Resource Detail

WHY DID YOU INCLINE TO SEEK A MIRACLE?

 

Matthew 12:38-50

Key Verse: 12:39

 

   "He answered, `A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a

    miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign

    of the prophet Jonah.'"

 

STUDY QUESTIONS

 

1. Read verse 38. How and why had Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in the

   previous passage? Why were they now seeking a sign? What were

   expectations which came from their history and God's promises? What

   was God's real purpose for them (1Pe 2:9)

 

2. Read verse 39. Why does Jesus called miracle-seeking people  wicked

   and adulterous?   What is the only sign Jesus promised? Read verses

   40.  In what way was Jonah's experience in the fish a sign of

   Christ?

 

3. Read verse 41. Why should we learn from the people of Nineveh? Read

   verse 42. Why did the Queen of Sheba come to see Solomon? (See Kings

   10:6-13) In what way is she far better than the people of Jesus

   times?

 

4. Read verses 43-45. What does Jesus teach the Pharisees and all

   self-righteous people about the work of evil spirits? What must we

   do to keep out the evil spirits?

 

5. Why did Jesus' mother and brothers come? How did Jesus respond?

   Why? What can we learn from this?

 

 

 

WHY DID YOU INCLINE TO SEEK A MIRACLE?

 

Matthew 12:38-50

Key Verse: 12:39

 

   "He answered, `A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a

    miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign

    of the prophet Jonah.'"

 

   In the last passage we learned about Jesus' broken shepherd heart

toward a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. In fact, Jesus had

been too harassed to pay attention to this poor creature. But he healed

this demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. And Jesus astonished

people because of his messianic compassion and divine power. Then the

Pharisees, considered the authorities by the people, condemned Jesus by

chiding, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this

fellow drives out demons" (12:24). They were malicious and too vicious

toward the messianic ministry of healing a demon-possessed man who was

blind and mute. What did Jesus do? Jesus was greatly offended by the

Pharisees. But he explained that the chief demon's power is not the

power to save people or give life, but to make people useless and

demonic. Therefore, Jesus was not driving out demons by the power of

the chief demon; he was driving out demons by the Spirit of God so that

people might see the kingdom of God.

 

   Jesus also told them that those who saw and understood the obvious

work of God, but denied the work of the Holy Spirit, would not be

forgiven.  All such people will have to give account for their act of

suppressing the truth and denying the work of the Holy Spirit. Their

punishment will come upon them both while they are on the earth, and in

the age to come. There are many miserable people. Most of them are

miserable not because they have no money, but because they speak

against the Holy Spirit and the messianic work in order to justify

their sinful lives. In today's passage we learn why the Jews were so

inclined to seek signs. We also learn what kind of sign we, as

Bible-believing Christians, must seek.  First, sign-seeking Jews (38).

Look at verse 38. "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law

said to him, 'Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.'" In

this short verse we learn that the Jews sought a sign even after

offending Jesus in the last passage. There must be an obvious reason

for this.

 

   When we trace their history, we can clearly see why they were

inclined to seek signs. Jewish people were also called Hebrew people.

Hebrew people were the ancestors of the Israelites. The Israelites were

called Jews. From the beginning of their history to the end, they had

been downtrodden people.  They underwent 430 years of slavery in the

Egyptian Empire. They also received wilderness training for 40 years

when, because of their unbelief, they could not enter the promised land

where milk and honey were flowing. They were people chosen by God. But

they were rebellious, traditional and self-righteous. Now, even though

they were under the Roman Empire, they thought they were much better

and richer than the Romans. They had been slaves four times: first to

Egypt, next to Babylonia, then to Greece, and now they were under the

yoke of the Roman Empire. Still, they denied that they had ever been

slaves to any country (Jn 8:33). In a sense they were a great people.

Also, they were very stubborn and obstinate people. When we review

world history, we can see that God gave them the book of the Law,

beginning with the Ten Commandments and many kinds of literature, poems

and prophecies, and these works formed their culture. In the midst of

suffering they always longed for the coming of the Messiah who would

destroy all the enemy nations. And they wished that the Messiah would

establish an earthly messianic kingdom to rule all peoples and all

nations of the world and make Zion the capital city of the world. Their

miracle-seeking mentality came from their longing for the Messiah's

final victory. However, God's purpose in sending the Messiah was not to

make Israel the only world power nation, but to make them a kingdom of

priests and a holy nation. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen

people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,

that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness

into his wonderful light." When the Jews rejected God's mission, their

historical background made them miracle-seeking, and at the same time,

it produced Hebraism, one of the streams of culture in world history.

 

   As we have studied, Hebraism emphasizes literature, miracles and the

spiritual world. There is another stream of culture, that is,

Hellenism, which is rooted in Greek philosophy. Hebrew people started

their thinking about people and the world from God. But Greek people

started their thinking about people and the world from human reason; we

call it Hellenism.  Hellenism is good and realistic. Their ancestor

Socrates indoctrinated people to have high moral standards. This is the

reason he was imprisoned. He died saying, "Pay back my neighbor for a

hen that I ate." Until the Industrial Revolution, Hebraism dominated

the world. After the Industrial Revolution, Hellenism began to dominate

the world. Today, even in America, teachers cannot teach Creation faith

in the classroom, but they encourage the study of evolution diligently.

Hellenist thought is based on logic, mathematics and moral code. But

they had a problem. Their problem was serious: they were not confident

about epistemology, the origin of knowledge. Without true knowledge

they still had to develop their thinking. So they were confused.  Then

they began to think about more delicate things. As a result, they

produced mountains of myths about women's beauty, the nose of

Cleopatra, and so on. Still, Socrates' motto, "Know Thyself" is the

Bible of Hellenism.

 

   When we carefully study world history, Hebraism and Hellenism were

always streaming as the undercurrents of human culture. Now America is

ruled by the current of humanism, with the past experience of Hebraism.

As a result, people are totally confused and helpless. Paul, the

greatest philosopher of East and West, summarized in 1 Corinthians

1:22: "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom..."

Here, `miraculous signs' are related to spiritual realities, and

wisdom  is limited to human knowledge.  That's the difference between

Hebraism and Hellenism. So far we thought about why the Jews liked

miracles so much.

 

Second, the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart

of the earth (39-41). Jesus answered, "A wicked and adulterous

generation asks for a miraculous sign!" (39a) This is a rebuke to the

Pharisees. Here, wicked  people are lazy people. They didn t do

anything, but only wished that the Messiah would come and establish an

earthly messianic kingdom and make them rulers of all peoples of all

nations. They are similar to many factory boys. One factory boy, who

later became a night shift truck driver, graduated from high school as

a valedictorian. He became proud. He thought it was not necessary to go

to college and that he could fix up the world, be a multi-billionaire

and have a foxy wife and a nice house in the suburbs. But it did not

work as he had hallucinated. This person is wicked because of his empty

pride. There are many sign-seeking people who are wicked, living in the

stream of Hellenism. In the ivory towers of this nation, the halls of

learning, white Americans have become a minority. Most people in the

best academic programs of schools throughout the country are

foreigners; very few Americans are in these ivory towers. So one

American who entered a Ph.D. program gets a higher stipend as a

minority. Those who have big dreams but do not work hard and study hard

are miracle-seeking people and wicked people. They are also adulterous

people. Look at verse 39. "He answered, `A wicked and adulterous

generation asks for a miraculous sign!'"  Why are miracle-seeking

people adulterous people? This is a rebuke to the Pharisees. They were

supposed to be servants of God as a kingdom of priests and a holy

nation. But they abandoned their mission and became miracle-seeking.

Miracle-seeking people do not have life direction. Miracle-seeking

people do not have purpose of life. Miracle-seeking people do not have

faith to live for the glory of God. As a result, though they may attend

some school or do something, they are always groping in the darkness

without any clear purpose of life or glorious mission. Therefore,

miracle-seeking people are directionless people; they are similar to

adulterous people who have no moral standard.

 

   When Jesus thought about the Pharisees, his heart was broken. But he

gave the best explanation to help them stop miracle-seeking and know

the purpose of God. Jesus told them the story of the prophet Jonah from

the Old Testament. Jonah was a very rebellious prophet. God asked him

to go to the right; he went to the left God wanted him to go to

Nineveh, but Jonah wanted to go to Tarshish. Jonah, in his

self-righteousness, thought the people of Nineveh, one of the powerful

cities of the time, should perish. But God wanted to save the people of

Nineveh. Yet his servant Jonah thought Nineveh was too big a city, too

full of proud people and that gospel preaching would not be accepted.

So he bought a boat ticket to Tarshish. On the way the sea was very

rough, and finally the sailors found that the turbulence of the sea was

caused by Jonah's rebellion against God's mission.  So the sailors

could not but throw him into the sea. Then the sea became calm. Jonah

was in deep regret and still rebellious. But he asked God's mercy to

save him. Then God sent a whale, and it swallowed him up. So he was in

the belly of a whale. There he wrote many poems and spent time in

prayer. God, out of great mercy, made the whale vomit him out on dry

land near Nineveh. Jonah was just like the Pharisees and he is just

like handsome and able young men of our time.

 

   Look at verse 40. The last part of this verse is very meaningful.

"...so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart

of the earth." Relating to Jonah's three days in the belly of a whale,

Jesus explained that the Son of Man would be three days in the heart of

the earth. This part moves our hearts. The Pharisees were so

self-righteous and miracle-seeking and wicked and adulterous. But Jesus

wanted them to come to him. Jesus wanted to explain to them the meaning

of his death on the cross. Jesus wanted to explain why he had to be

crucified and shed much blood and water when a Roman soldier pierced

his side with a spear. Jesus must have been very lonely when he

mentioned his death on the cross, separation from God and burial in the

earth for three days, as Jonah was in the whale's belly for three days.

The Pharisees did not deserve to hear this gracious word of Jesus. But

Jesus told them anyway.

 

   Jesus told the story of Jonah so that they might be saved from

judgment. Look at verse 41. "The men of Nineveh will stand up at the

judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the

preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here." The

greater one is Jesus Christ, the Messiah for whom they had waited so

long. The Messiah was right there. But because of their miracle-seeking

desire they could not see him. The kingdom of God was right there. But

they were living in hell. Jesus wanted to save them from eternal

condemnation in hell. Jesus told them to repent.

 

Third, the Queen of the South (42). The Queen of the South is mentioned

in connection with Solomon. She was a most beautiful woman and a

powerful woman. Above all, she was a woman of wisdom. When she heard

about King Solomon's wisdom, she came to Solomon with many gifts. But

her motive in coming to Solomon was to have a contest in human wisdom

with him. She didn t want to be second to King Solomon in human wisdom.

So she looked at everything Solomon had made, and talked with him for

several days. She found that King Solomon was wiser than herself. Then

she bowed down to King Solomon and went back to her own kingdom. She

said, "Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have

far exceeded the report I heard" (1Ki 10:7). It was the expression of

her deep respect for the wisdom of Solomon and the Lord his God. Jesus

said to the Pharisees, "...and now one greater than Solomon is here."

Jesus really wanted the Pharisees to recognize God's wisdom in Jesus

and accept him as the Messiah and enter the kingdom of God.

 

   Jesus understood the Pharisees so deeply. In a sense, they were

better than the Gentile people in terms of morality. But they did not

know the activities of Satan. So Jesus told them a story. Allegorically

speaking, this tells of a highly moral man's tragedy. There was a man

who had a high moral standard. A demon came into him, but the demon had

no joy to be in his soul because he was like a pool full of too clean

water in which no fish can find any food. So the demon left him and

wandered around. But the demon could not find a wicked man for a rental

house. So he recruited seven more demons and decided to go back to the

clean-water man. Then the man became filthy because of eight demons'

occupation. This story is not only for the Pharisees, but for all

self-righteous people.

 

Fourth, Jesus' mother and brothers (46-50). While Jesus was still

talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside wanting to

speak to him.  Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing

outside, wanting to speak to you" (46-47). It is quite sure that they

were in line to wait their turn to talk to Jesus. So someone came and

notified Jesus that they were in line, like Communist commodity buyers

at a shop. Then Jesus pointed to his disciples and said, "Here are my

mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in

heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (49-50).  It sounds very

painful for Jesus' mother and brothers. But in the long run this turns

out to be true. Let's pray that all of us may do the will of God and be

Jesus' family members.

 

   Today we studied miracle-seeking peoples' tragedy. Let's not be

miracle-seeking, and as a result, wicked and adulterous. Let's seek

first his kingdom and righteousness. Then God will make us great and

wealthy.