(Text and Audio)
Title: Who Seeks a Sign?
Let’s suppose one day Steve and Daisy drive to church in a new hot rod car. (Obviously, this is already a hilarious opening story because I can’t envision a scenario where Steve and Daisy would drive to church at all. I could literally throw a rock from where I’m standing and hit the side of there house from here…but bear with me.)
So Steve and Daisy get out of this sweet, late 1950’s model Mustang and it’s obvious that this car has had some serious race tuning done to it. It has an aftermarket flared exhaust, a huge blower coming off the hood…it looks like a mean machine.
And, beyond that, Steve and Daisy are both wearing leather jackets. Mean leather jackets. Their hair is slicked back, Steve is wearing blue jeans with cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve, Daisy’s got saddle shoes and a poodle skirt, you all following me here?
And as they pull up, the entire church gathers around them and their car, because, well, it’s all pretty awesome.
But this scenario strikes Jim as a bit odd. He’s never seen Steve work on a car, he’s never heard him talk about his love for cars. To anyone else, it might seem Steve is real car expert, a master mechanic, one with the passion to build and modify cars.
So as everyone gathers around the car, Jim asks Steve to pop the hood, and Steve does. It looks amazing under the hood, custom colored wiring, and engine block so clean you could eat off of it. This car could easily win any car show.
But something just doesn’t fit to Jim, and he turns to Steve and says, “Hey Steve, you do all this work yourself?”
Steve replies, “Yup.”
Then Jim asks, “So, is this a V-6 or an 8 cylinder?”
Steve replies, “Both.”
Jim, what would be going through your mind at this point?
My point: By just asking for a bit of information, Steve is revealed as fraudulent because while he is claiming to be an expert, it is obvious he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about. It’s all for show.
In the same way, we will see in today’s passage that Jesus is a master teacher in the way that he reveals the lack of true knowledge of the Pharisees and Scribes by teaching them in what is half history lesson, and half prophecy. What Jesus does here is nothing short of brilliant, and my prayer is that I can do an adequate job explaining it for all of us today.
I so wanted to try and teach this in one sweeping lesson, but it’s just too much to digest. So the way that I’m going to break down this passage is in two parts. Today we will look at the implication of what type of person asks for a sign from God, and next Sunday we will look at the three parallels between Jesus and Jonah, and what that means for all of us.
Let’s begin, shall we?
(read/pray)
- The Request
“Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
Why is this a ridiculous request? (Take answers)
- Jesus does not do miracles on demand.
- That they would even ask for a sign is incredible in light of what they had already seen Jesus do.
Application questions:
- Do you demand that God proves himself to you on your terms?
- Is there not enough evidence in your life already of the reality of God’s work? (Salvation, sanctification, fruit of the Spirit, etc.)
- If you need MORE evidence, what does that say about your faith?
- The Response
“An evil and adulterousgeneration seeks after a sign…”
What can we learn from just this phrase?
- Evil: There is nothing but evil in hearts of those who seek after a sign. Real faith and wisdom need no sign…they just know.
2. Adulterous: Jesus calls the Scribes and Pharisees (experts in the Law) adulterers. They have cheated on the one they claim to love (God). They have substituted real love for God with love for themselves and their Laws.
- Generation: This is not a problem for just this group of Scribes and Pharisees, it is a generational problem. It effects everyone.
“…and no sign will be given to it except the prophet Jonah.”
Q: Who/What does “it” refer to?
A: This wicked generation.
So Jesus says that a sign will be given to this wicked generation, but only one: the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Q: When Jesus references Jonah, what does he assume about the Scribes and Pharisees that he’s talking to?
A: They are familiar with the POINT of the story of Jonah.
Q: Are they?
A: No. Because Jesus has to explain it to them.
Oh, like most of us, they know the story of Jonah. They know about the three days in the belly of the great fish, but like most of us, they’ve totally missed the point of the story.
Close:
So, as we draw to a close, I actually have a homework assignment for all of you: I want every one of you to read the book of Jonah this week. It’s short, only 4 chapters, but I want you to read it after we see what that book is really about. It’s not about a man in a fish. It’s much, much deeper than that.
That will help you grasp and understand the depth of what we will look at next week with a much clearer focus.