LOJ #57: Here’s Your Sign
Andover Baptist Church-March 7th, 2010
Opening
A. Text for today is Matthew 12:38-45 and our sermon is titled
‘Here’s Your Sign’
B. Children’s Sermon(SLIDE)
1. Do any of you remember Jonah? What happened to
him? How long was he in the fish’s belly? 3 days!
2. Did you know that what happened to Jonah kind of
happened to Jesus? Can you guess how?
3. Remember Jesus died on the cross for us right? And then
they put Him into what? The tomb.
4. How long was Jesus in the tomb? Three days!
5. Do you know why that is exciting that Jesus came back
to life? It meant that all that He said was true and that
we can go to heaven with Him one day!
C. Introduction
1. Comedian Bill Engle is known for his comedy routine
'Here's your sign'
a. Basically signs tell people things
b. In Bill’s case theses signs that you give people
show their lack of mental ability
2. But there are signs that give us warnings: Rail road,
Children At Play, School Zone, etc
3. A person’s actions also point to who they are: doctor,
police officer, judge, you can watch them and figure out
their profession
4. Here we are in the middle of the life of Christ
a. For over a year Jesus has been doing things and
saying things that directly point to Who He is
1. We have seen people exclaiming that, ‘No
one has ever taught like this’ and that ‘He
teaches as One Who has authority’
2. Jesus has healed the lame, the blind, the
paralyzed, the sick
3. He’s freed the possessed
4. And He has even raised the dead
b. All of these things have been signs that not only
He is from God, He is the Son of God
c. Did the people flock to Him in belief? Did those
who were looking for God’ promised Messiah
realize that there He was before them?
1. No they didn’t
2. Why? According to Jesus it was because
they were evil and adulterous in their
relationship with God
3. It wasn’t for a lack of signs, it was due to
a lack of wiliness to submit to God
5. People play this same card with God today
a. Maybe it’ a game you play with Him
b. Atheists do it
c. What is it: ‘If God would only give me a sign,
then I would submit to Him’
d. Prove to me this, prove to me that, when right
before their very eyes creation screams: You are
a fool for refusing to seeing Him!
6. And one day those who deny Him now will see the fruit
of His resurrection: His return and there will be no
denying Him then, but then it will be too late
Sermon
READ: Matthew 12:38 (Scripture slide)
"Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees answered Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
A. 'Then…'
1. They 'answered' Him
2. Jesus had just put them in their place and here they
nonchalantly make a statement demanding a sign to tell
Him to prove Who
B. The Hypocrite Club
1. The experts in the Law piped in their own 2 cents along
with some of the Pharisees Jesus had just insulted
2. These 'experts in the law' were the Scribes. Their
expertise was as scholars in the study of Scripture
3. Ironically they call Jesus ‘Teacher’
a. Mind you these are the dudes that just claimed
Jesus was in league with the devil
b. If these guys are sincere they need to be put on
Prozac
4. The ‘want a sign’ from Jesus
a. Some say that this is a perfectly legitimate thing
for them to do in light of what Scripture said
Isaiah 7:11 (NET): “Ask for a confirming sign from the LORD your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.”
1. Maybe they wanted a sign from heaven,
something other than Jesus' miracles, a
divine neon sign from the Father saying
'Here He is!'
2. 'If what you say is true prove it miracle
boy'
b. Mark and Luke say that they were 'testing' or
'tempting' Him
Mark 8:11 (NET)“Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for a sign from heaven to test Him.”
c. The devil made requests that Jesus do a
miraculous signs to prove Who He is (cf. John
6:30, 31)
1. Do something only God can do
2. They are wanting a super-miracle like
what the devil requested of Him in His
temptation
d. Don't need to see Marv's passport to know he's
from Arkansas, wouldn't be too hard for someone
to pick out the preacher if they walked in here in
the middle of the sermon
e. Ian how do you know that is Richard? Prove to
me that is Richard
5. They knew that no one could do the things Jesus was
doing if God were not with Him, they didn't care what
Jesus did…they wanted nothing to do with Him (nor
would they later on)
Matthew 27:39–43 (NET)“39 Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!” 41 In the same way even the chief priests – together with the experts in the law and elders – were mocking him: 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! 43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!”
6. Jesus was no Birthday Magician that would perform
miracles on a whim, He did it only when there was a
need….Jesus would not stoop to their level
READ: Matthew 12:39-40 (Scripture slide)
"39 But He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights."
A. Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees and scribes were
representative of the 'evil and adulterousgeneration' in which
Jesus was living in
1. They were evil, and therefore there was nothing good in
their requests
2. Jesus called them adulterous because they were
spiritually cheating on God by not following Him
3. God has no patience for spiritual infidelity
Hosea 3:1 (NET)“1 The LORD said to me, “Go, show love to your wife again, even though she loves another man and continually commits adultery. Likewise, the LORD loves the Israelites although they turn to other gods and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.”
Ezekiel 16:38 (NET)“I will punish you as an adulteress and murderer deserves. I will avenge your bloody deeds with furious rage.”
Mark 8:38 (NET)“For if anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Jeremiah 3:20 (NET)“But, you have been unfaithful to Me, nation of Israel,like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” says the LORD.”
4. This generation was privileged to be in the presence of
the Son of God, and how did they treat that opportunity
the masses rejected Him
B. Because they really do not want to believe in Him, Jesus tells
them 'no sign will be given' like they requested
1. Jesus knew that their asking of a miraculous sign was
not sincere, just as when He knows you and I are not
2. In the light of all that Jesus has taught and done, how
could they ask for a sign? They were being evasive,
trying all they could to discount what is right before
their eyes
3. Jesus brings this all to light by basically saying, ‘So you
who are evil want a sign from God…irony there’
C. Oh, but Jesus tells them there will be one sign from Him that
will show Who He is
1. This sign could not be denied, even though they would
try
2. Jesus knew that even if He rose from the dead they still
would not be willing to believe
D. The sign would be called the 'sign of the prophet Jonah'
1. This is the first time Jesus references His death, but
understandable likely only after it has taken place
2. Jonah and his story stood as a foreshadowing of what
was to come in the life of Jesus Christ
a. Jonah went to the Gentiles, so would the Gospel
message
b. Both had situations happen to them that would
make all that knew believe they were forever
dead(Jonah in the fish’s belly, Jesus in the grave)
c. Both spent three days and three nights in their
respective tombs(Jews did not keep time like we
do now, for they counted the day on which any
period began and when each period ended as one
day)
d. As Jonah's time in the belly of the fish confirmed
his ministry to the Assyrians, so does Jesus time
in the grave and subsequent resurrection cement
His role as Judge
3. So what is the ‘sign of the prophet Jonah’?
a. It’s the ultimate miracle: The resurrection of
Jesus Christ
b. To the Jews who denied Jesus this sign would be
done as a judgment upon them, for those who
believed upon Him it would mean their very own
resurrection in His Kingdom
c. The Resurrection was Jesus' ultimate revelation
of Who He is
4. Yet even after this they would not believe
a. Over the years when I have counseled couples
getting ready to be married I have seen a trend for
promises to be made to one soon to be spouse or
the other:
b. Typically along the lines as: 'I'll change when we
get married'
c. That my friends is a bold face lie, the spouse who
says that is simply doing a smoke and mirrors
trick to draw attention away from what they do
not want to change
d. If they won’t change before the wedding there is
virtually no chance they will after, because they
really don’t want to
e. The same thing was happening here….they Jews
asked for signs, but even if they got them it
wouldn't change their attitude towards Jesus
READ: Matthew 12:41 (Scripture slide)
"The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them – and now, something greater than Jonah is here!"
A. Jonah went to these nasty, mean non-Jewish Ninevites with a
harsh message of: repent or die
1. Jonah ran away from his duty Jesus went right into the
thick of it
2. Jonah didn't even want Nineveh to repent, but they did
anyway!
3. Here Jonah went to a people that were not his own with
a message from his God and they repented….yet here
Jesus comes to His people with a message from their
God and they still rejected Him
4. Jesus came with a different message than Jonah: Jesus’
was repent and have life….but His rejection turned His
message into one of judgment
B. Because of this contrast the Ninevites who Jonah witnessed to
would stand up and tell the Jews of Jesus day that even they
would have repented in the presence of Jesus
1. Jesus ministry to the Jews was much greater than
Jonah's to the Ninevites
2. Yet there was no repentance on the part of the Jewish
religious leaders
3. Here is Jesus, the Son of God, being rejected….there
could not have been a greater rejection than this
C. Nineveh now stands in a long line of those who would one day
testify against those who have rejected Jesus
Matthew 10:15 (NET)“I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town!”
Matthew 11:20–24 (NET)“20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. 24 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!”
READ: Matthew 12:42 (Scripture slide)
"The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, something greater than Solomon is here!"
A. ‘queen of the South’
1. She is the queen of Sheba, a kingdom of people in SW
Arabia
2. 'South' = likely modern day Yemen (show
picture…South of Saudi Arabia by mouth of the Red
Sea)
3. Would have been a hard trip to see Solomon, when to
great lengths, to meet Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 10:1-13 or
2 Chr. 9:1-12)
4. Like the Ninevites she too was a Gentile
B. She too will stand up in judgment against the Jews that rejected
Jesus
1. Jesus is contrasted with both a prophet (Jonah) and a
king (Solomon) whom He surpasses
2. Solomon was wise, but he was only a man. His limited
wisdom could not compare with God's yet this famous
queen traveled a great distance to learn from him. Yet
here we have God's Son not only the receptacle for all
knowledge but also the origin of it, rejected by His own
people.
3. She was impressed with Solomon, they weren't
impressed by the King of Kings, the Great I Am in the
flesh
Application (slide)
A. And now here you and I stand with the witness of it all
B. The more we know about life the more we realize how
miraculous it really is
C. We live in a world that has seen the ‘sign of the prophet Jonah’,
that has seen the Resurrected Christ and has been changed by it
D. Our worship this morning and the history of all those who lived
and died for their faith in Christ all testify that He is indeed
risen
E. The resurrection of Jesus cannot be discounted, but there are
still those today who try
F. But that is their choice, my concern is for your choice: Have
you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
G. You see friends if you reject Him today, the same ones who
will stand up against those who rejected Jesus in His day, will
do the same to you!
H. Don’t wait till it is too late
Invitation
Let us sing our last song #,
Lord’s Supper
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