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38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." 39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For 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 in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here." ~ Matthew 12:38-42
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 12 where the Lord Jesus has been compelling the religious leaders of Israel to believe He was the promised Messiah. In only months, the Lord Jesus will be crucified in Jerusalem on the cross by the very ones before Him at this moment. From this point onward the ministry of the Lord Jesus was spent convicting these religious people of their need for a savior. The Lord Jesus will speak of grace to the outcasts, to the tax collectors, to the prostitutes and to the criminals. Increasingly, He will concentrate on teaching His disciples, teaching them about His death and His resurrection and their ministry that would follow.
In v.38 of today's passage we read, "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, 'Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.'"
Along with the common folk, the religious leaders of Israel had seen many signs most of which they dismissed. In fact, they accused the Lord Jesus of performing them by the power of Satan. Their request for yet another miracle revealed their hypocrisy because the Lord Jesus had been doing signs and miracles for years. One more sign was not going to convince these who were increasingly being defined by themselves instead of God. They had been deceived by the god of this world, Satan, yet they were guilty of self-deception. The worst deception is self-deception because when we deceive ourselves, we are doing both the deceiving and we are being deceived. This makes it difficult to identify the deception, as we are essentially creating our own version of reality. Since we are deceiving ourselves, there is no external party to hold us accountable for the falsehoods we have created.
In v.39-41 of today's passage we read, "39 But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For 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 in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.'"
In response to the religious leaders request for yet another sign, the Lord Jesus identified them as evil or wicked which was a word the Lord Jesus used at another time to describe Satan. The Lord Jesus spoke to the morally religious Jews, the ones most concerned with their adherence to the law of Moses and they could not hear Him. They were so religious that the whole of their lives were under the control of their religious duties and obligations and rituals. On the outside they were squeaky clean, but on the inside they were wicked in the most dangerous way. Their morality had blinded them from the truth.
When it comes to responding to the gospel we are better off being immoral rather than moral, irreligious rather than religious. Moral and religious people feel they are good enough and they see no need for a savior. The essence of the gospel is that we are damned by our sin and that we cannot be good enough to merit God's favor. These religious Jews hated the Lord Jesus for exposing their true condition. They did not understand that morality is not the same as spirituality. They believed they were good enough and they didn't understand that they desperately needed a savior.
The Lord Jesus identified these morally religious people as "an evil and adulterous generation" because they were separated from God by their sin. As the Old Testament sacrificial system reminded them daily, they needed a savior. Ironically, the evidence of their evil nature was proven by the fact that they were seeking yet another sign. With all of the evidence the Lord Jesus had given them, they didn't believe He was God. This is where many end up while seeking what is being offered rather than seeking the one offering. This is true of any relationship. Their love was not love, and any relationship build on this kind of a "love" will not endure the crevices of selfishness and greed.
This is the most dangerous approach to life, to depend upon our morality to make us right with God. This is what caused the Jews to reject the diagnosis of their wretchedness. It is from the posture of need that our needs are truly met. These religious leaders were condemned in the presence of the only One who was the only one who could have saved them. They died in their sin because they were blinded by their self-righteousness.
Graciously, the Lord Jesus then drew their attention to two signs they had been given before but they didn't "get." In the same way Jonah was three days in the belly of the fish, so the Lord Jesus would be buried in the earth for three days. Just as Jonah came out of His virtual death alive, the Lord Jesus would come out of His actual death alive. This was the sign of Jonah. It was given to point us all to the Lord Jesus death, burial and resurrection. The unbelieving Ninevites believed in God as a result of Jonah's miracle. They got the message of judgment. They knew God was going to destroy them if they didn't turn from their sin. Mercifully, they saw their need for a Savior and they turned to God.
In v.42 we read, "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here."
The Lord Jesus then reminded them of another miracle they did not get. The Queen of the South, a Gentile, traveled many miles to garner Solomon's wisdom which was steeped in His submission to the God of all creation. Such people will stand up at the judgment and condemn the unbelieving Jews because they didn't believe in God's promise through Solomon. Again, their moral religion had blinded them from the truth. They were worse off than the evil Ninevites and the Gentile woman from the end of the earth who had very little spiritual privilege.
These religious Jews were too comfortable in their houses of glass serving themselves. They needed the gift of brokenness but they returned the gift to the Sender. Brokenness is unwanted because pain is required. For them it was too hard to peer long enough into the eyes of pain to see its purpose. But, for those who do, it yields a wisdom that pushes us to the Savior. And, it is then that we see Him for the loving God that He is. And, when we see His heart, we will recognize that He is the truth who is trustworthy to depend upon and worthy to follow.
