Month: November 2020

Who is the most important person you have met? With whom would you like to take a selfie? The people to whom Jesus was speaking in Matthew 12:38–42 had no idea how important he was!

Repent! You have the sign of Jonah. Unbelief demands a sign. Given the Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus, the sincerity of the request is in doubt. They had just witnessed a number of miracles, but wanted something bigger, more spectacular. The prophet Jonah had been a sign. Instead of producing an additional sign upon their demand, Jesus points them back to the history of Jonah, and the remarkable sign in the early part of his prophetic visit to Nineveh. God’s revelation has already been given, and if it is rejected, no spectacular sign is going to make a difference. The Son of Man would spend three days in the heart of the earth. His situation would parallel that of Jonah, closely enough that his burial could be called the sign of Jonah, the prophet. The sign is cryptic enough that many would not understand, and likely even the disciples didn’t appreciate its meaning until they looked at it from a post-resurrection perspective. Jesus, however, would descend, not into a watery grave from which he would be rescued by a fish, but into death itself and burial. The power that raised him up after three days would be more powerful than that which moved the huge fish to spew up the undigested Jonah.

Continue reading “The Sign of Jonah”

You’ve heard the jokes about 2020. But it has been a rough year for very many. Can we really give thanks? Listen to Psalm 75.

Thank God that his name is near. Thank God, even in adversity. A good deal of conflict lies in the background as you read this Psalm. Perhaps you struggle to find reasons for thanksgiving. But the reaction of the Psalmist is—to thank God. It begins with corporate thanksgiving, and at the end a grateful individual speaks for the people. The Holy Spirit included it in the Scriptures for you and me to use as well.

Continue reading “Thanksgiving in 2020?”

How often have you said something—and immediately wished there were a rewind button you could push and edit out what you just said? Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 12:33–37.

Your words can condemn you. You have to give account for every careless word. God himself calls you to account. Jesus’ “But I tell you…” emphasizes the importance of what he says. The setting for evaluating your words is the day of judgment. God himself is the judge in that venue. You may consider your words unimportant. God’s evaluation differs. We think of words as idle or careless. Walk through a mall, and listen to people chatter or talk on their phones. You might be more concerned if you knew that all of your words were being recorded. God himself remembers what you say. You are God’s people, living in a culture that is deeply divided, a world in which accusations of lying are leveled by multiple sides. As God’s pople, guard against repeating something, just because it is directed against those with you you have strong disagreements. Make sure you are speaking the truth. Even in Christian circles you hear mocking language directed at fellow believers with whom the speaker disagrees. Evil words incur God’s judgment.

Evil words reveal an evil heart. The setting involves words spoken against the Messiah. The Pharisees were plotting how to kill Jesus, verse 14. They said that his miracle of healing the demoniac was done by the power of Beelzebub, verse 24. Evil words like these come from an evil heart. Jesus uses a variety of word pictures. These are bad trees with bad fruit. They are a brood of vipers. (Jesus reserves language like this for the persistently unrepentant, the hypocritical. He echoes the language of John the Baptist.) They are evil men bringing evil from within them. Words flow out of the heart. Yes, words can be crafted and even false, but especially unguarded words can be revealing. By nature all of us are totally depraved. That depravity not only mars our hearts, but it seeps out in the language that one uses.

Continue reading “Watch Your Words!”

Matthew has described Jesus through the quotation from Isaiah that speaks of his gentleness. He will not break a bruised reed. But he goes on in Matthew 12:22–32 to warn you: don’t confuse gentleness with weakness.

Recognize the Spirit’s working in Christ. The Spirit empowered Christ for his work. Matthew presents the healing of the blind and mute demon possessed man briefly, and then focuses on the reaction and Jesus’ response. Recognize the messianic implications of the healing. Some were astonished, and asked whether this couldn’t be the Son of David, could he? (The question reflects perplexity.) Christ had been baptized with the Holy Spirit at the beginning of his public ministry, Matthew 3;16,17. His miracles, especially the miracles of casting out demons, are manifestations of the presence of the messianic kingdom, Acts 10:38. Some deny these messianic implications, instead attributing Christ’s work to the power of Satan. Jesus shows that this position is inherently self-contradictory. “Jesus ascribed all His power and grace, the gra­cious words, the saving acts, to the possession of the Spirit (Matt. 12:28; Lk. 4:18; Acts 10:36–38). And, through qualifying Him in this manner for achieving His Messianic task, the Spirit laid the foundation for the great Pentecostal bestowal of the Spirit afterwards, for this gift was dependent on the finished work.” (Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology, p. 345)

Continue reading “The Kingdom Has Come upon You”