Lesson 12 - Matt. 12:38-45 - THE PHARISEES DEMAND A SIGN
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Matt. 11:20-30, we heard Jesus pronounce judgment on the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum in Galilee and explain His reasons for doing so. This text was part of a larger section (Matt. 11-13) that records Israel's rejection of its Messiah and the consequences the nation would suffer for it. Evidence of this was shown by the willful antagonism of the rulers and religious authorities to the ministries of both John the Baptist and Jesus, together with and the indifference of people of Galilee and their refusal to accept Jesus' message of grace. Jesus criticized the "wise and intelligent' Jews who rejected Him because they felt no need for what He offered. The key verses of the text were 28-30: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." In terms of application, the three main points of the lesson were: (1) Lost people need to be warned of the danger of ignoring Jesus' gospel of grace (vv. 20-24). People have heard of Jesus and may even know something of His works, but they, like the people of these Galilean cities, are indifferent. Yet, it's the job of the church-us-to inform people from all walks of life of life of the danger into which they are heading-judgment. (2) As born-again Christians, God, in His mercy and grace, has revealed the truth about Jesus to us (vv. 25-27). And because of God's revelation of Jesus to us, it's our commission, both as individual believers and as a church, to share with others what Jesus has personally done for us, and to tell them that Jesus is willing and ready to offer the same free gift to them. (3) The weary and heavy-laden lost people of this world are in critical need of rest (vv. 28-30). Many people today are trudging through life under the yoke of the world-the bondage of sin-trying to cope with life through their own efforts, which ultimately gives them no hope, no real peace. They don't understand there's actually an alternative-a truly wonderful alternative: the gentle and light yoke of Jesus Christ. We need to tell them that the yoke of discipleship under Jesus is an easy and comfortable burden. While it doesn't mean they will avoid all the inevitable trials of life or even opposition from others, it does mean that they no longer have to bear their burdens alone, because they are yoked to Jesus, the One who gives sufficient grace for every time of need.
This week, in Matt. 12:38-45, we'll study a particular episode of the rising confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees. We come into the text soon after Jesus had performed two miracles, healing man with a withered hand (Matt. 12:9-14) and casting out a demon from a blind and mute man who afterward, was able to see and speak (Matt. 12:22-29). When the Pharisees accused Jesus of being possessed by Satan, Jesus made the famous reply, "if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself." In other words, how could Satan take action against himself?
NOTE: The verses in today's lesson text are difficult, both in terms of interpretation and theology, and various commentators and scholars are not in agreement about their meaning. Matthew includes them to emphasize not only the extreme hard-heartedness of the scribed and the Pharisees against Jesus, but that of the Jewish people in general.
Read Matt. 12:38-39b - JESUS ANSWERED THEM
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." 39a But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign;
v. 38: Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You." - According to Unger's Bible Dictionary a sign may be defined as "a miraculous or divine or extraordinary manifestation of some generally future event" (Unger, p. 1194). A secondary definition is some visible or inexplicable event or appearance intended as proof that authenticates something else. Whether this demand was concurrent with Jesus' previous miracle of casting out the demon from the blind and mute man in vv. 22-29 isn't certain; however, these Pharisees or at least some of them at been present when Jesus performed other miracles. In other words, they want Jesus to provide on-demand miracles, this time, a different kind, "a sign," presumably one to authenticate Himself in some fashion. There are "Seven Signs" in the gospel of John (look them up) that aren't duplicated in the synoptic gospels, which, as a whole, were intended to prove that Jesus was who He claimed to be, and to help people to believe His message. There are many examples of signs in the OT, like the sign of the rainbow that God gave Noah to signify His promise to never destroy the world again by flood (Gen. 9:12-17). Many scholars assume that the Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign here because they believed He couldn't produce one and that His failure would work to discredit Him.
v. 39a: "But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign;" - The term "evil and adulterous generation" are the same words God used to describe the unfaithful generation of Israelites during their wilderness wanderings. In the context of this verse, the "evil and adulterous generation" represented the larger faction of unbelieving Jews for whom the Pharisees and scribe presumably spoke. Adultery was a common OT metaphor for spiritual apostasy-or falling away from God. God had given signs in the past to strengthen the weak faith of believers such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and Gideon. But in this instance, Jesus refuses, knowing that they ask for the sign with a motive to entrap Him, rather than believe in Him.
Read Matt. 12:39b-42 - THE SIGN OF THE PROPHET JONAH
39b 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. 41 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.
39b and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;" - Most scholars agree that this "sign of Jonah" was intended by Jesus as a sign to be identified later by believing Christians rather than one for the scribes and Pharisees of that time, who, for all practical purposes, were spiritually blind. Of greater note, this and the next verse were the first hint of His forthcoming death and resurrection to appear in Matthew's gospel.
v. 40a: "for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER," - This was the sign intended for the Ninevites, to whom Jonah had been sent by God to warn them of coming judgment. Most of us are familiar with this story but here's the short version: When God commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah (Assyria) to threaten judgment, he went the opposite direction on a ship. When a storm threatened to destroy the ship, the sailors drew lots to see who caused it and Jonah was thrown overboard. He was swallowed by a great fish and spent three days and nights in its belly praying to God for deliverance, and on the third day, the fish vomited him onto dry land.
v. 40b: "so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Here, Jesus uses His favorite title for Himself, "the Son of Man," which occurs 32 times in Matthew. This title means He was a son of man, that is, a human being, but that He is also the Son of God, in that He has always existed as the second Person of the Trinity (see OT reference in Dan. 7:13-14). The "three days and nights in the heart of the earth" predicts the time Jesus will spend buried after His death by crucifixion as an analogy to the three days and nights Jonah spent in the belly of the fish. The point Jesus is makes is that like Jonah's deliverance from the belly of the fish on the third day, He will be delivered from death-resurrected on the third day-and while similar to Jonah's deliverance, His would be far greater and prove all of His claims as the son of God; and ultimately, it will be the sign, and we know from all the gospel accounts and the epistles, that Jesus' resurrection is a proven fact.
v. 41a: "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;" - This verse foreshadows a future event during the End-Times when all people will face judgment by God (Rev. 20:7-15). Jesus is predicting that, at this judgment, His critics, the scribes and Pharisees, would face greater condemnation than the Ninevites because the Ninevites had repented in response to Jonah's preaching, while the scribes and Pharisees not only refused to accept Jesus' preaching, but actively worked to repudiate it.
v. 41b: "and behold, something greater than Jonah is here." - The phrase "something greater than Jonah" is a direct reference to Jesus ultimate authority as the Messiah as confirmed by OT prophecy. The sign promised by Jesus didn't satisfy His critics' demands because they didn't even possess weak faith that was capable of being strengthened. In this respect, the scribes and Pharisees showed themselves to be worse sinners than the Gentile Ninevites. Moreover, Jesus is greater than Jonah in every other way: (1) He is greater than Jonah as a person, because Jonah was a mere man; (2) He was greater in His perfect obedience to God, because Jonah disobeyed God and had to be chastened; (3) Jonah survived his ordeal in the belly of the fish, while Jesus had to die for the sin of those He came to save; and (4) Jonah ministered only to one people, whereas, Jesus gave His life for the whole world.
v. 42a: 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;" - The "Queen of the South" was the Queen of Sheeba reported In 1 Kings 10:1-13. She visited Jerusalem because of the reports she had heard about King Solomon's great wisdom. While there, she challenged Solomon with very demanding questions, much like the challenges the scribes and Pharisees had been making against Jesus. But in the end, unlike them, she was willing to accept the truth of Solomon's wisdom.
v. 42b: "and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. - The "something greater than Solomon" was the fact the as the Messiah, Jesus was the human embodiment of all divine wisdom.
Read Matthew 12:43-45 - THE WAY IT WILL BE WITH THIS EVIL GENERATION
43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."
NOTE: This is where the interpretation gets real tricky. In the gospels, we see many instances of Jesus casting out demons or "unclean spirits" that possessed certain people, and He even gave this power to his 12 apostles, but what are the theological principles behind it? Matthew includes it here because it was one of the supernatural powers that Jesus frequently used to set people free.
v. 43: "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it." - Scholars view this verse and the next two as a parable about the "evil and adulterous generation" in verse 39 that had rejected Jesus as its Messiah-using it as a parable (analogy) that pictures the unbelieving Jews of Israel, along with their scribe and Pharisee proponents. Demons were often associated with waterless places, apparently because deserts were dry, lifeless areas, devoid of God's blessings (Isa. 13:19-22; Jer. 17:6; Zeph. 2:13; and Mal. 1:3).
v. 44: "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order." - In Jesus analogy, the "house" is a human body that the demon seeks to inhabit. And the house itself is a metaphor for the "evil and adulterous generation" of Israel in Jesus' day. The demon returns to this house-the body of the person it had left-and discovers that that it is a suitable place to enter because the house is "unoccupied." It's unoccupied and receptive to the demon because no superior power-i.e., the Spirit of God-abides in that human body. In short, it's an ideal home for an evil demon.
v. 45: "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation." - Because this house is such an ideal host for demons, the demon invites "seven other spirits more wicked than itself" to inhabit this previously empty body. Now this body is in far worse condition than when it was occupied by the demon the first time. Jesus is metaphorically comparing the unbelieving Jews of His time to the demon-possessed person in the parable. The point He makes is that this generation has been left spiritually empty. They had had seen the powerful works of Jesus, which included demon exorcism, from which many individuals had benefited, however, there had been no repentance-no acceptance of Jesus and commitment to His cause; therefore, this generation would not only be susceptible to the power of evil, but to God's condemnation in judgment for their failure to believe.
ENDNOTE: One commentator said that the point of this parable goes back to Jesus' warning about being "neutral" to Him, when He declared, "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters." (Matt. 12:20). The plain fact is that being neutral is just as dangerous as complete unbelief. With Jesus there is no middle or neutral ground: a person either accepts Him or rejects Him. This describes a lot-maybe even a majority-of people in America today. They know about Jesus and may even attend church on a regular basis, but have never accepted Jesus as Lord of their life. They are no better off than the blasphemers who actively deny that Jesus is God.
Application-The Middle Ground is Deadly Dangerous
1. People who hear the gospel but reject it will be held accountable. Like the "adulterous generation" of Jesus time who were compared to the Ninevites who repented at the sign of Jonah, people who have received the light of the gospel but rejected it, will face greater consequences at the judgment.
2. Knowledge of Jesus will not save anyone. There is no middle ground. The unbelieving Jews heard His words and witnessed His miracles, but stubbornly refused to accept Him as God's Messiah. Today many people have of heard of Jesus and some of them even go to church, sing the hymns, and put money in the collection plate, but all of those things aren't enough to save anyone. You must believe that Jesus is who He claims to be-the Son of God-and accept Him by faith as your Lord and Savior. These people desperately need to be encouraged to move from the middle ground to saving faith.
