What's the Sign?

Matthew 12:38-42

Context: Matthew 12:1-50

Memory Verse: Matthew 12:18

Main Idea: The proof of His rule is found in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

FIRST THOUGHTS

        We all from time to time look for a sign from heaven to direct our path. When a devoted church member was pondering changing jobs, he told his Bible study group that he was putting out a fleece in order to determine if he should accept the new job. A young couple was praying about taking a year off from their regular jobs prior to starting their family in order to accept a short-term mission opportunity overseas. They explained to their other family members that they would be awaiting their final decision to be confirmed in the mouth of two or three witnesses.

        What occurrences do people view as signs from God? Why do you think people seek some type of sign?

        This week’s core passage tells of a time when some scribes and Pharisees approached Jesus to ask for a sign from Him. Their request had its origin in hearts of unbelief that were disposed to reject Jesus’ message and saving mission. By contrast, sincere Christians who put out fleeces or ask for confirming witnesses have their requests originating in hearts of faith that are disposed to do God’s will.

I.                 UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT

Matthew 12:1-50

        The context of Matthew 12 can best be 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. Jesus had already rebuked “this generation” for its rejection of John the Baptist’s call for repentance and then Jesus’ announcement that the kingdom had arrived.

        The theme of rejection and increasing conflict continued in a series of disputes between Jesus and the Jewish leadership. The disputes involved Sabbath observance (vv. 1-21) as well as the outrageous response of the Pharisees to Jesus’ authority over the demonic spirits (vv. 22-37). In verses 1-8 the Pharisees interpreted Jesus’ disciples plucking grain by hand and eating it as reaping. This would not normally be an issue, but it happened on a Sabbath. They interpreted this as violating Sabbath observance. In verses 9-14 the issue was whether or not Jesus should heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees argued that since a withered hand poses no threat to the man’s life, it could wait until the Sabbath was over. Jesus interpreted the law through the lens of love and mercy for a human being. Thus, the decision to heal the man’s hand on the Sabbath was an easy one. And with that, the Pharisees “went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him” (v. 14). This event marked a sharp escalation in the Pharisees’ determination to destroy Jesus.

        The remainder of the chapter develops out of the Pharisees’ hostile response to Jesus’ authority over unclean spirits, which set a man free to see and speak. In response, they charged that Jesus had authority over the demons because He was an agent of Beelzebul (v. 24). Jesus responded that it was by the Spirit of God that He cast out demons. Jesus then charged the Pharisees with blasphemy because they denied the work of the Holy Spirit (vv. 31-32). They were a “brood of vipers” that would have to give an account to God for their careless and angry words (v. 34). With the tensions escalating, they demanded that Jesus show them a sign.

II.              EXPLORE THE TEXT

A.     Seeking a sign (Matt. 12:38)

        ³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”

        Jesus was approached by some of the scribes and Pharisees seeking some supernatural confirmation of Jesus’ identity.

  

Verse 38

        Some of the scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus with what may sound on the surface like a polite request. Rather than being polite, however, their demand for a sign marked 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 and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:11). Luke 11:16 says: “others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.” The addition of “from heaven” clarified the intent of the question. The Jewish leaders were demanding proof that Jesus’ authority was from God. Their question foreshadowed the interrogation of Jesus after He cleansed the temple: “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matt. 21:23).

        The request for a sign could easily be 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 sēmeion (sign). While Jesus’ miracles did point beyond the deed to who Jesus was, they were primarily miraculous deeds prompted by Jesus’ compassion. The request for a sign was not a demand to perform another miracle. They had seen plenty of those. They had seen Him 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 heal 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 empowered and approved by God.

        Do you see a conflict between seeking a sign and having faith to believe?

        What are some conditions that people want to see or experience before believing God? Is waiting for a “certain feeling” comparable to waiting for a sign?

B.     identifying the sign (Matt. 12:39-40)

        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.

        Jesus declared that the only sign that would be granted would be the sign of Jonah, pointing to His death, burial, and resurrection.

Verse 39

        Jesus’ response to the request for a sign, both here and in other scenes (Matt. 16:1-3; Mark 8:11-12; Luke 11:16,29-32; John 6:30-33), 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). A sigh can speak a thousand words.

        Jesus’ words reflected His frustration not only with the Jewish leadership but also with many in Israel at the time. He began with a rebuke: “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.” The term translated evil has the sense of a wicked, degenerate person. Jesus had just used the term for the Pharisees specifically (12:35), and now He employed it on a broader scale for this generation. The term translated adulterous recalls the language of the prophet Hosea, who made use of the precise phrase to describe the behavior of Israel in their relationship with God. God commanded Hosea to go and love a woman who was loved by another and was “evil and adulterous” (3:1, author’s translation). The language also recalls Moses’ indictment of disobedient Israelites in his generation: “They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation” (Deut. 32:5).

        Thus, by His choice of words, Jesus compared the current generation of Israelites with two tragic eras 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, wicked generation in desperate need of repentance. Jesus indicated that their demand for a sign authenticated the wickedness of the current generation. The refusal to accept as evidence the steady succession of Jesus’ miracles they had already witnessed indicated their hardheartedness. Furthermore, the demand for a sign might be analogous to the Devil’s demand for a sign of Jesus’ messiahship in the temptation account in Matthew 4:3,5-6.

Verse 40

        The “sign of the prophet Jonah” (v. 39) points to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus explained it as follows: 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 first point of comparison is between Jonah and Jesus. At first glance, it is surprising that Jesus would choose this prophet for any comparison with Himself. Jonah is remembered most as the smug, sullen, rebellious prophet. The “sign of Moses” would be a strong image, as Moses delivered the Israelites from slavery and brought them God’s revelation from the mountain. Or perhaps the “sign of Elijah” would be a more apt comparison—a prophet calling down fire from heaven in opposition to idolatry. But the comparison is not between Jonah and Jesus in general—it is rooted in one specific event in Jonah’s prophetic career.

        The next point of comparison is that as Jonah was … in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be … in the heart of the earth. The Lord called Jonah to get up and go. Jonah got up and went, but not to Nineveh. Instead, he got up to flee from the Lord (Jonah 1:2-3). Jonah was rebelling against God’s call because Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire.

        From a Jewish perspective, the Assyrians were a cruel, ruthless, godless people. They were infamous for the bloodiest and most vicious kinds of cruelty against Jews and other nations as well. So Jonah refused to obey God’s commission because they were so wicked? No! He fled to Tarshish and refused to obey God’s commission because God is “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (4:2). He knew God would forgive them if they repented, so he refused to go. As a result of his disobedience, the ship he fled on was caught in a great storm. When it became clear that (1) the ship could not survive the storm and (2) Jonah’s presence on the ship was the cause of the threat, the crew tossed Jonah overboard at his own request. A huge fish swallowed him and he was in its belly for three days (1:17).

        When all the conditions were right, God sent forth His one and only Son to announce that the kingdom of God had arrived and to preach repentance. Jesus obeyed the Father’s plan. And as a result of His obedience, He was hanged on a tree, died, and was buried in the heart of the earth.

        The most significant aspect of the comparison is the length of time Jonah was in the belly of the fish. In the heart of the sea and the belly of the huge fish, Jonah feared death and prayed for rescue (2:7). The fish got a horrible case of indigestion and vomited him on the shore. Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights (2:1).

        In the same way, Jesus, following His crucifixion, was buried in the heart of the earth, the realm of the dead. Jesus overcame death and was raised on the third day. The designation three days and three nights denotes a Jewish figure of speech for any part of three days. Following the traditional passion week chronology, Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday, in the grave on Saturday, and raised early on that first Easter Sunday morning. As long as Jesus’ time in the tomb encompassed any part of three days, there is no contradiction in the comparison between Jonah’s period of confinement in the huge fish and Jesus’ confinement in the earth.

In conclusion, what was the sign of Jonah? It was the parallel experience of Jonah’s miraculous deliverance from the belly of the huge fish after three days and Jesus’ miraculous deliverance from the belly of the earth on the third day. Jonah and Jesus were each sent by God; the ministries of both were certified as authentic by their deliverance from death. In short, the sign of Jonah pointed to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

        If Jesus were speaking to our present generation, how do you think He would describe it? Would the words “wicked” and “adulterous” be appropriate?

        How does the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus serve as a sign for us today?

C.     a warning sign (Matt. 12:41-42)

        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.”

        Pointing to the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba (Gentiles who expressed faith in God), Jesus issued a warning against those who refuse to believe in Him.

Verse 41

        Having made a comparison between Jonah’s deliverance from the belly of the fish and His own imminent deliverance from the heart of the earth, Jesus followed with a comparison between 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 God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5). Even the king “arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes” (3:6). As a result, God turned from the disaster He had threatened: “And he did not do it” (3:10).

        Because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation, The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. Even the wicked, bloodthirsty, idolatrous Ninevites repented. Therefore, one day they will rise up as witnesses for the prosecution against the generation that heard Jesus’ mighty words and saw His mighty deeds and yet refused to repent.

        The picture of redeemed Gentiles participating in the final judgment of unredeemed Israelites would surely have been a disturbing image for Jesus’ Jewish audience. But the situation was even worse for their generation. If the Ninevites had failed to respond with repentance to Jonah, the reluctant prophet of God, there would have been consequences. By demanding a sign, Jesus’ generation had rejected the Prophet of God, who was the Son of God in human flesh. He is something greater than Jonah. As a result, the judgment on that generation would be even more devastating.

  

Verse 42

        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.

        Once again, Jesus painted a rather disturbing image of impending doom on Israelites of His own day. The queen trekked from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and Solomon was merely a human king. By demanding a sign, they had rejected God’s messenger, who just happened to be the King of heaven and earth. He is something greater than Solomon. As a result, that generation’s judgment would be even more crushing.

        How would you compare your generation to the generation addressed by Jesus in this passage? What advantages do people today have that would make them face greater judgment for failure to believe in and live for Christ?

KEY DOCTRINE

Son of God

Jesus was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion.

BIBLE SKILL

Observe when and for what purpose a New Testament passage includes an Old Testament reference.

        Typology is a method of interpretation that understands that people or events of the Old Testament point to a future event, most often to Jesus Christ. Jonah is presented as a type that pointed to Christ. Read the Book of Jonah. Consider the similarities between Jonah asleep in the boat during a storm and Jesus asleep in the boat during a storm (Matt. 8:23-27). In order to calm the storm, Jonah had to be thrown overboard. In Matthew 8, all Jesus had to do was rebuke the winds and sea. One greater than Jonah was there! What other aspects of Jonah and his story point forward to Christ?