Matthew 12:38-45

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 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.

The queen of the south, that's the queen of Sheba,

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. When

an unclean spirit goes out of a man, that's a

demonic spirit, he goes through dry places seeking

rest and he finds none. And then he says, I will

return to my house from which I came. And when

he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in

order. Then he goes and takes with him seven

other spirits more wicked than himself, and they

enter and dwell there. And the last state of

that man is worse than the first. So shall it

also be with this wicked generation. Let's pray.

Father, Lord, we were asked, Lord, for the help

and aid of your Holy Spirit this morning. As

we have just sung, Lord, speak to us, Lord, out

of your word. Show us glorious things out of

your law. God, open our eyes to see the glory

and the beauty and the majesty of Christ Jesus,

our Lord. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.

Some of you probably are going to be familiar

with the name of the infamous atheist, Madeline

Murray O 'Hare. Now, if you're young, you probably

don't know that name at all. But she was the

one who got mandatory prayer and Bible reading

banned from public schools in the 60s, actually.

According to one biographer, O 'Hare went outside

in a severe thunderstorm and she began to curse

God and mock him. And she said, if God is real,

then let him strike me dead right now. And since

God did not do that, she was more reinforced

in her atheism than ever. Today you might often

hear people say, if God would just show me a

sign, then I would believe. I mean, if God would

write the gospel in the sky, or if I personally

saw a miracle, then I would know God is real.

God, if he would prove himself to me, well, I

would have no problem following him. However,

the truth is, signs do not create faith. And

we will see that in our text this morning. There

have been many people throughout history who

have witnessed some incredible events. Some have

even witnessed miraculous events. And they still

walked away unchanged and unbelieving. And today

we're going to see Jesus is confronted with some

scribes and Pharisees. They're the religious

leaders. And what are they demanding? They're

seeking a sign from him. Now how stubborn or

obtuse could these men possibly be? Up to this

point in Matthew 12, Jesus has already healed

the sick, cast out many demons, restored sight

to blind men, hearing to the deaf men, and he's

performed miracle after miracle right before

their eyes. Yet they're still unconvinced. They

want another sign. They want more convincing

proof. But their problem was not a lack of evidence.

Rather, it was the condition of their hard hearts.

Now, we have to understand the context this morning.

Beginning in this chapter, beginning in verse

1, Jesus had a confrontation. There's a run -in

between him and the Pharisees, but it was concerning

Sabbath rules, Sabbath regulations. But in verse

8 of Matthew 12, Jesus made this astounding statement.

He said, basically, he said, I'm the Lord of

the Sabbath. That's a great claim. I mean, God

gave the Sabbath. It's the fourth commandment.

He then, though, proved that claim by healing

a man who had a withered hand. You see that in

verse 13. Then he, Jesus, said to the man, stretch

out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it

was restored as whole as the other. That's an

incredible miracle. A man with a withered hand,

a hand that has no use, is now restored to complete

functionality. But later on, Jesus healed another

man. Go down to verse 22. Then one was brought

to him who was demon -possessed, blind and mute.

And he healed him. So that the blind and mute

man both spoke and saw. Here there's another

powerful demonstration of the power of God. The

crowds are amazed. And there's a lot of crowds

there. They're always following Jesus. They're

amazed. But the Pharisees were angry. And they

accused him. They said that Jesus did these miracles

by the power of Satan. Now we come to our text

this morning, verse 38. It's a little while later.

We don't know how much time has passed. But now

the religious leaders, not just the Pharisees,

but there are some scribes gathered there as

well, and they're confronting Jesus once again,

and they want a sign from him. Verse 38. Then

some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying,

Teacher, that is Rabbi. We want to see a sign

from you. This request is beyond ludicrous. I

mean, they had just witnessed two miracles, not

counting all the other miracles Jesus had already

performed up to this point. Now, I do want to

give some fairness to the Pharisees here a little

bit. This group did not represent all the Pharisees.

We do know that at least some of them had come

to the realization that Jesus... must have been

sent from God because no one could do these signs

unless God were the one giving him power to do

it. And we read that in John 3. You know about

the story of Nicodemus. Verses 1 and 2. There

was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a

ruler of the Jews. He holds a very important

position. This man came to Jesus by night and

said to him, Rabbi, same thing these guys are

saying, we do know that your teacher come from

God. Why do we know that? For no one can do these

signs that you do unless God is with him. It

was obvious, all right? Nevertheless, most of

the scribes and the Pharisees already had their

minds made up concerning Jesus, and they rejected

him. Not for lack of evidence, but for hard hearts.

They had concluded already by this time, there

was no way that this man could be the Messiah.

Instead, they said he was a blasphemer who needed

or was worthy of death. Now we come to Matthew

12, 38. They're seeking a sign. But the parallel

passages in both Mark and in Luke tell us that

the Pharisees had asked for the sign in order

to test him. They want to trap him. Luke 11,

16. Others testing him. sought from him a sign

from heaven. Now, so the request is not sincere.

Looks sincere, sounds sincere. It is not. They're

trying to trap Jesus. They want to have something

they can hold over him. Now, let's just get this

straight. Jesus is not going to indulge them

for one minute. He's not some sideshow circus

act who bows to foolish requests. This is not

what he wants. If you read through the pages

of the Gospels, Jesus never did his miracles

to wow the people or impress them or ostentatiously

flaunt his power. He's never doing that. In fact,

just the opposite. Many times when Jesus had

performed a miracle of healing, something dramatic,

he would tell that person, don't tell anyone.

He's not trying to gather crowds around him.

But Jesus, being the Son of God, he knew their

hearts. He knew they were trying to trap him

by requesting the sign from heaven. Now apparently

there is a difference between a miracle and a

sign from heaven. A miracle came through the

hands of a mediator and was done on earth. For

example, that man back in verse 13 with the withered

hand. Jesus spoke and the man with the withered

hand was made whole. That's a miracle, but not

necessarily a sign from heaven. A sign from heaven...

comes directly from God in heaven without a mediator.

For example, if you remember when Elijah was

on Mount Carmel and he's really doing battle

with the false prophets of Baal. And fire falls

from heaven and destroys those false prophets.

The fire falling from the heavens is a sign from

heaven. So here we go back to the text. They

are asking for a sign, and by doing that, really,

these scribes and Pharisees, they're denigrating

all that the Lord had done as if all his previous

miracles counted for nothing. He just healed

a blind man and gave him sight. Now, it's important

to note, they can't deny the miracles. They're

done publicly. It's obvious they're miracles.

But they're saying, well, yeah, there's other

false prophets, agents of Satan, and they can

do some pretty impressive works as well. how

do we know that you're not one of them? In fact,

they've already called him Beelzebub. They had

already publicly stated that Jesus performed

his miracles by the power of Satan. Now they're

saying, if that's not true, then prove it. Give

us a sign from heaven. But it's not a sincere

request. They went to trapping. Basically, if

they don't get the sign, well, they're going

to embarrass him before the people. And if they

do, then, well, certainly he can convince everyone

once and for all, definitively, that he's the

Messiah. Unwittingly, though, the religious leaders

were following in the footsteps of the devil

himself. Because do you remember what Satan did

to Jesus in the wilderness, in the desert, testing

in Matthew 4? Satan demanded a sign. If you are

the son of God, well, throw yourself down. He's

on top of the temple, by the way. For it is written,

he shall give his angels charge over you, and

in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you

dash your foot against a stone. Jesus, all you

have to do, just prove. If you're really the

son of God, cast yourself down from the temple.

Or if you're really the son of God, make these

stones instantly turn into bread. Satan is demanding

the same thing. Prove it. Prove that you are

God's son. And these religious leaders wanted

the same thing. They wanted a sign that would

prove unmistakably that Jesus' power and authority

really came from God. They wanted absolute proof.

How do we know it's God and not some demon who's

empowering you? But Jesus sternly answered them.

Verse 39. He says an evil and adulterous generation

seeks after a sign. He sternly rebukes the request.

He says only evil and adulterous people are asking

for a sign. Friends, it is evil to demand that

God prove anything to us. We don't demand anything

of God. He's not our servant. We're his. And

they're evil. That's what he said. They're morally

corrupt. They resist the truth. He's not going

to bow to their request. And furthermore, he

says, and you're an adulterous generation, meaning

you are unfaithful to God. You are idolaters

in your hearts. The desire for more proof after

all the miracles they had already witnessed was

evidence that they are an evil and adulterous

generation. One more sign. It's just one more

sign. One more sign would not have caused them

to repent and turn to Jesus. These men did not

believe because they already had their minds

made up. They're willfully blind. They choose

not to see what was right in front of them and

was obvious to all. They're unworthy of receiving

a sign from heaven. And I find this whole scene

very ironic because earlier in that day, do you

remember, they accused Jesus of being in league

with Satan. They called him Beelzebub. They said,

you are of the prince of the demons. But ironically,

it is these religious leaders who are acting

satanically. Satan had demanded a sign from Jesus,

so also did the religious leaders. Like father,

like son. Which is why in John 8, Jesus told

them, you are of your father, the devil, and

the desires of your father, you want to do. He

said, the very things that you're asking for

is proving who really is aligned with Satan.

Now, suffice it to say, Jesus is more than capable

of producing a dramatic sign from heaven. But

that's not what he's doing. He's not trying to

impress. In fact, remember in John 6, when he's

multiplying the bread and the fish, he proceeds

that they want to come and make him king by force.

He gets out of there. He does not want to be

known only as a miracle worker. In fact, if you

look and see, when Jesus did miracles, they weren't

done flippantly. They were done to prove that

the kingdom of God had come. That's why when

you look at his miracles, you see diseases are

healed, blind men see, lame men walk, deaf men

hear, because in the kingdom of God in its fullness,

that's what's going to be. No disease, no lameness,

no blindness, no defect whatsoever. His miracles

were signs. And Jesus is refusing to perform

a sign at their request. But he does say something

interesting. He said there will be one sign given.

Look at verse 39, the latter part. He says no

sign will be given to this generation except,

that means there is a sign coming, except the

sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three

days and three nights in the belly of the great

fish, So Jesus is saying Jonah is a literal historical

figure, by the way. So will the Son of Man be

three days and three nights in the heart of the

earth. He said, I will give you a sign. One sign

that will forever and unequivocally prove that

I am the Messiah. I will be raised from the dead.

He said, I will give you the sign of the prophet

Jonah. Now that means Jonah was the sign. Or

better yet, Jonah served as a... type of the

sign. Now keep in mind who Jonah was. He's an

Old Testament Hebrew prophet. He's on the run

from God's call because God had demanded that

he go to Nineveh, which is the capital of the

Assyrian Empire, and preach to those wicked people.

Jonah doesn't want to do that. So he flees. As

a result of his disobedience, he spends three

days and three nights in the belly of a great

fish. Now there are some, and I'm sympathetic

to this view. I don't know where I land on it.

There are some who believe that Jonah actually

died in the belly of that great fish and was

resurrected three days later when the fish vomited

him out. That's not the dominant view. It does

not matter or change the view at all. But here's

what we do know for sure. That there is an analogy.

As Jonah was in the belly of that great fish

for three days, so the body of Jesus will lie

in the grave. For three days. What happened to

Jonah serves as a sign for what would happen

to Jesus. Jesus' body, his lifeless body, will

lay dead in the grave for three days after which

that body will be gloriously raised from the

dead. Jesus the Christ emerging alive after spending

three days in the grave is a conclusive, unequivocal

sign that yes, he is indeed the Son of God who

has been sent into the world. But the Pharisees

didn't want to wait. No, they want proof right

now. And not just proof, we want indisputable,

irrefutable, conclusive proof. And Jesus said,

I'm not giving that to you. But indisputable,

or conclusive, irrefutable proof came when Jesus

of Nazareth, was resurrected from the dead on

that famed Sunday morning. R .C. Sproul says

this, he said, just as Jonah was thrown into

the sea, said that the sailors and the ship might

be saved, Jesus was thrown to the depth of the

earth for our redemption. He was silent for three

days. Then on the morning of the third day, God

the Father took the earth in his hand and shook

it and brought a son to life again. That was

the sign of all signs. Amen. The resurrection

of Christ. That's where our hope lies, friends.

And we'll celebrate that in about four short

weeks. Every Lord's Day. Every time we meet on

Sunday, it's a celebration of Christ's resurrection.

Verse 41. Sobering words of impending judgment.

The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment

with this generation and condemn it. Well, damn

it. Because they repented at the preaching of

Jonah. And indeed, a greater than Jonah is here.

If the wicked city repented at the preaching

of a reluctant prophet, how do you think these

men, and even all Israel, are going to fare in

the day of judgment? Jesus said they won't. He

said the men of Nineveh, they're going to be

raised too. At the last judgment, the final judgment,

these men of Nineveh will be raised and they

will bear witness. They will be raised to testify

against the religious leader, these scribes and

Pharisees, as they are justly condemned by God.

Why? Because the Ninevites, they repented at

the preaching of Jonah. Yet those who witnessed

the mighty works and heard the preaching of the

Son of God remained defiant. In their unbelief.

So the Ninevites' repentance will condemn the

scribes and Pharisees' impenitence. This is amazing

and this is so sobering. When confronted with

the word of God, the Gentiles, that's who the

Ninevites were, the Gentile Ninevites repented

through the preaching of a Hebrew prophet. Yet

one infinitely more glorious than Jonah was present

in Israel. doing miraculous works, and they refused

to repent. And Jesus said their guilt will be

far greater on that day of judgment. See, Israel

didn't just reject a prophet, they rejected God's

Son. Greater exposure to the truth leads to a

greater responsibility and accountability on

the day of final judgment. Imagine the people

who've lived in this country and had access to

the gospel and access to the light of truth all

these years and have hardened their hearts and

spurned it. But Jesus didn't stop. He went further.

Verse 42. He says, the queen of the south will

rise up in the judgment of 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. Another Gentile.

A Gentile woman. She also is going to be raised

at the final judgment, and she will bear witness

against the scribes and Pharisees. This time,

it's the queen of the south, the queen of Sheba.

Sheba is about where modern -day Yemen is. And

so she's going to bear testimony in the day of

your condemnation. Why? Because she traveled

a long, arduous, dangerous journey of about a

thousand miles just to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

She made that trip. She traveled this great distance

because she was impressed by the words of Solomon.

Yet these men, who heard the wisdom of God's

Son, not only did they fail to be impressed,

they blasphemed that worthy man, calling him

Satan. How awful the day of final judgment will

be for them. Can you imagine standing before

him in his unveiled majesty? But why did they

do it? These are smart, educated, elite men.

Why did they reject Jesus? Because he was messing

with their idol. You know what they really worshipped,

what they really valued? It was the esteem and

praise of the people. Oh, they loved it. They

craved it. They wanted public recognition. But

the Lord Jesus was becoming more popular day

by day. And they're jealous. The crowds used

to sit and listen to them. Now they're going

to him. They were envious of the Lord. And they

wanted him dead. Now you say, well, how do you

know that? Because the text tells us that in

Matthew 27, it says they, that is the religious

leaders, all Israel, they handed him, that is

Jesus, over to Pilate because of envy. It's still

the truth today. People will go to great lengths,

including murder, to protect their idol, to protect

what they truly value. What we really value controls

us. What we worship controls us. These men looked

the part, but they weren't worshiping Yahweh.

They weren't worshiping the God of Israel. They

were worshiping the God of acclaim. And recognition.

Which is why this last illustration really makes

sense. There's a warning. Jesus is giving a parable.

And it's a warning about looking good on the

outside and possessing nothing on the inside.

Verses 43 through 45. It's about a demon who

leaves a man apparently voluntarily. And it's

a parable. Keep that in mind. He goes through

dry places. He's seeking a home. He doesn't find

a home. And he says, you know what? I'm going

to go back to my prior home. At least there was

a home there. And when he comes, he finds the

home. It's empty. That's an important part. But

it's swept. It's put in order. It's cleaned up

a little bit. He says, I know what I'm doing.

I'm going to invite some of my buddies. It's

swept. It's cleaned up. And he takes seven other

demons more wicked than himself, and they enter

or possess that man. And Jesus said the last

state of that man is far worse than the beginning.

And then he makes this equivocation. So shall

it also be with this wicked generation. So the

point Jesus is making is not about the finer

points of demon possession. Don't look for that.

That's not the point. Rather, it's a parable

about the religious leaders rejecting him. Now

you say, how do you know it is spoken against

the scribes and Pharisees? Because look at how

it ties in. Verse 45, so shall it be with this

wicked generation, ties into verse 39, an evil

and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

They're tied together. They're linked. Now I

find it very interesting. I think the Lord is

just so subtle and masterful here. He uses an

example about a man who was demon possessed.

What had they recently accused him of? Casting

out demons by the power of Satan himself. So

it's a subtle slight to them. So this parable,

it's serving as a warning against outward reform

without any inward substance. These were the

scribes and Pharisees. They looked so good on

the outside. But that's it. That's all there

was. They looked holy. They loved to talk about

holiness. They had broad phylacteries and long

robes. They had long tassels. They were always

at temple. So they looked pious. They looked

God -fearing. And Jesus looked at their hearts

and saw the hypocrisy and there was nothing there.

There was no inner reality there. So this demon

leaves the man wanting to have it somewhere else.

He doesn't find it. Let's go back to my prior

home. It's unoccupied. That's the key. I love

what Spurgeon, talking about this particular

verse, he says, the devil has no objection to

his house being swept and garnished. For a moralist,

a very moral person, may be as truly his slave

as the man of debauched habits. It doesn't matter

if he's a drunkard, a profligate, a great, notorious

sinner, or a moral man. So long as the heart

is not occupied by his great foe, that is God,

and he can use the man for his own purposes,

the adversary of souls will let him reform as

much as he pleases. It's these men. They were

dedicated. to the pursuit of righteousness, moral

reform. But friends, it was a righteousness of

their own doing. They made the fatal assumption

that they could please God by their own efforts.

That is a works -based righteousness which will

damn you for eternity. These religious leaders,

they thought... They could rely on their own

performance, their own dedication, rather than

the righteousness that is offered as a gift by

faith in Christ. Satan doesn't care if the house

is tidy. He doesn't care if the house is in order

as long as it is empty, meaning as long as the

spirit of Christ does not dwell there. It says

the demon gathered seven others, more wicked.

This man is now worse off than he was before.

The scribes and Pharisees, their opposition,

their outright rejection of Jesus left them worse

off than it would have had Jesus never come.

Jesus came and exposed them. They would have

been better off in the day of judgment had Jesus

never come. But he had come and they saw the

light and they understood the light and they

rejected the light. They rejected God's clear

witness in Jesus, and now there is no other future

for these men than their condemnation on the

day of judgment. They will be damned by God,

by Christ, for all eternity. So what does this

passage have to do with us today? Everything.

It summons all people, all of us, to repent.

of our sins, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The truth is God has given us more than enough

information and reasons to embrace his son, so

you are now culpable. You are guilty if you ignore

him. You can't ignore him. Jesus never leaves

you that option. To remain neutral is not an

option. If you do not repent and you do not believe,

this will cause you to be found guilty at the

bar of God's judgment throne. See, the people

of Nineveh, they repented when Jonah preached

to them. The queen of Sheba traveled a thousand

miles to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And a greater

than Jonah and a greater than Solomon has been

put before you today. It's Jesus Christ. Yet

what God did for the people of Nineveh, he will

also do for you if you call upon his son. God

delights in mercy. Those wicked Assyrians, those

wicked Ninevites, they deserve judgment and God

granted them mercy. And so he will to you if

you cast yourself upon his mercy. The religious

leaders wanted a sign. Jesus said, I'll only

give you the sign of Jonah. Pointing forward

to Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

That is the greatest sign God has ever given.

We need nothing else. The empty tomb is God's

declaration of his son that Jesus is God's son

and Jesus is the savior of the world. That empty

tomb proved it. And so that leaves you with a

choice. Are you going to keep looking for more

signs? Or will you call upon the one God has

sent to save people from their sin? Friends,

the choice is yours. God calls and commands you

to repent today and bow your knee before his

son. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your

word. Lord, it is gloriously rich and instructive

and helpful. Lord, your word is manna. It's food

from heaven, Lord. God, we don't look to ourselves.

Lord, here's the thing, Lord God. If we think

that coming to church or doing righteous things

or reading Bibles and offering prayers and doing

works of charity, Lord, is going to benefit us

in the day of judgment, we're sorely mistaken.

Father, we need your mercy. We need your grace.

We need your righteousness. But it's been given

as a gift, received in faith, to all who come

to Jesus, your Son. Praise be, Lord, to your

holy name. For the unspeakable gift of Christ.

Lord, you have raised him from the grave. His

body saw no corruption and he will never see

corruption. He has been raised as Lord of glory

and ascended to the highest throne in heaven.

That in his name, every knee is going to bow

one day and every tongue is going to confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord. And that will bring

you great glory. Father, would you work by your

spirit in the hearts of those who are here this

morning. Cause them now voluntarily to confess

Jesus as Lord before one day they are forced

involuntarily to bow the knee before him. God,

I pray that you would save. God, help us, Lord,

to see that we're not counting on our own righteousness,

but only on what Christ has done for us. And

we thank you, Lord, for grace and mercy that

ever flows from your throne to your people by

your Son. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.

And while the deacons come and prepare the...