Seeking a Sign or a Savior?
Matthew 12:38-45
In Matthew 12, we are in a narrative section of Matthew that focuses on mission and conflict.[1] As Jesus and His disciples go about the mission of preaching the kingdom of God, conflict arises and intensifies with the religious leaders of the Pharisees and scribes. At the beginning of Matthew 12, the Pharisees were provoked because Jesus and His disciples did not follow their Sabbath traditions. When Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath in their Synagogue, the Pharisees were so enraged that they began to plot with their rivals, the Herodians, to murder Jesus (Matt. 12:14).
Then, when Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute so that the man could speak and see, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, responded by disproving their ridiculous and blasphemous accusation, and by warning them that they were demonstrating themselves to be evil men who speak from evil hearts. Jesus warned them against blaspheming the Holy Spirit and committing the unpardonable sin. This warning troubled them, but they were still not convinced that He was the Messiah—far from it. So, in this next section, they demanded a sign from Jesus. In return, Jesus rebukes them for asking for a sign instead of believing, assesses their spiritual condition, and warns them of judgment.
Have you ever asked God for a sign? If you have, you’re not alone. In the Bible, God sometimes gave signs to both believers and unbelievers. To Noah, God said, “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” (Gen. 9:13). At the burning bush, God said to Moses, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Exo. 3:12). Gideon asked for a sign that God would use him to save Israel by laying out a fleece of wool and asking that it be wet or dry. And God graciously gave him what he asked (Judges 6:36-40).
God actually told unbelieving King Ahaz, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” (Isa 7:11). When he refused, God Himself gave the sign of Immanuel in the virgin’s birth (Isa. 7:14).
And of course, Jesus did work signs. His miracles were signs of who He is. Peter, preaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, says, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know.” Even His enemies could not deny that Jesus did miraculous signs. In John’s Gospel, after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.” (John 11:47). In the next chapter John writes, “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,” (John 12:37).
We see from the scriptures that signs from God can be good things. But they are no guarantee of faith. Faith is believing what God has said not seeing what God has done. The person who believes what God says is one who trusts the very nature and ability of God. The skeptic is uncertain whether God will or God can do something—and so he asks for a sign. In the case of the scribes and Pharisees, they asked for a sign, not because they wanted to believe in Jesus, but because they were determined to disprove and reject Jesus.
First, we see that…
1. They ask a sign from Jesus (Matt. 12:38)
“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” (Matt. 12:38).
Think about when they said this. Jesus had just cast a demon out of a man who was blind and mute, so the man could see and speak. And they ask Jesus for a miraculous sign? Since no previous signs had been enough to convince them, they are apparently asking for something more spectacular than what they had seen.[2] So they ask to see a sign, presumably a miracle performed just for them, something that would amaze them while presenting irrefutable evidence that His claims were true (cf. John 6:30). In Luke’s parallel account, he writes, “Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.” (Luke 11:16). They demanded something that required no faith but just sight. What did they want? – “that the heavens be moved, the clouds made to gyrate, sun, moon, and stars to perform antics, visions to be painted in the sky with unearthly colors, angel hosts to parade down the milky way?”[3]
Doesn’t their attitude sound a lot like what the devil said when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4? Satan said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread,” (Matt. 4:3). And again, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. 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.’” (Matt. 4:6). The scribes and Pharisees were also daring Jesus to do a sign on demand for them. But they had no more intention of believing in Jesus than the devil did. It would do no good to give such a sign. Lenski writes, “Suppose for a moment that Jesus had met this demand…” Such a sign would “… meet no spiritual need, point to no deliverance from sin, have no affinity with saving faith…”[4] Even if Jesus did some sign in the heavens, they would soon be asking for more. It would only further fuel their unbelief and rejection of Jesus because their attitude came from an evil heart.
Look at how Jesus answers their request.
2. He announces the sign of Jonah (Matt. 12:39-40)
Matthew 12:39 says, “But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’” Jesus exposed the evil hearts of these scribes and Pharisees. Their craving for a sign only indicated that they did not trust God as they claimed.
They were “an evil and adulterous generation.” Earlier generations of the children of Israel had been declared adulterous because of their worship of the false gods of Baal, Molech, and Asherah. They had been unfaithful to God. Although this generation had abandoned the Canaanite gods, they were still unfaithful. Instead of following God, they placed their hope and trust in the idol of man-made religious tradition. They were spiritual adulterers.
So, Jesus refuses to give them the sign they are demanding. Jesus did not perform signs like magic tricks just to entertain the stubborn-hearted. He said, “no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” They would not get the convincing sign they demanded, but God would give a confirming sign. Jesus was telling them that they would have one more opportunity to believe—the sign of His resurrection would prove who He is and what His life and death were all about. They had rejected every other sign that Jesus had given them, so there was one more, but they would have to wait for it.
Jesus calls it “the sign of the prophet Jonah.” If you remember, Jonah was a prophet of Israel who was appointed by God to go to Nineveh, the capital of Israel’s enemies, the Assyrians, and warn them of God’s coming judgment. Jonah did not want to go. The Assyrians were a wicked and violent nation, and nothing would have pleased Jonah more than to have God destroy them. So, Jonah got on a ship heading in the opposite direction. God caused a severe storm to arise and eventually, Jonah is tossed overboard. God saves Jonah from drowning by preparing a great fish to swallow the prophet. After three days and nights in the belly of this sea monster, it spits him out on the land. Jonah then goes to Nineveh and completes what God told him to do in the first place.
In Matthew 12:40, Jesus explains what He means by “the sign of Jonah”, saying, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights 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.” This was a prediction of Jesus’ coming death, burial, and resurrection. That would be the sign God would give.
No miracle Jesus worked proved Him to be the Messiah more than His resurrection from the grave. Paul writes in Romans 1:4 that Jesus was, “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection proved Jesus is the Son of God.
Would they look for it and heed it? Sadly, No. Jesus said in His story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:31, that “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.” God’s word is sufficient. God’s word is enough. If you don’t believe God’s word, then even if someone rises from the dead, you’re not going to believe. And looking at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, that is exactly what happened. When the guards came and reported the empty tomb, the angels, and all that happened, the religious leaders paid them to spread a lie that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body while the guards slept. Even the resurrection wouldn’t work to prove who Jesus was to them. It would only confirm them in their evil unbelief.
Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead would be the sign given to them – but they would reject that too and it would be part of the judgment against them. Jesus now explains how certain their judgment would be because of their hardness of heart to see and respond to what has already been given to them.
3. He assures them of judgment (Matt. 12:41-42)
Jesus says, “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 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.” (Matt. 12:41-42).
Jesus has just spoken about the sign of Jonah, and now he draws another lesson from Jonah’s life. The people of Nineveh repented at Jonah’s preaching. We read about this incident in Jonah 3. The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah obeyed God and went to Nineveh to proclaim the word of the Lord. Jonah 3:4 says, “And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” Jonah just preached God’s judgment. He didn’t tell them why they would be destroyed or even call them to repent. And Jonah certainly did not prove his prophecy with signs and wonders. Yet, Nineveh repented. The Gentile, pagan people of Nineveh repented at the reluctant preaching of Jonah.
Now, this generation has the Messiah in their midst–“a greater than Jonah is here.” Infinitely greater! The Son of God has preached the gospel of the kingdom, taught the word of God, and demonstrated His authority by signs and wonders. He has called them to repent. But unlike Nineveh, they would not repent.
The Queen of the South is the Queen of Sheba mentioned in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1-9. She was from the country of the Sabeans located in lower Arabia some 1,200 miles southeast of Israel. At that time considered the “ends of the earth.” She, like the Ninevites, responded to what little she heard. She heard reports of the fame of King Solomon concerning the name of the LORD (1 Kings 10:1). She had no invitation, but she wanted to hear His wisdom. So, she made a long journey carrying gold, jewels, and spices as gifts for Solomon. All she had was a second-hand report. And the report didn’t even do justice to the truth, but she came.
The Queen of Sheba’s lavish respect for Solomon stood in stark contrast to Israel’s flat-out rejection of Christ. Yet Christ is greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42). Solomon was a son of David, but Jesus is the Son of David who is also the Son of God. Solomon was rich, but Jesus is the Creator of all riches. Solomon possessed the gift of wisdom, but Jesus is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (Col. 1:24). Solomon built a temple for God, but Jesus is the temple of God (John 2:21).
Jesus warns the Pharisees that the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will both condemn them at the day of judgment. Why? Because Jesus is greater than either Jonah or Solomon. Nineveh repented, the Queen heard, came, and praised God. This evil and adulterous generation would do neither.
Finally, In Matthew 12:43-45 Jesus describes the judgment that would come upon them because of their neglect to repent and believe.
4. He alerts them to the danger of empty religion (Matt. 12:43-45)
Jesus illustrates His warning to the scribes and Pharisees for their refusal to repent and believe in Him. He uses a rather disturbing illustration of an evil spirit who returns and finds his former home empty. Listen to it:
43 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 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. 45 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.” (Matt. 12:43-45)
First, let me say that Jesus is not teaching a course on demonology in this passage.[5] Jesus is not giving any teaching about demons here other than that they can inhabit a man, go out of the man, and then return later with more demons. He does not tell us why the demon left. Nothing explains what the “dry places” are or why the demon is wandering around in them. We can discern that it is not the kind of place the demon wants to be because the demon wants to go back to the man he had inhabited before. Let’s not get lost in trying to figure out the demon. Remember the context. Why did Jesus tell this story? His conclusion is, “So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Jesus’ purpose in telling this illustration is to point out the judgment that would come upon that generation. They would end up in a worse condition than what they had started out in.
Remember the history of the Jewish people. In the centuries that preceded Jesus’ coming, the Jewish people had fallen into the sin of idolatry. They worshiped the false gods of the pagan nations around them. As a result, just as He had warned through the prophets, God cast His people out of their land and sent them into exile in Babylon for seventy years.
After the exile, again, just as God promised, God restored them to their own land. Historically, they never again fell into the sin of idolatry as they had before the exile. They had, you might say, “cleaned up their act” they “swept” and “put it order” their lives and their nation. They reformed.
But by the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, their religion had all become a merely external ‘moral reform’. They had developed, and had carefully articulated, all the “do’s” and “don’t’s” of the law. They built up traditions that took the place of the word of God. They prided themselves on their strict obedience to their traditions. But it was not a matter of the heart. It was not a matter of “relationship” with the living God. They had drawn near with their mouths, and honored God with their lips; but their hearts were far from Him (Matthew 15:8). They were “empty, swept, and put in order,” but far from God.
Think about the remarkable times in which these Jewish people lived! They heard the preaching of John the Baptist as he pointed to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Son of God walked among them. They beheld His miracles and heard His teaching. And yet, they rejected Him. They saw Him work miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, and yet they dared to accuse Him of working in the power of the devil.
They were morally upright but spiritually empty. You see, it’s not enough to be empty. You need to be filled. It’s not enough to be empty of evil or wickedness. You need to be filled with Christ’s righteousness. It’s not enough to hear the gospel. You need to respond to the gospel. What good does it do you to get your life together, if you don’t give your life to Christ?
Those who hear the gospel and reject Christ are worse off than they were before. The apostle Peter describes such people in this way:
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:20-22).
You need to respond to the gospel. It’s not enough to be empty; you need to be filled. Just like the man with the evil spirit, those who hear the gospel and reject Christ are worse off than they were before. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31).
It should also serve as a warning to us in our daily duty of presenting Christ to the lost people of this world—to our family members, our friends, our workmates, and our neighbors. Our goal is not to simply help the people around us to live “better lives”. That’s certainly a good thing in the right context; but if that alone is all that happens, then it’s a dreadfully bad thing! If that’s all we do—if all that we do is help them live moral lives, but do not help them trust in Jesus Christ as Lord in their hearts—then all we’ve done is, as our Savior has put it, made them “empty, swept, and put in order” . . . and also dangerously open and vulnerable to even worse evil.
If you have never responded to the gospel, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for a sign? God already gave you the best sign he could ever give. Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and he rose again on the third day, triumphant over sin and death and the grave. He offers you new life through the Spirit, forgiveness of sins in the present, and eternal life with him when you die.
Are you seeking signs from Christ? Or are you seeking Jesus Himself? Don’t leave today, whether believer or non-believer, until you can leave knowing that your life is right with God.
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[1] Ray Fowler, The Sign of Jonah, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/matthew/the-sign-of-jonah/
[2] Hal M. Haller Jr., “The Gospel according to Matthew,” in The Grace New Testament Commentary, ed. Robert N. Wilkin (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2010), 59.
[3] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 490.
[4] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 490.
[5] Greg Allen, The Unoccupied Heart, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2006/082706.htm accessed 04-21-2024.
