted corruptly toward Him; this is their defect-they are not His children but a devious and crooked generation” (Deut. 32:5 HCSB).

Thus, by His choice of words, Jesus compared the current generation of Israelites with two tragic ears in Israel's history: the idolatrous and faithless generation of Israelites who refused to enter the Promised Land and died in the wilderness, and the eighth-century Israelites who were a disobedient, lawless, rebellious, and wicked generation in desperate need of repentance.⁶

Then Jesus tells them the only sign they will receive is the “sign of the prophet Jonah” (v. 39). This points to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The most significant aspect of the comparison is the length of time Jonah was in the belly of the fish “three days and three nights” (Jonah 2:1).

In the same way, Jesus following His crucifixion was buried in “the heart of the earth.” Jesus overcame death and was raised on the third day. In conclusion, what was the sign of Jonah? It was the parallel experience of Jonah’s miraculous deliverance from the belly of the fish and Jesus’ miraculous deliverance from the belly of the earth. In short, the sign of Jonah pointed to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Spiritual Truth #2: We must evaluate the opposition to our faith, and emulate Jesus' response.

Opposition to the work of the kingdom of God is real. Jesus was opposed by the religious leaders of His time. In our obedience to the Father's will for our lives, we too can expect opposition. Jesus said in Matthew 10:25 (NIV), “It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household.”

The opposition that we encounter will be of a variety of different types. In today's culture, we will encounter opposition to our faith from popular culture. The Christian community in the United States was rocked during the summer of 2002 when a panel of the U.S. 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a 1954 law passed by Congress that added the reference “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

The court said these words violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which requires the separation of church and state.⁷

More recent incidents include a married couple in Colorado who owned The Masterpiece Cakeshop, being sued for refusing to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding in June of 2013. The most recent is the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states in June of 2015.

These incidents clearly indicate our culture is increasingly opposed to the public display of any acknowledgment of the reality of God and His will for us.

Within Jesus' prediction of the inevitability of opposition, we also should look for His example in dealing with it. Matthew develops his narrative in such a way that as one looks at the life of Jesus, one not only learns what it is for Jesus to be the Messiah, but also what it is to be His disciple by emulating the life He lived.

Michael J. Wilkins defines love this way: “Love is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person in which we give ourselves to bring the relationship to God's intended purpose.”⁸

As we encounter opposition, we must love as Jesus loved. Here are some “tips for wounded disciples.”⁹

1. Give yourself to others.

It was Jesus' love, character, and grace that permeated this world. The world needs to see in us the embodiment of Jesus' love, compassion, and character. Relationships become cold and lifeless if based only on duty. When we give ourselves to others, we establish real relationship.

2. Focus on serving, rather than being served.

When we follow Jesus' example of ministry, we find that He came to give, not take. That was the Father's intended purpose in sending His Son (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). Jesus came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for His people. Such an attitude of giving should also characterize our relationships.

3. Yield to God's expectations for you in your relationships.

Jesus maintained a clear perspective of His Father's will for His life and ministry and was not deterred by what others expected Him to be. He was the Messiah of Israel offering forgiveness for the sins of the people and remained fully focused on that calling. Our lives and ministries wills stay focused when we try to bring any of our relationships to what God desires, not necessarily what we, or what others, want.

4. Choose carefully the hills you die on.

Jesus knew clearly that His mission of establishing the kingdom of heaven would lead Him to the cross for the redemption of humanity. He did not get caught up in petty squabbles. To use modern terms, He majored on the majors, not on the minors.

III. The Warning That Was Delivered (12:41-42).

“The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Spiritual Truth #3: Our generation will be held to a stricter accountability because of the revelation given to us.

Jesus made two comparisons that describe two different attitudes to the gospel. The first is a comparison to the Ninevites and His hearers. They both heard God’s call for repentance from God’s chosen messenger. As a result of Jonah’s preaching, the men of Nineveh “believed in God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth-from the greatest of them to the least” (Jonah 3:5 HCSB).

As a result, God turned from the disaster He had threatened (Jonah 3:10).

The Gentile witnesses against that generation of Israelites on the Day of Judgment will not be limited to the Ninevites. Jesus added that “the queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it.”

The queen of the south is a reference to the Queen of Sheba (see 1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chron. 9:1-12). The queen had traveled from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom. This pagan queen’s response to the Wisdom of Solomon signified repentance and faith in the God of Solomon.

In both instances, Jesus said the response of repentance we because, “something greater than Jonah and Solomon was there”-Jesus.

Our generation and any subsequent generations will be held under a stricter accountability at the judgment because we have a greater testimony than previous generations. We have Jesus, both Testaments, and the testimony of the Church down through the ages.

Matthew 11:16-20 (ESV):

 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

On January 28, 1986, NASA was planning to launch the space shuttle Challenger from Kennedy Space Center—a mission that included a schoolteacher named Christa McAuliffe. The launch had already been delayed a few times. On the night before the new launch date, NASA held a long conference call with engineers from Morton-Thiokol, the contractor that built the Challenger's solid-rocket motors. Allan McDonald was one of the Thiokol engineers.

On the day of the launch it was unusually cold in Florida, which concerned McDonald because he feared that his company's O-ring seals in the Challenger's big joints wouldn't operate properly at that temperature. Since the boosters had never been tested below 53 degrees McDonald recommended the launch be postponed again.

But NASA officials overruled McDonald and requested that the "responsible Morton-Thiokol official" sign off on the decision to launch. McDonald refused to sign the request, but his boss did. The next morning McDonald—and millions of people around the globe—watched as a mere 73 seconds into the flight, the shuttle burst into flames.

After the accident, a review showed the cause of the explosion to be what McDonald had feared: the O-rings failed to hold their seal in the cold temperature. In other words, some people in the know had foreseen the exact cause of failure.¹⁰

They ignored the overwhelming evidence presented before them. And the result was death. We have presented overwhelming evidence of the truthfulness of the gospel. God has given us the full testimony of His Word, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the evidence of salvation. Today, what are you going to do with this evidence?

1 Gregory T. Pouncey, Commentary on Matthew 12:38-42, Explore the Bible (Nashville: Lifeway Resources, 2015), 125.

2 Ibid.

3 George H. Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 374.

4 Ibid.

5 Pouncey, 126.

6 Pouncey, 126.

7 Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 461.

8 Wilkins, 463.

9 The following points were modified from Wilkin's commentary on Matthew, 463-468.

10 Illustration taken from preachingtoday.com, “Pride and the 1986 Challenger Disaster,” accessed 21 February 2016, available from http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2015/may/2052515.html; Internet.